Denoted on the green can with smaller type that boasts the phrase, "Nature is one bad Mother", Full Throttle Mother was designed to be the drink with "Energy from Natural Sources". Inspired by an Australian energy drink by Coke (called "Mother"), this beverage is notable because it features the flavor of the acai berry, found on a palm in Central and South America. Acai is popular because of its antioxidant properties.

Lightly colored, almost pink or peach in hue, the smell of Full Throttle Mother can best be described as odd. There's a fruitiness present in the scent, but it's bundled with a bitter/stale element. It reminded me of something you'd smell during a hike in the woods, perhaps even the bark of a certain tree. Needless to say, not exactly the most appetizing of scents.

The taste starts fresh and fruity, but then turns bitter fast. I'd say it's less like the fruity flavors found in the other Full Throttle drinks and more like a green tea of some sort, perhaps like Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale. But the overall feedback that both my wife and I felt was "ugg, this stuff is gross!" Perhaps that's why Coke formally discontinued it last year. The concept was to be natural, but the execution was a disaster.

Nutritionally, Full Throttle Blue Demon contains 142 mg. of caffeine, which breaks down to 8.9 mg/oz., on par with Full Throttle Blue Demon, but lower than Full Throttle and Full Throttle Fury. This also matches up with the original Amp Energy (8.875 mg/oz.), but below Red Bull (9.64 mg/oz.) and Monster (10.00 mg/oz.).

If you drink the entire can, you'll be ingesting 230 calories, 40 mg of sodium, and 53 g of sugars. When you take a look at the inclusion of nutritional supplements, this 16 oz. can contains 177 mg of ginseng extract, 1.4 mg of guarana extract, and 1182 mg of acai extract. There is no taurine in this beverage.

A full ingredient list is as follows:

Full Throttle Mother
Carbonated water, apple and pear juices from concentrate, sucrose, blueberry juice from concentrate, citric acid, natural flavors, acai extract, ginseng extract, caffeine, niacinamide (Vitamin B3), alpha tocopheryl acetate (Vitamin E), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), guarana extract, cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12)

Full Throttle Mother is the worst entry in Coke's energy drink line. The flavor doesn't resemble anything remotely describable and the overall taste experience is quite negative. Despite the claims of natural flavors with acai, it's not a good beverage. If you come across it for whatever reason, move along!

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Clearly noted on the can as possessing a "Blue Agave Flavor", Blue Demon is the berry-flavored offering from Coke. Blue agave, according to Wikipedia, "is a plant that is an important economic product of the Jalisco state in Mexico due to its role as the base ingredient of tequila, a popular alcoholic drink." Not that it's very important here, but given more of the Full Throttle branding, what's on the outside isn't necessarily what you find inside.

This drink would seem to match up with Pepsi's Amp Energy Elevate, although Full Throttle Blue Demon came first. The color of the drink is blueish, as expected, and it generates a berrish-scent. The drink itself was a bit underwhelming, in my opinion. It tasted a lot like the muted berry flavor you'd find in a Gatorade beverage, almost to the point of seeming to be watered down. The initial taste was strong and rather good, but the flavor just seemed to die out after that, leaving a washed out aftertaste. Not impressive.

Nutritionally, Full Throttle Blue Demon contains 141 mg. of caffeine, which breaks down to 8.8 mg/oz., just slightly lower than Full Throttle and Full Throttle Fury. This also puts in on par with the original Amp Energy (8.875 mg/oz.), but below Red Bull (9.64 mg/oz.) and Monster (10.00 mg/oz.).

If you drink the entire can, you'll be ingesting 220 calories, 160 mg of sodium, and 57 g of sugars. When you take a look at the inclusion of nutritional supplements, this 16 oz. can contains 177 mg of ginseng extract, 1194 mg of taurine, 1.3 mg of guarana, and 28 mg of carnitine. These numbers are far higher than found in original Full Throttle or the orange-flavored Full Throttle Fury.

A full ingredient list is as follows:

Full Throttle Blue Demon
Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, taurine, natural flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (to protect taste), ginseng extract, caffeine, carnitine fumarate, niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Blue #1, Red #40, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), guarana extract, cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12)

On the whole, Full Throttle Blue Demon had potential, but it's lackluster berry flavor hurt it in the end. Still, in my opinion, it tastes better than the original Full Throttle, but not as good as Full Throttle Fury. (I should also mention that it seemed to keep me up hours and hours after I drank the can, so beware!)

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Let me first talk about the packaging, however. If you look at this can, would it indicate to you that it's an orange flavor? The color is red, the name is Fury… just what the heck does that mean? Horrible, horrible branding. (There have been some recent sightings of a redesigned can that is actually orange in color and denotes the flavor in print, so perhaps Coke has learned from their mistake. They tend to be stupid. i.e. "Let's make Coke Zero with a white label!"… oh wait, black is better.)

