(NEXSTAR) — If you’re one of the millions of people who follow Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on Instagram, you know he’s a beast in the gym. And while he touts hard work and grind as the reasons for his success, many of us have hoped there’s some secret formula that would give us his bulging biceps and towering traps.
Enter Dwayne Johnson’s new energy drink.
Johnson’s beverage is called Zoa Energy and comes in five flavors. The drink contains 160 mg of natural caffeine (from green tea and unroasted coffee beans) and is available in zero sugar or 100-calorie options.
For this review, I went with the original flavor in the sugar-free, 15-calorie version.
I’m not a big energy drink guy. The few times I’ve downed a no-sugar Red Bull, it left my stomach churning, so I generally try to stay away. However, I was compelled to give this a try because it’s touted as a “healthy” alternative to other energy drinks.
According to Zoa’s website, the drink contains 100% of your daily value of Vitamin C, vitamins B6 and B2, electrolytes and branched-chain amino acids.
The taste of the drink was fairly similar to a Red Bull but lacked some of the sting or aftertaste you might get with the latter beverage. For those who aren’t familiar with Red Bull, the flavor is certainly unique. Think of apple juice that’s burned a little bit and then carbonated. Though it may sound extraordinarily strange (and is), the Red Bull flavor has become the common taste associated with energy drinks.
The color of the beverage can be described as yellow or golden. It’s somewhat cloudy — like a heavier beer.
A few minutes into drinking the Zoa Energy drink, I could feel the effects in the form of a light tingle. The drink was pretty big and took about 15 minutes to finish.
I decided to down the drink early in the morning before an endurance workout with cardio and weights. I had energy throughout the workout but needed to keep an eye on my heart rate at times. I felt it got higher than it would without the drink, so there were portions of the cardio workout that I scaled back.
Did I get swole like the Rock after one drink? Absolutely not. But I’d like to still daydream and think there’s a 0.002% chance I could with a few more tries.
Bottom line: I’d try Zoa Energy again on days when I’m absolutely drained. It certainly provides a much-needed boost and, unlike the Red Bull, no stomach irritation.
As of now, the drink is available online in 12 packs for $30 plus shipping — or roughly $2.50 a drink without the shipping costs. It’s being rolled out in GNC stores soon and should be available on Amazon next week.