South African UFC Middleweight Champion Dricus du Plessis launched a new drink, Knox, with Checkers, so we decided to try all five flavours and rank them.
Du Plessis defended his title against Israel Adesanya in Perth this past weekend.
Before the fight, Checkers announced a partnership with Du Plessis to launch two locally produced products for sports enthusiasts and fans: his apparel brand Stillknocks and the new sports drink Knox.
Like PRIME, Knox is a hydration drink, not an energy drink. It is caffeine-free and low in kilojoules, with a mere 350kj per 500ml can.
It also has magnesium and taurine (a common ingredient in energy drinks) for extra energy.
Knox retails at R19.99 each and is available in five flavours:
- Lemon Lime,
- Blue Raspberry,
- Strawberry Watermelon,
- Orange Naartjie
- Peach.
Considering that many of our colleagues are fans of UFC and “energy” drinks, we decided to compare all five Knox flavours and compare them.
The results
During the test, it became clear that our staff’s tastes differ significantly. Some liked the taste of the five flavours, while others were not impressed.
The clear winner across the five flavours was Lemon Lime, with an average score of 6.53 out of 10.
Many said that the Lemon Lime flavour was a good balance between sweet and sour and tasted like lemon and lime, unlike some of the more artificial-tasting flavours.
It reminded some participants of other popular drinks, including Lemon Twist and Smirnoff.
In second place, with a score of 5.7, was the Peach flavour.
Participants highlighted the sweet taste of the Peach but criticised the can’s pink colour for being too similar to the Strawberry Watermelon, which could confuse customers.
Blue Raspberry took third place with a score of 5.58.
Despite some reservations over its deep blue colour, reviews said that the Blue Rasperberry was tasty, even if it did have an artificial taste. Some did have reservations over the smell.
One reviewer said it tasted like a melted ice lolly, while another said it reminded them of an essential oil (I’m not sure why they’re drinking those, but to each their own).
In a rather surprising twist, fourth was Strawberry Watermelon, with a score of 4.68. Many reviewers, including myself, believed the Strawberry Watermelon was the worst of all five.
Reviews stated that the Strawberry Watermelon was too sweet, had a revolting smell, and had an overwhelming artificial watermelon taste, with little to no Strawberry taste.
The flavour received four scores of 2 and a 1.
However, it also received the highest individual score, with two of our colleagues giving it a nine out of 10.
Responses ranged from “WATERMELON!!! Way more Melon Flavour than Strawberry (9/10)” to “Would rather drink Prime, which is disgusting (2/10).”
At the bottom of the list was Orange Naartjie, with an average score of 4.62.
Many respondents said the drink reminded them of Vitamin C medications, while others said it was too sweet or artificial.
| Rank | Flavour | Average Score |
| 1 | Lemon Lime | 6.53 |
| 2 | Peach | 5.70 |
| 3 | Blue Raspberry | 5.58 |
| 4 | Strawberry Watermelon | 4.68 |
| 5 | Orange Naartjie | 4.62 |
How they compare to other energy and hydration drinks
Notably, the five Knox flavours compare favourably and poorly to other energy and hydration drinks on the market.
Using the results from our Prime Test, where we compared Prime to 20 other sports and energy drinks, we can see that Knox’s flavours would make the top five and bottom five compared to its competitors.
Knox’s Lemon Lime flavour would be the fifth best energy/hydration drink in South Africa, beating popular energy drinks such as Red Bull, MoFaya Energy and Prime Energy.
However, on the other end of the scale, Knox’s Strawberry Watermelon and Orange Naarjie would make the bottom five and were only ranked higher than Switch Energy and aQuelle Energy:
| Rank | Drink | Score (/10) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monster Energy | 7.45 |
| 2 | Powerade Sports | 6.77 |
| 3 | Predator Energy | 6.73 |
| 4 | Energade Sports | 6.68 |
| 5 | Knox Hydration (Lemon Lime) | 6.65 |
| =6 | MoFaya Energy | 6.41 |
| =6 | Score Energy | 6.41 |
| 8 | Punch Energy | 6.27 |
| =9 | Slayer Energy | 6.14 |
| =9 | Red Bull Energy | 6.14 |
| =11 | Power Play Energy | 6.05 |
| =11 | Dragon Energy | 6.05 |
| 13 | Energade Boost Energy | 5.73 |
| =14 | Move Energy | 5.68 |
| =14 | OSHEE Sports | 5.68 |
| 16 | Knox Hydration (Peach) | 5.65 |
| 17 | Knox Hydration (Blue Raspberry) | 5.53 |
| 18 | PRIME Sports | 5.41 |
| 19 | aQuelle Sports | 5.36 |
| 20 | Bioplus Energy | 5.27 |
| 21 | ReBoost Energy | 5.18 |
| 22 | Lucozade Energy | 4.82 |
| 23 | Knox Hydration (Strawberry Watermelon) | 4.68 |
| 24 | Knox Hydration (Orange Naartjie) | 4.62 |
| 25 | Switch Energy | 4.50 |
| 26 | aQuelle Energy | 3.14 |
Unlike the Knox Flavours, we used only one flavour from the other energy/hydration drinks in our Prime Test. A more comprehensive comparison would have seen us try every flavour from each brand. However, this would probably send us to the hospital. This article is for fun, so please don’t email us complaining that your favourite drink ranked poorly.
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