We Tried Alani Nu’s New Holiday Flavor: Winter Wonderland

It’s the most wonderful time of the year: Alani Nu has launched a new wintery energy drink! We’ve been waiting very un-patiently for this one ever since it first leaked online back in September. This release was especially intriguing since the flavor was a total mystery—at first. That’s right, we’ve got new developments regarding this mystery flavor! Alani Nu themselves aren’t announcing the flavor because, quote, “We don’t want to ruin the holiday magic.” But luckily, a leaked Alani Nu graphic I found online described the flavor as “Coco Berry Bliss.” Read on to find out whether this Alani Nu new flavor is truly as blissful as they’d like us to think.

New Holiday Alani Nu!

Winter Wonderland Alani Nu Energy

Target

Pros: The coconut flavor is much stronger than the berry flavor, that’s for sure. I really like this flavor, but I’m a sucker for coconut. I had a few of my Alani Nu-loving test subjects try this flavor, to mixed results. Most people liked it, but the folks that didn’t like it really didn’t like it. Someone in that latter group described it as “sunscreen flavored” and I see where they’re coming from. This doesn’t strike me as wintery in any way, but maybe they’re going for some kind of wistful “remember how summer feels” thing.

Cons: In my initial coverage of Alani Nu Winter Wonderland, I wrote the following sentence: “I don’t imagine Alani Nu would transparently rip a flavor profile from another company.” This was referring to the idea that Winter Wonderland might try to duplicate a previous Red Bull Winter Edition. Folks? I’ve never been more wrong. Because this isn’t a one-to-one replication of a previous Red Bull Winter Edition—it’s a dupe of a normal Red Bull flavor. Specifically, my favorite year-round Red Bull, the one that comes in a white can: Coconut Berry. No wonder Alani Nu isn’t revealing that the flavor is Coco Berry Bliss, because that’s practically already taken by another energy drink. I’m truly at a crossroads. I like this seasonal Alani Nu flavor quite a bit, but it’s not as good as the energy drink it’s trying to replicate and it’s super off-brand for the season. Would it have been so hard to just do cranberry?

Credit: Liv Averett / Target

Rating:

6.5/10

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