So when I heard that Dr. Pepper was going to get into the energy drink arena, I thought I should give these things a try. I was sent a sample of both the Black Mamba and the Mojave Rattler variations. Basically, as I understand it, the Black Mamba comes with half sugar and glucose and then half is the dreaded sucralose, then you have Mojave Rattler, which is just glucose and sucralose.
The bottles are pretty cool, although they can mislead: I thought for some reason that the Mojave Rattler, being purple, was grape-flavored. For all I know it is grape-flavored, just overpowered by the sucralose, but we’ll get to that in a minute. The bottles are aluminum and feel sturdier than the larger resealable bottle/can/battery that Jolt comes in. And as result, when they are cold they are nice and cold.
Beyond that, we go straight into the taste. And I will give Dr. Pepper this: the Black Mamba, as much as I hate sucralose, is tolerable. When I unscrewed the top off I could just smell the fake sugar. And it’s not like I had my nose up to the bottle. It just, boom, was loose and in the air around me. And I’m not kidding. So I was worried this was all about to go south. What happens is that it’s got a rough taste to it, which reminds me a bit of Cocaine Energy Drink (but without the burn), then the sucralose kicks in, but just before it’s about to overwhelm you and make you saw off your own tongue with a butter knife lest that taste linger–the real sugar seems to kick in and return you to sane sweetness. I drank a big gulp to begin with and my eyes watered afterwards. I was able to drink this and actually finish the bottle, which is a testament to its taste. If you actually can stand sucralose on its own, then you’ll dig the hell out of this.
[ad#longpost]The buzz wasn’t bad, either, as each bottle comes with 160mg of caffeine. Of course there’s also 28g of sugar per serving (56 per bottle), but that’s no more than is in Coke. I was just surprised that 160mg could be so effective on me, what with my ridiculous tolerance and all.
Next up was the Mojave Rattler. The purple grape thing was completely wrong because it’s just, from what I can tell (again, assuming my taste buds weren’t driven mad with sucralose), it’s the same damn drink. Just with the sugars changed. No sugar, just the glucose and sucralose. As a result, your sugar amount goes down to 6g for the whole bottle, but remember that bit where the sugar rides in at the last second and saves the taste from annihilation? Doesn’t happen here. The taste just lingers on and on and on. So that bottle still has its cap on it because I couldn’t even get very far with it due to the taste.
Basically the shot is this: Venom doesn’t break any new energy drink ground for me mostly because it’s sucralose-laced from the get-go, and thus isn’t going to crank my tractor anyway. But knowing that a lot of you people might have to drink sucralose for medical reasons, or as self-flagellation for having killed a galaxy of broccoli-esque aliens or something, then Black Mamba might be a good drink for you. And if you are truly filled with tastebud-self-loathing, then the Mojave Rattler would be fine, too. Let me put it to you this way: I’d drink another free Mamba. I think I’d pass on the Rattler.
well…what WOULD “crank your tractor”? how would you improve it?
Caffleine: Thanks for the comment. I’d either dump the sucralose or at least do a better job of masking it. As tasty as the Black Mamba is with sucralose, I just imagine what it would be like without it.
Just because you are like a little girl and don’t like the taste doesn’t mean its not good. Venom energy rules!!
You know lots of little girls with beards like mine? I think that says a lot about you, sir.
I work for dr. pepper snapple group and this does not make your eyes waterlol. i have never heard that. its sweet yes, but its not going to engulf you when you open it… give me a break. i know your a writer but you dont have to lie
I’m not lying, John. That’s what happened. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I got a bad batch…with your command of the English language, if you were in charge of quality control I could see that happening.
End of the day, this beats Red Bull handily. I actually prefer it to many of the one’s I’ve tried. NOS, Monster and countless others that are all virtually indistinguishable, so it doesn’t matter which you throw $ 2.50 at. I do like the Rock Star energy drinks, especially the one’s with 50% juice (the rare Pomegranate to name names !) Rattler sounds like their lite (sugar free) version, so I’ll stay with Black Mamba too.
Jim: Glad to hear you don’t have the hatred for sucralose that I do. I admit freely I’d probably be smaller if I didn’t need a real sugar of some kind in my drinks. Thanks for the comment.
I tried my first one the other day. I loved it!Went to Walmart to get some and they didn’t sell it.Where can I get it?
Venom is now my favorite energy drink.
i just want to say that anyone who doesnt like any kind of VENOM energy they suck. VENOM rocks!
Allan: You do realize by typing VENOM twice in your comment you’re make our sucky site rank higher in search results for the term “VENOM,” right? Thanks for the assist!
I’ve tried red bull, monster and the like. Venom rattler has boosted the longest energy effects despite the taste…which is not that bad.
I drink energy drinks for the energy and Venom has it. Want one that tastes good? Try Killer Taipan mango flavored Venom. The energy kick in Venom comes from guarana. It’s a more powerful and longer lasting form of caffeine than the type found in coffee. Whenever you look for an energy drink make sure it has guarana in it. The B vitamins also help.
My 1st time trying this felt great. I just wanted to run and jump. i like this because this energy i can control
i have been drinking energy drinks for a while now not to say sence i am a young teenage girl had the exact ones- i had planned to drink both to keep me awake till the next day playing video games- the red one (mamba) was first (took me 6 hours to drink both) well it made me so hyper that i actully drove myself to hurt myself and have jetters @ 3 am. Then there was purple(rattler) helped me stay awake till ll a.m. which i went out at sunrise and ran around—just to say no regret with eather of them the taste was great just saying though if u dont have a distraction u will go crazy haha in a good way..
Johnston: Sounds like you may still be feeling the effects of the drinks even now. And that’s why I say to you: There are lots of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.
Review is just bad on the Rattler. The drink is a low-carb (now low cal) energy drink. Of course it will taste like crap compared to a drink filled with sugar. A real test would have been comparing it to the other sugar free/low carb drinks. It blows them away. Instead your entire review is thrown out the window by comparing a low carb drink to a regular sugar filled drink. Anyone that has ever drank a Coke than a Diet Coke knows what I am talking about.
Thanks.
Also what you should have done is compared Rattler to “Monster Low Carb, Monster Zero (Yuck), Red Bull Sugar Free, Rockstar Zero, any practically any other major label. Guys take my word for it. If you drink the low cal/carb ones like me than try a Rattler. The other venoms taste like crap to me but I don’t drink much sweet drinks. Buy a Monster and a venom and honestly compare them. They both have close to the same amount of carbs.
Nathan: Sorry that you didn’t like the review. My style of reviewing doesn’t work for everybody. Thanks for the comments.
Dear Mr. Widgett Walls, (if that is indeed your real name, which I highly doubt!) you make me sick.
I have a question for you. How dare you?
You obviously have no taste buds to not realise that BRAND X is far superior to BRAND Y. I’ve been drinking BRAND W for years and recently realised that it was experimenting with dead mouse brains to achieve it’s MAXIMUM PLEASURE OVERLOAD QUOTA. And I have to tell you it has had no side effects on me.
What was I saying?
Oh yes, you suck. Sugar rules. I totally beat your score on Donkey Kong.
Next time you try to review a bowl of fruity pebbles try not to spill so much milk on your chin. If your reviews were worth a damn you wouldn’t be hiding behind a fake name you big fakey fakerton.
Yours sincerely, CEO of BRAND V drinks.
My uncle’s name was Fakerton, actually.