It’s good to be King
King 888 Original
I was duly impressed with the King 888 gold with its unique ginger ale citrus flavor. I am hoping to find the King 888 original just as good. I am in the dark as to the flavor so I am not sure what to expect in that area. I do expect the kick and packaging to be pretty much the same though.
Packaging: This can is your typical 16 oz aluminum can. The can is black with some silver diamonds in the background over most of the can. At the top you have some gold trim that goes well against the black. In the middle is the King 888 name in a silver and black 3d font. There is a silver crown above name. Below the name you have “Las Vegas, Nevada” in silver along with “energy drink in white. Towards the bottom is a gold band circling the can with the flavor “Original” in it. The back has supplement facts and a little promo paragraph. I will give this can a grade of B+ I think the silver text just does not work as well as gold would have. Still a pretty classy adult looking design though.
Slogans: Two slogans on the can. “Stay Cool, The King 888 way” and “Triple Your Odds. Bet on the King” Hard to find fault with either of these. They both work well with the products image. I give them a grade of A for slogan.
Taste ect: “Original”? Well right off you have to expect RB clone because Original just does not say anything else. I pop the top and realize right away I was wrong. I get a nice lemon scent. I pour some in a cup and it comes out a pale yellow color with a medium carbonation. I take a sip and it is a very sour lemon lime flavor. Think squirt but a little more tart. The finish is super sweet and syrupy and leaves me a bit thirsty. I can taste no medicinal flavor at all. I am sure this would make a great mixer and easily cover up the flavor of any alcohol you mix it with. I will give them a grade of C for taste. It is a little too sweet and sour for me. If you really really like lemon lime then you will like this though.
Kick/Ingredients: So far King 888 original is scoring lower than the King 888 gold. How does it hold up in the kick department though. Very well! I drank the entire 16 oz can and with in 20 minutes my mind was spinning like a roulette wheel out of control. I was super energized and a little jittery for 3 or 4 hours. I did suffer a pretty good crash after the buzz was over. You get this energy from taurine 2000 mg, ginseng 100 mg, Guarana 100 mg, caffeine 160 mg, glucuronolactone 50 mg, L-carnitine, Inositol, and plenty of good B vitamins at the 100% range. 220 calories, 56 grams of carbs, and 56 grams of sugar. Hfc is the sweetener. This is on par with the other king 888 drinks. I will give them a grade of B for kick.
Web presence: I looked over the King 888 website and it appears to be exactly the same as last time I checked. They have a nice site at king888.com. The site comes in 3 languages even(Spanish, English, and Arabic!) it is well laid out and has all the info on their drinks and their company. They also have a store where you can order drinks as well as some super cool apparel. They have a nice photo gallery as well with event photos like boxing. King 888 also has a good myspace page here. I’ll give them a grade of B for web presence.
Recap:
King 888 original is a fairly strong energy drink that has a classy Vegas look. I think the packaging will appeal to a more mature drinker. The drink itself however is probably a little sweeter and sourer than a lot of people will like though. I still can’t wait to try the SF version though. I am hoping they tone down the sweetness a bit. I would still recommend you give this King 888 original a try if you like a lemon lime flavor. At the end of the day it’s really all about the kick anyway.
