Rollin
X0 Vanilla
I have always admired the packaging of XO shots. I have only seen them in pictures up until now though. I was also intrigued by the many flavors they offered. Recently I acquired several of the XO shots so I was thrilled to be giving them a try. I thought I’d start with the vanilla since that is a flavor I have not seen in an energy drink or shot. To tell you the truth I’m not sure if I should call this a shot or a drink.
Packaging: XO comes in a pretty unique package. It’s a smoke colored plastic bottle with a screw on lid. The bottle is 180 ml in size which is about 6 oz. The bottle is wrapped in a black label. At the top of the label it reads “Pure Premium” in a white font. In the middle is a white and tan circle graphic with XO in the center in tan. Not sure what the circle graphic thing is but it looks good. Below this is the flavor” Vanilla energy drink” in the tan font. Towards the bottom is the company name as well as the website. There are also some grey swirlly lines in the bottle front. On the back are your nutrition facts. The packaging really makes this shot/drink look upscale and premium. It really is a nice design. I will give them a grade of B for packaging.
Slogan: Nothing really on the bottle but on the website you have “Xtreme energy for Xtreme people” Not bad for a slogan. Not sure Xtreme with an X goes well with the upscale packaging though. I will give them a grade of C+ for slogan.
Taste: Opening the screw top I get a scent of vanilla right away. This does not smell like any energy drink or shot I have tried. I pour some in a glass and it comes out a nice caramel color with no carbonation. Taking a sip I get some vanilla up front with a bit of apple and maybe cream soda towards the finish. I think it could be a bit richer in the vanilla department but it is pretty good. It is also very unique and has no aftertaste at all. I will give them a grade of C- for taste. I can’t say I really enjoyed it a lot. I just think the vanilla needs a more creamy taste to it and lacked the richness I expected.
Kick/Ingredients: I drank the whole think pretty quickly. In about 30 minutes I was feeling more alert and awake. I’d say the mild buzz lasted me about 3 to 4 hours with a slight crash at the end. The key ingredients in XO are Taurine, Caffeine, Inositol, Vitamin C, and Sucrose. Pretty light line up for an energy drink. No B Vitamins or Guarana? You get 110 calories and 26 grams of carbs. Grade D+ for kick/ingredients. Not sure how much caffeine or Taurine it contains but it just did not perform well and that is a weak line up of ingredients.
Web Presence: They have a cool site at xoenergy.com. It’s green and I love green! Beyond that they have a nice layout that is easy to navigate. They have product info, packaging info, Questions and answers, Company info, and a store. Thing is the store seems to be sold out of every single flavor? Site seems a little out of date. I will give them a grade of C- for web presence.
Recap:
I had high hope for this drink/shot. The packaging looks great and holds promise of a good drink. I’m hoping that when I try the other flavors I will be more impressed (and energized). Not sure why their website seems to be sold out of everything. Kind of hard to make money that way.
