I remember the first time I saw a Bucked Up energy drink. It was in 2023 in Arkansas, I was in-town for a wedding and the name made me chuckle. Prior to selling energy drinks, Bucked Up was only a supplements company.

Bucked Up (the energy drink) has AlphaSize® (clinically shown to sharpen mental focus), TeaCrine (could help with fatigue, memory and thinking skills, and athletic performance), Beta-alanine, caffeine and Korean Red Ginseng. This contrasts with their other energy drink offering, Big Game (for gamers), which has none of the exotic things and half the caffeine.

I wasn't sure exactly what Miami would taste like. The color palette is cool and is clearly a riff on the aesthetic of Miami Vice. On the back of the can I noticed after I finished that it says strawberry / mango / pineapple flavor.

Immediately my impression is gummy candy, like the gummy worms they sell at gas stations sometimes, followed by a not-so-subtle coconut taste. There are a few drinks meant to emulate a piña colada flavor and this is almost one of them, except for the candy bit. Carbonated coconut water with the same syrup they use for gummy bears blended in. The coconut note is not far from the one in Mountain Dew Pineapple Orange Mango Kickstart.