Tag: Red Bull

I have no idea what curuba or elderflower are, but I do know they make 2024’s Red Bull Summer Edition one very delicious caffeinated beverage. And I assume many of you are also unfamiliar with them. So, let’s learn something about the two together. Off to Google we gooooo…gle!

Curuba is also known as a banana passionfruit because of its length and yellow color when ripe, but it doesn’t curve like typical bananas. The plant is also passionate about killing trees in areas where they are an invasive species. Ay curuba! Elderflower sounds like either something you should equip yourself with in a Final Fantasy game, someone you meet behind a waterfall to help you achieve enlightenment, or the name of a Swedish indie pop band. Oh, wait, I’m being told that the last one is true. However, actual elderflowers are plants with small white flowers that bloom in late spring, which is a perfect flavor for a Red Bull Summer Edition that also shows up in spring.

The energy drink’s color resembles a curuba’s flesh, while the green can could represent an unripe curuba’s skin. It has a delightful tropical passion fruit punch aroma that I wish I could purchase as an essential oil for my mindfulness meditations behind a waterfall with some guy named Elderflower. When I first tried it, I could only think of pear and lychee. But the more I drank, the more the tang from the curuba and its tropical fruit flavor stood out. And I assume the floral lychee hints I taste is the elderflower. The fruit and flower flavor combo is so tasty that it makes me want to sing “Curuba. Jamaica. Oooh, I wanna take ya. Bermuda. Bahama, come on pretty mama” every time I type curuba. Ugh. That reference makes me feel so old.

Red Bull Summer Edition Curuba Elderflower tickles my taste buds so much that I’d recommend getting the four-packs available, and it deserves to be the new Green Edition. So let’s kick to the curb the current Green Edition flavor, Dragon Fruit, and replace it with this. I’m going to start a petition to make that happen right now. Okay, not right right now, but if I chug enough of these curuba elderflower-flavored Red Bulls, it might give me the wings to do so.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 8.4 fl oz can
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 90 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 26 grams of sugar (including 26 grams of added sugar), 0 grams of protein, and 80 milligrams of caffeine.

Winter is here! Oh, wait, I’m typing this in autumn. Fall is here! And that means Red Bull’s new Winter Edition is rolling out to stores to let you know the cold months are upon us. This year’s flavor is Pear Cinnamon, which sounds more fitting for autumn than winter. But this seasonal energy drink is so excellent that I want it to stay for every season from now on.

The pear flavor is the most distinct. It’s sweet, crisp, and slightly tart. A hint of cinnamon eventually makes itself known to your taste buds, but it’s hiding in the drink’s tartness. I was expecting a stronger cinnamon punch to let my mouth know that the season of cinnamon is upon us, but despite that, this is the best tasting Red Bull variety I’ve ever had.

While it initially has a pear flavor, I thought I tasted lychee in the aftertaste after taking a sip from an opened can that sat in my fridge overnight. Since then, I can’t get that out of my mind, and every sip I’ve taken since has a lychee aftertaste. You’ll hear no complaints from me about that because there’s a lychee-flavored Red Bull from Japan that I adore as much as this one and can no longer get my hands on. So if my taste buds get to relive that with this, I’m happy.

But what I’m not happy about, and the worst thing about this, is that once it’s gone, I’ll never be able to taste it again since Red Bull comes up with new flavors every year and rarely brings back old ones. But who knows, maybe there will be a Christmas miracle one year, and Red Bull decides to bring this back. Only the future knows.

Red Bull Winter Edition Pear Cinnamon is my favorite Red Bull flavor ever (that’s not from Japan). Find it, drink it, let its flavor wash over your taste buds, ask your taste buds if they also taste lychee, and then let the 114 milligrams of caffeine ride the red blood cells in your veins.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 12 oz cans
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 125 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of sugar (including 38 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

Red Bull’s newest Summer Edition has an appropriately named berry as its flavor — juneberry.