Upon opening the can, it smells like orange. That's a good sign. As for the flavor, definitely fruity. The orange taste is obvious, but I thought I detected a bit of cherry as well. Maybe I'm way off, but the drink just didn't taste like a pure orange flavor. Think Mountain Dew LiveWire… or something else that doesn't quite feel stereotypically orange.

When compared to the original Full Throttle flavor, Full Throttle Fury is much better in the aftertaste department. Overall its a smoother, drink. There's somewhat of a bitter taste in the middle of the drinking experience, but it's not entirely bad. Overall, Fury produces a rather interesting, rich flavor. Huge improvement over the flagship. One would imagine that it would consider PepsiCo's Amp Energy Relaunch as a new competitor.

Like the original flavor, Full Throttle Fury comes in a 16 oz. can, denoted with the brand's aggressive flame logo, which is only made bolder by sitting on a red background. The "Fury" name is denoted in an orange-colored, brash font. The font logo panel also notes that this drink is "A product of The Coca-Cola Company".

Nutritionally (an oxymoron when you are talking about carbonated drinks), Fury is very similar to the original Full Throttle. It contains 144 mg. of caffeine, which breaks down to 9 mg/oz. This is on par with other drinks in the category such as Red Bull (9.64 mg/oz.), Monster (10.00 mg/oz.), and Amp (8.875 mg/oz.). An entire can will cost you 220 calories, 170 mg of sodium, and 58 g of sugars. When you take a look at the inclusion of nutritional supplements, each 8 oz. serving (there are 2 per 16 oz. can) contains 90 mg of ginseng, 605 mg of taurine, 0.70 mg of guarana, and 14 mg of carnitine.

A full ingredient list is as follows:

Full Throttle Fury
Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, taurine, naturalflavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (to protect taste), ginseng extract, caffeine, carnitine fumarate, Yellow 6, caramel color, niacinamide (Vitamin B3), pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), guarana extract, cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12)

Full Throttle Fury is a decent-tasting, orange-flavored energy drink. It's superior in many ways to Coke's original Full Throttle. Only the confusing packaging really hurts the beverage overall.

As of 2006 sales data, Full Throttle is the #4 brand behind Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar (Coke distributes Rockstar, but does not own the brand). Pepsi's SoBe No Fear and Amp brands round out the #5 and #6 spots, respectively.

The name and design of the Full Throttle brand hint at racing, probably more of the motorcycle variety. The logo is one you'd stereotypically associate with "bikers" and the Harley Davidson crowd, targeting 20-30 year-old men. The can design of the flagship drink is primarily black, highlighted by a silver logo with red and yellow attributes. It doesn't hide the fact that Coke owns the product, as at the bottom of the logo panels it's denoted as "A product of The Coca-Cola Company". The drink is primarily packaged in 16 oz. cans, though it's also found 24 oz. sizes.

Like most energy drinks, you'll find the basic popular ingredients included, such as lots of caffeine, ginseng extract, taurine, guarana extract, and B-vitamins. While it's not denoted on the packaging, the primary flavor of Full Throttle is citrus. In fact, upon opening a can, you are greeted by a sweet, citrus-y smell that also hints of scents you'd associate with your more common energy drinks. The color of the drink is yellow, similar to Mountain Dew.

As for the taste of the drink itself, it starts off sweet, with an influx of citrus flavor, however that experience ends quickly. A more energy drink-ish flavor kicks in after that, which isn't a good thing. Overall, I'd describe the flavor as something akin to drinking carbonated cleaning solution. Very medicinal aftertaste. The drink wasn't as smooth as I hoped, especially when compared to a cleaner flavor like that found in Amp, however it was leaps ahead of the bitterness experienced with Red Bull. The mild carbonation was just enough to give it a welcomed bubbly texture.

A 16 oz. can of Full Throttle contains 144 mg. of caffeine, which breaks down to 9 mg/oz. This is on par with other drinks in the category such as Red Bull (9.64 mg/oz.), Monster (10.00 mg/oz.), and Amp (8.875 mg/oz.). In contrast, Coca-Cola contains 2.9 mg/oz., while Mountain Dew clocks in at 4.5 mg/oz.

A full ingredient list is as follows:

Full Throttle
Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, taurine, natural and artificial flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (to protect taste), ginseng extract, caffeine, acadia, carnitine fumarate, glycerol ester of wood rosin, niacinamide (Vitamin B3), Yellow 5, pyridoxine hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), guarana extract, cyanocobalamin (Vitamin B12)

Nutritionally, a whole can will cost you 220 calories, 170 mg of sodium, and 58 g of sugars. When you take a look at the inclusion of nutritional supplements, each 8 oz. serving (there are 2 per 16 oz. can) contains 90 mg of ginseng, 605 mg of taurine, 0.70 mg of guarana, and 14 mg of carnitine.

Overall, I'm not a fan of Full Throttle. My hunch is that the only reason it holds the #4 sales position is solely based on parent Coke's distribution and marketing prowess, and not based on flavor. It's not the most pleasant tasting energy drink.