Duff Energy Drink product reviews

The Duff can is iconic. Any kid growing up in the 90s and noughties, knows Duff. The Simpsons have been on the air for so long, that it would be hard for anyone to not know this can design. However, usually it's as a beer. My kids thought that it was a beer when I arrived home with it. My husband thought much the same.

However, this is not a beer but a energy drink. When I heard that it was orange, I was not too worried. I am not a huge orange fizzy drink fan, but this was an energy drink too. So I was expecting the orange to be there but masked in part with the other flavours I have come to associate with energy drinks. When I opened the can, we could all see the colour was a deep orange. The scent of orange came off the bubbles too.

I picked up the glass and had a swig of the drink. It tasted a lot like a sweet orange fizzy drink. There were none of those energy drink characteristics. I passed the glass to my husband. He really enjoyed it, but then he likes orange fizzy drink. He thought it was delicious. As he drinks a lot of energy drinks, I let him finish it.

After a few hours, I asked him if he felt like it was an energy drink of sorts. He was not convinced, but he still enjoyed the flavour immensely and thought it would be worth buying again. So I may well buy him more in the future. I think for pure novelty, or as a gift for a die-hard Simpson fan, this would be an awesome purchase.

Duff! My childhood television programme became real by seeing this little red can. And although it was a non-alcoholic version, it was still exciting to try something made famous by The Simpsons. The can was almost too pretty to open and try! So first up is the appealing can. It would definitely make me look twice on the shelves and make me pick it up and look more into what the can was about. That may be because I love The Simpsons, and the can takes on a characteristic form.

For an energy drink, the taste of guarana isn't as strong as other cans on the market which I really liked. Those typical 'energy' flavours aren't what I enjoy so often shy away from energy drinks. It has a very yummy fruity orange taste, which was definitely different to others I've tried. There was no lasting after taste so perfect to have with food without it playing with other flavours. It was definitely a drink worth drinking when chilled, as it lost it's edgy orange taste as it got warmer.

I felt it was a flavour caught between being a fizzy soda drink and an energy drink, with no distinct flavour either way. A happy medium between the two for me. I didn't feel any 'buzz' though that energy drinks are meant to give off, but then I've never experienced that with others either. The price compared to other drinks on the market by size was on the high side, but so worth trying (especially for those The Simpsons fans!) An awesome marketing ploy which caught my attention and wanted to try! I could see me buying this for friends who love American drinks and candies.

Growing up I used to watch The Simpsons almost every night, and even now I will sometimes still watch it when it is on. My partner's brother is the biggest Simpson's fan I know, and so several years back when I was trying to find him a Simpson's related present for Christmas I somehow stumbled across The Simpson's Duff Energy Drink and decided to buy it for him, he himself loved the drink, and the can even moreso as it now sits in his lounge amongst his other Simpson's memorabilia. So when I saw the Duff Energy Drink available for review I decided to take a chance and try it for myself as I was intrigued as to what it would taste like.

Although the can resembles the can of drink that Homer Simpson is continuously drinking on the show, it is completely different as this in fact an orange flavoured energy drink and not a beer like Homer would be drinking! Upon my first taste I thought it tasted a lot like fanta and was very similar to that in colour, however after several mouthfuls I got the usual taste in my mouth which I usually get when drinking energy which reminded me this was in fact a energy drink and not a can of fanta! The bottle does list caffeine and guarana in the ingredients after all. As far as lifting my energy levels go, this did provide me with a boost of energy for a couple of hours at least and this was exactly what I needed to get through the last few hours of my working day.

Though this was pleasant tasting it is probably not something that I would buy for myself again, as I consider it to be more of a novelty item than a every day energy drink. However I would definitely buy it for any huge Simpson's fan I know.

Having been a Simpsons fan years ago, I of course knew the brand "Duff" but only as a beer, so when I had the opportunity to test some for review, I was initially expecting something brewed and alcoholic. Imagine my surprise to find an energy drink instead!

Reading the can, it stated that it had an orange flavour, so I was thinking it could be like the "Not Orange" V from a few years ago, or maybe like Fanta with a bit of a caffeine kick. To be honest, neither option really held much appeal, so my doubts started to creep in. However, upon opening the can and taking a sip, I was pleased to find that it didn't have that 'awkward' orange flavour of the "Not Orange" V, and wasn't anywhere near as sickly sweet as Fanta.

