REVIEW: Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink (Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple & Strawberry Banana)

Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink

Let me show you the ingredients list for the new Strawberry Banana Nestle Jamba All-Natural Energy Drink:

Apple juice and lemon juice (water, juice concentrates), water, apple puree, strawberry puree, banana puree, natural flavor, caffeine, extract of stevia, carbonation added.

Now let me show you the ingredients list for the Orange Rockstar Recovery Energy Drink:

Purified water, orange juice concentrate, taurine, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, sucrose, caffeine, benzoic acid, sorbic acid, gum arabic, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, calcium pantothemate, niacinamide, panax ginseng root extract, milk thistle extract, magnesium lactate, ester gum, calcium lactate, prickly pear extract, pyridoxine hydrochloride, monopotassium phosphate, apocarotenal, and cyanocobalamin.

As you can see, there are major differences between the two lists. One is a short list of ingredients I’ve heard of and can pronounce, while the other list is a bit longer because it’s made up of a few ingredients I have to learn about through Wikipedia or by seducing a college chemistry lab teaching assistant during her office hours, using lines like, “How about we do some chemical compounding here on your desk?”

But do these differences prove what Jamba has printed on their All-Natural Energy Drink cans, “For us, it is simple — real food & beverages taste better. That makes people happy & they come back for more.”

With their smoothies, it’s very true, because it’s extremely rare for me to have a month without a Jamba Juice smoothie-induced brain freeze. But with their line of All-Natural Energy Drinks, I don’t see myself coming back for more, unless I REALLY feel the need for a Jamba smoothie chaser.

The Nestle Jamba All-Natural Energy Drinks are available in three fruity flavors: Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple, and Strawberry Banana. They contain no artificial preservatives, flavors, or colors, and no high fructose corn syrup. And, they contain 70 percent real fruit juice and each can has 90 calories.

Now, all that sounds nice, but when you’re talking about an energy drink, energy junkies care about one thing — caffeine. And I’m happy to say each 8.4-ounce can of Jamba All-Natural Energy Drink contains 80 milligrams of the good stuff, which is the same amount found in a can of Red Bull, or an eight-ounce serving of the Orange Rockstar Recovery Energy Drink I referred to at the beginning of this review.

Although a can of the Jamba All-Natural Energy Drink has 80 milligrams of caffeine, I didn’t feel very caffeinated after drinking one and didn’t seem to get the same energy boost I would from drinking an eight-ounce serving of my energy drinks of choice — any variety of Monster or Rockstar. I believe the reason for this is because of those few ingredients I mentioned earlier that I have to learn about through Wikipedia or by seducing a college chemistry lab teaching assistant during her office hours, using lines like, “How about we swap oxygen and carbon dioxide…with our mouths?”

However, if you’re not a caffeine junkie, I’m sure these will do fine if you’re looking for an all-natural way to get an energy boost.

Besides not giving me a boost like other energy drinks; these Jamba Energy Drinks also don’t taste like other energy drinks, which tend to be a combination of sweet compensating for the bitter. They taste like what one would expect an energy drink with the Jamba Juice logo on it would taste like.

Basically, they’re lightly carbonated, caffeinated juices. The Crisp Apple flavor, which was my favorite of the three, tastes like lightly carbonated, caffeinated apple juice. The Blueberry Pomegranate flavor tastes like lightly carbonated, caffeinated, and slightly tart pomegranate juice with a blueberry finish and a hint of apple. And, the Strawberry Banana flavor tastes like lightly carbonated, caffeinated strawberry juice with a bit of banana and a bit of apple.

Yup, just like at many malls across America, apple is found in all three Jamba Energy Drink flavors.

Overall, the Nestle Jamba All-Natural Energy Drinks are good and made with ingredients I can pronounce, but a can of it doesn’t satisfy my energy needs, so I don’t see myself purchasing any more. Also, because the Jamba Energy Drinks are lightly carbonated and made with fruit juices and purees, they’re extremely easy to drink, which can cause a can of it to be consumed quicker than expected.

They’re so smooth that I don’t think they’d make good energy drink training bras if you’re looking to get into stronger energy drinks, like Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar.

(Nutrition Facts – 1 can – Pomegranate Blueberry – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 140 milligrams of potassium, 21 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein. Crisp Apple – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein. Strawberry Banana – 90 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 190 milligrams of potassium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 20 grams of sugar, 0 grams of protein.)

