UPDATE (Nov. 2020): After maintaining a $.69 price point for a few years, the price of these has raised steadily since 2019, going up to its current price of $1.09. Score has been updated accordingly, with new review notes in italics below.
Energy shots seem to be all the rage lately. Personally, and as I have mentioned in several reviews before, I would much rather drink mine out of a can, preferably one that holds 16 oz. of liquid in it. I like the carbonation, and I like savoring mine, so that I feel like I’m controlling the amount of caffeine and energy bursts that I’m getting.
But sometimes I’m just tired, and I need something that’s going to kick me into gear without much waiting time. The name brand definitely does that for me, but they cost at least $2 per small, single serving shot; if I don’t want to pay that for a 16 oz. can, I sure as hell don’t want to pay those kinds of prices for what amounts to one or two small sips of something. That’s where Aldi comes in.
These are always hiding at the checkout counter, at least at my local store, rather than the energy drink section, and there’s never a listed price on the shelf. Then again, even when there was a price on them, it was wrong–for the longest time, these were advertised in our store for $.89. Even for that price, these would be highly recommended for value; the energy comes fast and furious, there’s no crash considering there’s no sugar, and these taste really good. In other words, you get pretty much the exact same performance as the national brand, for a fraction of the cost.
Maybe that misprinted price was just a harbinger of things to come, as the price did eventually raise: from $.69 to $.79. Then a few months later, it went up to $.99. Now, in 2020, it has hiked up yet again to $1.09, which is a pretty steep increase in such a short amount of time. This leads to the potential for further issues: considering its steadily rising rate, how high will it continue to climb before it finally “settles”? At any rate, these are still great energy shots and are highly recommended, just not with the same level of excitement as before.
Overall: 8.5/10 (-1.5). After offering these shots for $.69 for years, the cost has steadily risen since 2019, eventually reaching their current price point of $1.09. That’s quite a steep increase within the span of a year! And with the cost consistently raising every few months over the last year, it begs the question: how high will it go? Even at its current price, these are highly recommended; just not with the same over-the-top enthusiasm as before. Points just simply cannot be deducted. What we have here is a knockoff of the five-hour energy shots that seem to be everywhere. Now, I much prefer the larger cans, because I like sipping and savoring them, but when I need a quick kick in the rear, these things deliver in spades. They have very similar (if not exact) stats to the national brand, taste excellent despite being sugar-free, and best of all are a mere $.69! Energy seekers rejoice–then head to Aldi and stock up on these! About as close to a perfect product as they have ever offered, when both taste and value are taken into consideration.
