🔌Review - Costco's Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink

🔌Review - Costco's Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink - Peach

Released in the first quarter of 2026, the Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink lineup features three flavors: Orange, Tropical Fruit, Peach (this one). Modeled after Celsius Energy, the packaging evokes a "clean" lifestyle veneer with no high fructose corn syrup, GMO ingredients, or artificial colorings.

🛒Price: $16.99/24 ~$.7/each - Costco. Celsius is normally around $20/12 without sales, so figure around 95 cents savings per can vs. full sticker which is around 58% savings. I am seeing sales across CPG, including from Celsius but Costco's pricing advantage is strong.

✨Calories: 10, 12oz. can

🍵Caffeine: 200mg, around a third more than a cup of coffee, more than Monster and Red Bull - similar to Celsius.

👅Flavor: Yep that's peach - it tastes like the peach flavor you commonly find in flavored teas, not overly natural yet not terribly artificial. There is a slight minerality towards the finish but it is manageable. Compared to the other two flavors, peach is significantly less bubbly.

🧪Ingredients: Fairly standard other than the call-outs for non-GMO, No Artificial Dyes, and No High Fructose Corn Syrup. They do have a disclaimer that says to not drink more than two per day which does align with FDA guidelines for adult caffeine consumption at 400mg/day.

Sweetener: Sucralose
Energy Blend: Caffeine (200mg), Green Tea Extract, Guarana Seed Extract, Glucuronolactone, and Taurine
Vitamins: 250% DV of Vitamin B12, 120% DV of B6, 130% DV of Niacin, and 200% DV Pantothenic Acid, plus Vitamin C (70% DV). It also contains Chromium (140% DV), Biotin 1000%

🏆Rating: 2.75 - Decent - Costco's Kirkland Sparkling Peach Energy drink is a solid addition to their lineup, though I have it in third place of the trio.

⚖️Scale:

1 | Bad | Don't Drink it | I Wouldn't Drink it

2 | Poor | I would drink it if there was nothing else or it was free

3 | Good | Serviceable | Buy it on sale

4 | Great | A Cut Above | White Monster | Buy at full price

5 | Excellent | Standout in the Category | Pay venue prices

🥃Review 29: Costco's Kirkland Canadian Whisky - Is it Crown Royal?

Awarded 91 points and a gold medal by the Beverage Tasting Institute, Kirkland Canadian Whisky is known a great value and many in the popular culture have alleged that it is repackaged Crown Royal due to its relative quality for the price. But is it? 📚 Background: Kirkland first introduced their line of spirits in the 1990s and has expanded their offerings over time. While I wasn't able to find a first release date for this product, the first TTB label in the COLA database is from 2016. The whisky is imported for Costco by Wide World Importers in Louisville Kentucky. Digging a bit further reveals that Wide World Importers is an alternative name for SAZERAC . For me, this conclusively busts the popular myth that Kirkland Canadian is made by Crown Royal (a Diageo property). Sazerac has a number of Canadian Whisky brands in-house, including: Rich & Rare Reserve ($19.99 for 1.75L - No Age Statement), Seagram's VO ($22.99 for 1.75L - Aged Six Years),...

☕ All Java Monster Flavors Tasted & Ranked

As a habitual caffeine abuser, I have a soft spot for Monster, both for their expansive lineup of flavors as well as their support for Sports and E-sports. Coffee is my standard caffeination vector, so the Java Monster suite of products is the perfect mix of bean flavor and energy boost. In this post, I'll provide my personal rankings and rationale for what is a very strong lineup. Note that I have not been compensated in any way for this write-up... I just like them. Currently, Monster Energy 's Java Monster lineup has five available flavors: Mean Bean - Vanilla Irish Crème Loca Mocha - Chocolate Salted Caramel Café Latte There are two "triple shot" versions of the Vanilla and Mocha which contain 300mg of caffeine though their flavors are very similar to the base versions above. At this point, we should also take a moment of silence for the two cold brew flavors, sweet black and nitro latte. The nitro latte was a personal favorite and I quite liked the sweet black,...

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Costco's liquor store is a thing of beauty. While not every Kirkland edition is a hit, there are enough standouts on a fun per dollar ratio to always merit a look. Almost all of the house brands are less than $30, and I'm always excited to take a long shot when the new seasonal releases come around. 📚 Background: Distilled by Barton 1792 in Bardstown Kentucky, Kirkland Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey hits the shelves a few times a year. Mine was from batch 1124. The bottle presentation is supposed to evoke the same feel as other small batch whiskeys and there is a decorative purity seal that is reminiscent of the ever reliable bottled in bond green filigree, albeit in a meaningless red. Unlike its bonded brethren, this edition comes in under 100 proof and does not have any age statement. There's not a whole lot of additional information provided by Costco or the distiller, but we can reasonably assume that it shares a similar pedigree as the entry level 1792...

🥃 Review #40: Kirkland Islay Single Malt Scotch Whisky (2024)

Like Costco's other Scotches, the Kirkland Signature Islay Single Malt is bottled for Alexander Murray and imported by MISA Imports after being distilled and aged in Scotland (TTB.gov plant registry TX-I-1277). The isle of Islay is one of the southern most islands in Scotland and is one of the five whisky regions ensconced in law. There are only nine active distilleries on the island, and the Islay style is typified by strong peat or smoky flavors. As a single malt, we know that the juice in this bottle comes entirely from one of those nine! All of the distilleries are significantly smaller than Glenlivet and many of the mainland producers. Taste testing has people split between Caol Illa, Bruichladdich (Port Charlotte), and Bunnahabhain as being the source. Caol Illa and Laphroig both have done deals for private brand scotch without rights to name the source distillery, but Laphroig does not match the flavor profile for this bottle. Realistically, Caol Illa is the most likely cand...

🔌Review - Phorm Energy - Grape Smash

A purple explosion from triple threat partnership Phorm Energy, Grape Smash was one of the initial flavors in the company's drink portfolio. Phorm is the progeny of 1st Phorm nutrition, UFC's Dana White, and beer giant Anheuser-Busch. The brand focuses on a patriotic and blue-collar vibe with slogans like "We do the work" and flavors like " Screamin' Freedom ". 1st Phorm performs extensive product testing and all Phorm products are produced only in facilities that are FDA inspected, SQF Level-3 certified, & cGMP (Current Good Manufacturing Practices) compliant. 🛒 Price: $1 at Kroger, typically $2-3 per can in most formats. Available in 12 oz can 4-packs and 16oz. singles or 12 packs. ✨Calories: 15 , 16oz. can 🍵 Caffeine: 200mg, on par with Celsius (little less per volume), sourced from green tea extract. The 12oz. format has 150mg of caffeine. 👅 Flavor: This is the classic natural flavors grape that you're probably used to from Fanta or oth...

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