What’s a juneberry? That’s what I wanted to know because I didn’t know it existed, and I want to have more uncommon fruit knowledge that I can whip out as an icebreaker when introduced to people who I want to discourage from talking to me ever again. If you’re like me and have no idea what this berry is but don’t want to go down a juneberry rabbit hole, I’ve gone down one for you.

It goes by many names that wouldn’t look quite right on a Red Bull can, like amelanchier, serviceberry, chuckleberry, sarvisberry, saskatoon berry, and the slightly giggle-causing names of shadbush, shadwood, or shadblow. The fruit’s appearance has been compared to blueberries, but it’s more closely related to apples and pears because it’s a pome fruit (a fruit with seeds enclosed in a tough core). It’s native to North America and can be found across Canada and in every US state except Hawaii (probably why I’ve never heard of it). OMG. This rabbit hole is getting deeeeeeeeeep. Time to climb out, Chucklebunny.

Oh, wait. Not so fast, Junebunny! I forgot to mention the way its flavor is described. Let’s go back down the hole for a bit. I learned from one source that they taste like “dark cherries or raisins.” While another said, “blueberries crossed with apples.” And another said, “strawberry, blueberry, and a touch of almond.” Red Bull Summer Edition Juneberry’s deep purple color might make you think its flavor could be any of those, but those are not what I taste. The best way I can describe it is to say it was like a mature blue raspberry flavor, less candy-like and more tart, but not too tart. Although, it did have a less mature scent that reminded me of a Louie-Bloo Otter Pop.

Red Bull Summer Edition Juneberry’s flavor brings to mind a previous seasonal release — 2020’s Winter Edition Arctic Berry. It had a “cool raspberry” flavor that I wasn’t too impressed with it. This juneberry variety seems to do raspberry better, and it’s tasty enough that it’s worth a purchase this June, July, August, April, May, or September.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 8.4 oz can
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 110 calories, 0 grams of fat, 90 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar (including 27 grams of added sugar), 0 grams of protein, and 80 milligrams of caffeine.

My experience with figs is limited to one product — Fig Newtons. I’ve never taken a bite from the fruit, seen one in real life, or earned one as an ancient Olympian, but I know they can be purple.

However, if you showed me a purple onion but told me it was a fig, I’d believe you. And if you put a Purple Vienna kohlrabi in front of me and told me it’s a fig, I know you’re telling a fib. But now my exposure to the fruit has expanded beyond moist cookies thanks to Red Bull’s new Winter Edition Fig Apple Energy Drink.

The aroma from the spout smells like apple hard candy, but at times, my nose thinks it’s watermelon candy. Maybe that’s the fig? Whatever it is, it’s not repulsive unless you dislike the smell of Jolly Rancher.

What I think is the fig is present immediately after taking a sip, and I’m going to describe it poorly as what I imagine artificial raisin flavor is like. It’s a weird introduction, but a familiar apple taste follows it, along with a noticeable sourness. After the initial burst, the fig fades, and it’s all apple, even throughout the aftertaste. And that apple makes this Red Bull a worthwhile, decent tasting energy drink that I’d sip again.

I also want to add that while I was drinking this, my taste buds had flashbacks to when it seemed like everyone, including your grandma, had their own energy drink that was a Red Bull knockoff. Maybe it’s the fig or the sourness, but that Red Bull knockoff-ness isn’t bad. It’s just something I noticed.

I’m too lazy to spend five minutes looking this up, but I think Red Bull’s Winter Edition Fig Apple is the first fig-flavored energy drink ever. (Internet, prove me wrong.) I wouldn’t place it among my Red Bull favorites, but I found it enjoyable. Although, if it was a straight-up apple-flavored Red Bull, I’d like it more.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 12 oz can
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 130 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of sugar (including 38 grams of added sugar), 0 grams of protein, and 114 milligrams of caffeine.