COMPANY: Unique Beverage Company, Everett, WA
CAN DESIGN: I've been critical of Wired X before on their can designs. This one is orange with silver flames. ...Okay? There doesn't seem to me to be much thought put into the can design. The logo stands out which is important but why choose orange? With all of the juiced energy drinks coming out this is going to look like one of those in citrus flavor. Wired X needs to work on its can identities.
CAN DETAILS: 16 FL OZ, 220 Calories. Since this can boasts triple caffeine, which is usually an empty boast, I was impressed that they have a side-to-side comparison of their drink's caffeine, taurine, b12, and b6 levels to Red Bull, Rockstar, and Monster. One thing to note with b12 and b6, it is not necessarily healthy to have more vitamins. There is a myth that the more vitamins you take the healthier you are. The complete opposite can be true. Too much of one thing can make you sick. As with all things our body needs, moderation is the key. With Caffeine on the other hand--go wild, you addicts.
PRICE: 2.19 at Albertsons
WEBSITE: www.WiredEnergyDrink.com . I've talked about the website before. It has a clean design, wallpapers and wired girls. Really nothing to complain about except a recommendation to add regular content if they want to be an active site. However, I did notice one faux pas from a webmaster perspective. When you click on the Wired X girls wallpaper images you do not get a new window to open. It loads in the same browser window as the site itself. And with wallpapers there is no menu to speak of. So naturally I closed the window when I was done looking at the wallpaper and whoops, the site is gone. Not a good idea.
TASTE: The taste is one of my favorites--but is that because it tastes so similar to Monster Energy? Yeah, I'd have to say so. There might be slight differences but this is basically Monster Energy in a terribly designed can. Except for cost, my allegiance is to Monster Energy when it comes to this taste. Copycats are only worthwhile if they are below cost and Wired X 294 isn't doing that.
AFTERTASTE: nothing noticeable.
SUSTAINED EFFECTS: It's triple caffeine. You'll get wired and then you'll crash.
OVERALL: I still hate Wired X's can designs. The taste of Wired X 294 is great except it's a clone of another taste. As a knock-off I'd say they did a good job. But I don't think they want to be known as a knock-off.
WOULD I BUY IT AGAIN? Yes, but only if it was cheaper than Monster Energy.

GENERAL COMMENTS: I personally don't have a problem with knock-offs. But if Wired X wants me to take them seriously at the very least they could do something about the can design of 294. It just looks like it contains orange juice.