AMP Elevate Energy Drink Review

The readers have been getting on me to review the new AMP drinks so I have to oblige! The first of these new AMP drinks from Pepsi is AMP Energy Elevate. Elevate has a similar can to the new more professional looking AMP can that features Dale Earnhardt on it, but in blue. AMP Elevate is one of AMP’s new line up of energy drinks that each feature a functional effect and a corresponding ingredient. As such they are different than AMP Overdrive which is really just a different flavor than the original AMP but has no specific functional effect. The 16 ounce blue can for AMP Elevate looks pretty sweet and is one of the nicer edgy looking drinks I have seen in awhile. Pepsi has continued the tie between AMP and Mountain Dew, although now Mountain Dew is relegated to a little logo on the bottom right. The blue of the can is supposed to signal that AMP Overdrive is a mixed berry flavor and the functional ingredient is L-theanine which is supposed to hone the drinker’s focus by “bringing your mind to a whole new level to keep connected, focused and alert.” Given the poor performance of AMP, AMP Overdrive, and AMP Sugar Free I’m not optimistic that AMP Elevate is going to perform any better, but will keep an open mind.

The actual contents of AMP Elevate are a berry red color with some purple hues. The flavor is decent though not stellar by any means. I would say AMP Elevate lives up to the mixed berry moniker with raspberry, blackberry, boysenberry and even some blueberry in there. The sweetness level in AMP Elevate is done just right as is the tartness; both subdued to let the berry flavor to the forefront. There’s a richness to the flavor and consistency, but even with that richness there’s no depth of flavor. As you drink AMP Elevate you’re hit with this thick rich berry flavor but then it disappears quickly and has no sophisticated nuances to it. The medium level of carbonation plays nicely with the flavor, but it’s just not robust enough to be a go to berry drink like BooKoo Wild Berry.

The ingredients inside AMP Elevate are HFCS, citric acid, taurine, guarana seed extract, sodium hexametaphosphate, caffeine, maltodextrin, gum arabic, panax ginseng, L-theanine, B Vitamins, and BVO. I’m throwing the dubious ingredient tag on AMP Elevate for the combo of sodium hexametaphosphate, BVO, and gum arabic. Each can has 220 calories, 58 grams of sugar. Like most past AMP flavors they have skimped on the taurine using only a measly 296 mg. The other energy boosters also seem pretty light with 160 mg of caffeine and a paltry 24 mg of the special L-theanine. It’s like AMP puts in just enough so that they can market the ingredients inside. That is so weak! And weak is what the buzz is. I drank one can of AMP Elevate and waited and waited. Then I got a short mild energy boost. I really thought long and hard to see if my focus had actually improved from the l-theanine, but I didn’t notice any cognitive effect. So then I drank another can to see if it would help. The second can definitely elevated my energy, but again no bump in focus. Maybe you have to drink AMP Elevate regularly for the focus effect, but I think that’s lame. While AMP Elevate isn’t going to win any awards for it’s boosting capabilities, I would still put it at the top of the pile when compared to the other AMPs on taste with a slight edge on energy boost.

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