Item: Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink (Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple & Strawberry Banana)
Price: $2.95 each
Size: 8.4 ounces
Purchased at: Jamba Juice
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Blueberry Pomegranate)
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Crisp Apple)
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Strawberry Banana)
Pros: Easy to drink. Taste like fruit juices. Made using ingredients I can pronounce. 90 calories per can. 80 milligrams of sweet, sweet caffeine. No high fructose corn syrup. My ability to seduce college chemistry lab teaching assistants.
Cons: Too easy to drink. Energy boost might not be noticable for caffeineheads. Small cans. Can’s design looks like it’s meant for kids. Doesn’t make a good energy drink training bra. Brain freezes.

12 thoughts to “REVIEW: Nestle Jamba All Natural Energy Drink (Blueberry Pomegranate, Crisp Apple & Strawberry Banana)”

  1. I buy Rockstar Low Carb precisely because I want a whole bunch of chemicals, and I don’t want any sugar … this Jamba stuff offers a whole bunch of sugar with none of the chemicals … makes no sense whatsoever.

  2. I love Jamba Juice. The people that are wanting a bunch of chemicals in their system aren’t very concerned about their body I think Just about the buzz they get.

  3. Jamba Juice has gone downhill slightly since it was bought out in the mid-2000’s (they instantly got rid of anything cranberry) but i thik it’s still the best national smoothie chain. these appeal to me instantly because they’re in Red-Bull-esque aluminum cans which makes them more recyclable than a plastic bottle. do not like the plastic bottle.

  4. Great Review! Thanks for making the time. They are very appealing for the lack of chemicals and natural content with the caffeine boost. My biggest concern is drinking an abundance of them, since they are only 8.4 oz. Love the flavor options, but I do wish apple wasn’t the base in all of them. I know it’s to keep costs down. Anyway, I will be buying these to try due to your well considered review. Thanks again! 🙂

  5. These drinks are in cans. According to Dr. Oz, BPA [Bisphenol A] is used as a liner inside cans and should be avoided whenever possible. BPA is the same material used in #7 bottles, the ones banned for use in baby bottles. This chemical is not part of the drink but leaches into it and becomes part of the drink. All you need to to worry about is obesity, fertility problems, breast and prostate cancers, diabetes and heart disease. It doesn’t sound like you end up getting the right kind of energy.

  6. anyone saying they don’t want have a bunch of chemicals in their system doesn’t understand that water is a chemical

  7. This is my first time drininking this all natural energy drink the stawberry banana is very good.

  8. Let’s clarify this

    Purified water – still found in juice, lots and lots of it
    Orange juice concentrate – 99% of juice is made from concentrate including jamba juice
    Taurine – virtually found in every single fruit/vegetable out there, and it also compromises .1% of your weight, thus this is also found in all jamba juice
    Citric acid – the chemical that is responsible for the sour taste, for example when you eat oranges, and many other foods including jamba juice
    Natural flavors – chemicals that are extracted from plants and etc, they are also found in jamba juice
    Sodium citrate – simple salt of citric acid which is found in almost every fruit/vegetable out there
    Sucrose – a type of sugar, if it tastes sweet you are probably eating sucrose (found in jamba juice too
    Benzoic acid – naturally occurring and found in almost all berries
    Sorbic acid – found in most berries as well
    Gum arabic – an edible ‘glue’ type molecule, that is found in acia plants, and has been used in many types of candy
    Acesulfame potassium – artificial sweetener with 0 calories
    Sucralose – another non caloric sweetener
    calcium pantothemate – vitamin B5 only they list it by its IUPAC name
    niacinamide – vitamin B3 (niacin), it is found in every single organism that has a mitochondria, thus found in everything that was once alive aka fruit
    panax ginseng root extract – contains a lot of valuable chemicals
    milk thistle extract – supposed to be healthy for your liver
    magnesium lactate – salt of lactic acid, which is produced by your muscles when you excersise
    ester gum –
    calcium lactate- salt of lactic acid again
    prickly pear extract – an extract from a cactus
    pyridoxine hydrochloride – vitamin B6
    monopotassium phosphate – salt of a phosphate which is once again found in every living thing
    apocarotenal – precursor to vitamin A, and found in many fruits and vegetables
    cyanocobalamin – vitamin B12

    Since Jamba juice claims that everything is natural and comes from juice it will have
    cyanocobalamin, apocarotenal, monopotassium phosphate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium lactate, magnesium lactate, taurine, gluconorate, inosol, citric acid, sodium citrate, sucrose, benzoic acid, sorbic acid, calcium pantothemate, niacinamide and etc.

    Just because you can’t pronounce a chemical doesn’t meet it’s awful for you. An average human probably has never heard of oxidane, and would believe it to be a dangerous poison if a company said so. While oxidane is truly just another name for water

    1. AWESOME REPLY!!!! Thanks for all the information! I only wish the can showed how much of each vitamin it has. For example, how much Vit A, Vit C, Vit B6, B12 etc.

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