To try and define the taste in a written review would be pointless, it has a unique quality that I couldn't hope to describe properly, and while it wasn't a taste that really grabbed me, it wasn't in any way unpleasant either. It's one of the flavours you're probably going to take a few cans to get used to, and then you'll know you either love it or hate it. For me, after only a single can, I know it's one that I'm no no huge hurry to go out and buy, but if someone offered me a can, or I found it on special somewhere, I would be happy to give another go.

Overall, it will be one of those drinks you'll have to make your own mind up on. It's sweet but not overly so, it has a faintly detectable bitterness of caffeine but it is only faint, and there's enough orange flavour sneaking through to soften it all down... but just like the Duff Beer in the show, this is NOT one I would be OK with giving to the kids to drink.

Just like many people in New Zealand, I've grown up watching The Simpsons and Homer enjoying his favourite Duff beer. My maiden name is Kilduff so right throughout my childhood I was teased for making Homer angry by "Killing the Duff" - soo original... When I saw this Duff energy drink come up for review I knew I just had to try it! I was very happy when I saw it arrive in my box of goodies for this round and couldn't wait to give it a go.

I decided the perfect oppoturnity to drink this would be while I was driving down the North Island from Auckland to Palmerston North. It's a long drive in good conditions but this particular trip was made longer by the amount or road works currently happening pretty much the entire drive. At around 2 hours into the trip I was feeling a little dreary and decided then would be a great time to crack open the Duff energy drink.

I had kept it in the fridge before I left and had popped it in a chiller bag in the car so it would remain chilled until I wanted to drink it. On first taste it reminded me of Miranda or Fanta really. It had an artificial orange flavour, which you would expect looking at the ingredients list but still had the delightful properties of an energy drink including guarana and ginseng which gave me the energy hit I was looking for. The hit lasted for a good 2 hours at least, just enough time for me to get some lunch in me.

My brother and his wife were in the car with me and both of them had a taste of the drink too. My brother thought the can was pretty cool and a novelty but the actual taste of the drink also reminded him of other orange flavoured drinks currently on the market, the only difference being the guarana and ginseng.

I really like the can and how it's been designed, especially the little details like the Simpson's logo, but ultimately it is a novelty and if I bought it again it would just be because of the resemblance it has to the drink on The Simpsons. I thought the flavour was ok not something I would go out of my way to find as there are readily available drinks that taste the same already on the market (although they are not energy drinks). If there is someone out there who absolutely loves orange flavoured drinks and really wants an energy hit I would definitely recommend this can to them.

I wanted to try this drink because I was intrigued by the name and also because it was advertised as an energy drink, so I thought it might make a change from my usual black coffee. So I was happy to be selected to review it; I put it into the fridge as soon as I got home so it would be ready chilled. Not that it stayed there for very long!

The Duff drink beloved of Homer Simpson contains beer, but this version is non-alcoholic (an important point when you are at work and/or intending to drive!). It contains about the same amount of caffeine as a standard coffee when you factor in the guarana content, so is an ideal substitute to drink on a summer day when a hot coffee is not the best choice. It also contains ginseng which is another natural stimulant. In fact, looking at the list of ingredients, I would not drink more than one a day, and probably not late in the evening!

However, apart from the stimulant properties of the product, it has a wonderful flavour - strongly orange, and with none of the acid aftertaste you can often experience with commercial energy drinks. I used most of the tin served in a cup as a plain drink, but saved about a quarter to mix later (ie after work) with vodka. This was even better! Vodka is really nice with freshly squeezed orange, but I enjoyed the vodka-and-duff version just as much. The sweetener used is high fructose corn syrup which is actually sweeter than sugar, so the effect was more that of an RTD than a high profile branded vodka-orange mix.

About half an hour after finishing the serving in the cup, I was feeling quite alert. I had had a late night and had then been working for several hours without a break, so it was a good time to test it for energy-boosting qualities. The remainder, which I had with the vodka, did not have the same effect of course because the vodka cancelled it out! But certainly the earlier drink pepped me up in the same way as a cup of coffee would have done.

I will buy it again if only for the can - as a Simpsons fan I appreciate the clean, simple lines of the design and the comic-book-reminiscent use of colour. If I am going to buy 'junk" food or drink I like it to have thoughtfully presented, and this product certainly passes the visual-appeal test. Clearly there has been a lot of planning put into this can in order to target a specific audience. They certainly caught my attention!