What is it?
Ghost Energy’s Strawbango Margarita Energy Drink is the second limited edition can and first athlete collaboration from the supplement company known for making calorie-free drinkable Sour Patch Kids. The collab is with Maxx Chewning, a fitness YouTuber and owner of the Sour Strips candy line, known for his love of deadlifting and, unsurprisingly, sour candy. Strawbango Margarita was released on Friday, September 9, as a Vitamin Shoppe and Ghost App exclusive.
How is it?
Spoiler alert: it’s freakin’ awesome. After my first sip, I exclaimed out loud, “oh man, this is good.” After my second sip, I started bobbing up and down around the room, repeating myself even louder, emphasizing the “GOOD” with even more juice. The can is beautiful, the taste is beautiful, and suddenly the day is beautiful… it is just caffeine, some vitamins, and nootropic focus ingredients in this thing, right?
If we dissect its name, the drink should have three things — strawberry, mango, and margarita — and it decisively has them all. Coincidentally that’s also the order in which I taste them. When it hits my tongue, I get a delightful sweet candy strawberry taste, followed by juicy mango, and rounded out with a bright, citrusy lime. When I think margarita, I think salt, and somehow I even get a hit of saltiness in the finish despite there only being 35 milligrams of sodium in the can. It may sound weird, but there’s also a touch of citrus candy, like lemon Pez, in the finish and on the nose, and it really makes the flavor addictive. The aftertaste left in my mouth when I (very temporarily) put the can down is 100% strawberry lime margarita, and it’s wonderful.
I was worried that this limited edition flavor would be too similar to the Ghost Energy Tropical Mango, but it’s very different. I just revisited that one two days ago in anticipation of this release, and this is much less mango-forward than the launch flavor from 2020. As a result, it’s much more complex and, for me, better.
Anything else you need to know?
I’m unsure if this was intentional or just my can, but the carbonation feels lighter than other Ghost Energy releases. The pop from the top sounded a bit underwhelming, and I’m not getting hit by the usual cascade of bubbles, but it works really well. Having less effervescence lets the sweetness really come through, and it feels even more like the adult beverage it’s paying homage to.
Conclusion:
This drink may not get you drunk, but it tastes so delicious it might just leave ya flyin’ high. The 200 milligrams of caffeine won’t hurt either, but this limited release is already soaring off of shelves (my store sold out of cases on the first day), so if it sounds good, run, don’t walk, to your nearest Vitamin Shoppe before it’s gone for good.
Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: 16 ounces
Purchased at: Vitamin Shoppe
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 5 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 35 milligrams of sodium, 1 gram of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.