Thirsty Dudes :: Title :: Clean Energy

Runa Clean Energy Lime

Normally I am on board with guayusa. It’s a natural source of caffeine that I don’t need to feel terrible about consuming. Sure, it’s not my all-time favorite flavor, but it is by no means gross. It’s just its own unique flavor. Normally the other flavors mixed with it mask it a bunch, and everything works out great. In here I would say this is 80% guayusa and 20% lime. For my liking it definitely could have done with more lime. Lime is a flavor that can be as strong as possible and I wouldn’t complain. It’s very faint in here and it seems to make the guayusa shine a bit more. It was weirdly a bit plain, which I didn’t expect to use as a descriptor. I can imagine a world where this is what water tastes like and no one would bat an eye. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t entice me to drink more.

Website: http://www.runa.org/

Country: United States

Sweetener: No Sugar Added

Categories: Energy Drink, Iced Tea

Rating: 3/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on July 18th, 2018

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Runa Clean Energy

I can’t believe I forgot to review this. I had drunk one awhile back and I loved it. For some reason I didn’t do a write up for it. I was on tour, so it probably just slipped my mind. Cut to about two months ago and suddenly it shows up at my friendly neighborhood Big Lots, where old labels go to die, for 50 cents a bottle. I bought several cases and have been enjoying it ever since. Today I grabbed my last bottle (the store has since run out) and I couldn’t remember what kind words I had to say about this wonderful tea. When I looked it up, I realized I had yet to say anything, because I’m a big dumb-dumb head (or so children would tell you).

So far every Runa beverage that we have reviewed has gotten a 4 or 5 bottle rating. That may be the most consistently great per capita company we have dealt with. The reason for that is that they keep their beverages simple. It’s water, guayusa tea, cane sugar and whatever flavor that particular tea is meant to be. This bottle may contain 0% juice, but it tastes like actual raspberries and not some sugary garbage like most teas. One of the great things about Runa is that they have wisely chosen to have the tea be the most prominent flavor and the fruit act as the backup. It’s earthy, but a little sweet with a mild berry flavor. It also happens to be just what I want out of this drink. If it showed up at the store again I would buy every bottle they had in stock. I recommend you do the same. That is unless you live around Buffalo. In that case, I call dibs.

Website: http://www.runa.org/

Country: United States

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar

Categories: Iced Tea

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on January 17th, 2017

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Runa Clean Energy Blood Orange

Ladies and Gentlemen, I think I am finally getting old. I get creaks. I get aches. I fall asleep on the couch while watching movies at night. All of the telltale signs are there. On top of all that I have mentioned it seems to happen with increasing regularity that I need some sort of boost to get me moving in the morning at work. I always assumed that when people talked about needing their morning coffee it was due to their bodies getting used to ingesting caffeine. Now I am realizing that sometimes you just need the push, even if your body is not used to it. I try to not make it a regular thing, but at least once a week I find myself drinking something caffeinated in the morning (usually tea). This is a great alternative though. It’s a mixture of guayusa tea and fruit juice that tastes amazing even without added sugar.

In this beverage the fruit juice sits pretty evenly with the tea flavor and that is exactly where I want it to be. It’s not sweet, but it’s also not bitter. Everything about this falls right in the middle. All of the energy in it comes from the caffeine derived from the guayusa leaf, so it doesn’t leave you feeling insane. It’s just a gentle push to help you get through the morning. It’s just a bonus that it won’t leave you with gross coffee breath or unwanted calories from sugar. It’s simple, it’s delicious and it’s just what I want in the morning.

Website: http://www.runa.org/

Country: United States

Sweetener: No Sugar Added

Categories: Energy Drink, Iced Tea

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on December 5th, 2016

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Runa Clean Energy Sweet Peach

There is joy and there is sadness in the world of Big Lots. We tend to find a decent amount of tasty and interesting beverages there. If we find something we enjoy and we are lucky then it’s simply there because a company ordered too much, or there has been a change in the label and the company is trying to blow out their old stock. Unfortunately there are other times when a product is being discontinued or a company has gone out of business. This seems to be the case more often than not when I find something I like there, so I buy up what I can and enjoy the limited time I have with it.

Luckily in the case of Runa, their teas presence at the discount store is due to nothing more than a chance of label. I will still be able to find these delicious teas in the future, but you can bet your bottom that at fifty cents per bottle I will be buying up the stores stock.

It’s been awhile since I’ve drank an iced tea that has impressed me, so I was caught completely off guard with this. It’s no secret that peach flavored beverages tend to be a little much, and end up tasting candied. This tea is flavored with “organic peach flavor” and that apparently equates to a taste that is like a peach that is right on the cusp of being perfectly ripe. It has a sweetness to it, but also a vague bitterness that comes with unripe fruit. It’s a refreshing change of pace for this particular flavor. It also helps that they didn’t go overboard with the sweetener and there are only 16g of sugar in the entire bottle.

This drink is very smooth and you get a little kick from the caffeine that is found in the guayusa. Flavor and energy; this tea truly has it all.

Website: http://www.runa.org/

Country: United States

Sweetener: Organic Cane Sugar

Categories: Iced Tea

Rating: 4/5

Reviewed By: Jason Draper on November 28th, 2016

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Runa Clean Energy Berry

Can we all agree that your everyday energy drinks make you feel like garbage in the aftermath? There is too much sugar and too many weird chemicals in them, and as a result you crash and you either need to drink another one like a junky, or you deal with the “shakes,” or should I call them anti-shakes? For me at least they are a “break glass in case of emergency” type item, or at least they were until we started up Thirsty Dudes. Now I have a civic duty to feel like moose trampled me.

The main, and classic alternative to energy drinks is to drink coffee. That is also not for me. I can enjoy it if there are tons of chocolate and sugar in the mix, but I just do not like regular coffee. Again, I really don’t need all that sugar into my life either.

Runa is giving people another option. It is a sparkling juice beverage that uses the Amazon guayusa as a delivery method for natural caffeine and polyphenols. Each 8.4oz can contains 120mg of caffeine, which is more than in a regular cup of coffee. We’re talking more energy per square inch here people. On top of that it actually tastes great. It has a never rainforest berry flavor going on. You know if acai actually tasted the way you wanted it too, and wasn’t so intense.

Sure these cans cost more than a gas station coffee, but they are cheaper than you would pay for a coffee shop coffee, so why not go for the switch and drink healthier.