Does the best energy drink have to taste good? Is potency more important than duration? Although the energy shot is quicker for “on the go” consumption, the drinks we researched will hardly slow you down, so we’ve included both in this list. Here are the 10 best energy drinks and shots out on the market today, their active ingredients, and how they rate on taste, energy, and crash factor. The results were compiled based on energy drink reviews, customer ratings, and our own personal taste.
After viewing the final list we did consider adding a Red Bull product to it, but opted to stay true to our research and publish the ratings as is. We are interested to hear any feedback you may have on the subject, so please don’t hesitate to tell us your opinion in the comment section. It is also encouraged that you recommend any liquid products not listed here for future reviews and rankings.
10. NOS High-Performance Energy Drink 6/10
For NOS fans everywhere, there was much excitement when a new flavor was added to the mix. The new fruit punch flavored energy drinks contains over two ounces of sugar, or fifty-two grams. That is enough to take a normal person straight into diabetic land, but if sugar is not an issue for you, you may enjoy NOS’s new drink. Its other active ingredients include caffeine, taurine, L-Carnitine, inositol, Ginseng Extract and one hundred and ten calories in its thirteen and half ounce bottle.
Many energy drinkers said that it was simply too sweet and the sweetness was too cloying. They couldn’t choke most of it down, so ended up being a waste of money. It does pack an astonishing two hundred and nineteen milligrams of caffeine and almost seventeen hundred milligrams of taurine into its smaller sized serving. The kick from this drink is powerful, but the high amount of sugar leaves you feeling crashed out and jittery after you come down from the kick. This energy drink only rates a six out of ten.
9. Full Throttle 6/10
Full Throttle is one of the better known energy drinks, thanks to the marketing genuises at Coca-Cola. The active ingredients of caffeine, taurine, ginseng, carnitine, guarana, B6 and B12 are pretty standard for your typical energy drink. It does have a pleasant citrusy lime taste, and contains about two hundred and twenty calories. It also has one hundred milligrams of caffeine per eight ounces, so you get a staggering two hundred milligrams of caffeine if you finish the sixteen ounce can.
Full Throttle has been re-formulated, a few flavors have been discontinued and many people prefer Monster or Rockstar to this average energy drink. Although the taste is fairly pleasant, Full Throttle only rates a six out of ten.
8. Street King Energy Shot 7/10
Street King’s main ingredients include caffeine, acesulfame potassium, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and sucralose. The addition of sucralose keeps it calorie and sugar free, but many people do not love the aftertaste of sucralose, finding it bitter and unpleasant. This orange mango flavored energy shot comes in a two and a half fluid ounce black, orange and purple bottle. This energy drink claims to give you six hours of energy with no crash afterwards, and is endorsed by 50 cent (rapper/musician).
According to the back of the bottle, every bottle purchased helps feed a hungry child. This shot also claims that it has the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee, which is typically between eighty and one hundred and fifty milligrams. Overall, the Street King Energy Shot enjoyed a rating of seven out of ten stars, most customers would have rated it higher if it had not been for the unpleasant aftertaste.
7. Arizona Green Tea Energy Drink 7/10
If you love your green tea, but want more caffeine than what typical tea delivers, this is your energy drink. It is slightly more bitter than Arizona’s regular green tea, but still has a light and pleasant flavor. It also has taurine, B6, B12, caffeine, guarana, ginseng, milk thistle, inositol and glucuronolactone and two hundred calories in its sixteen ounce serving.
For those that are concerned with calorie intake, there is a light version that has a significantly less amount of calories. Although Arizona will never be a leader in the energy drink market, this is a great option for tea drinkers that want a bigger, better boost without having to give up drinking their tea. Arizona has been around for quite awhile now and has many faithful fans. Overall rating is a respectable seven out of ten for delivering a Red Bull comparable energy boost from its one hundred milligrams of caffeine, pleasant flavor and no crash.
6. Amp Energy Overdrive 8/10
Amp Original has been a long-standing customer favorite and this newest concoction has been highly anticipated. Its active ingredients include caffeine, taurine, guarana, yerba mate and panax ginseng. It contains about one hundred and twenty calories in its serving size of sixteen fluid ounces. Amp Energy Overdrive comes in an intense cherry flavor.
Amp Energy Overdrive will get anybody hopping out of bed in the morning with a whopping one hundred and sixty mg’s of caffeine. It also has more sugar than a king-size Snicker’s bar at fifty-eight grams opposed to the snicker’s fifty-seven grams. So, if you have sugar problems, Amp Energy Overdrive is not the right energy drink for you. Overall, Amp Overdrive gets an eight out of ten for pleasant taste, boost of energy and intense amount of caffeine.
5. Bite Me 8/10
It is hard to miss this bold and eye-catching energy drink as you are walking through the store. Bite Me’s offering of one hundred sixty milligrams of caffeine not only make it eye-catching, but eye-opening as well. Its other active ingredients include taurine, Vitamin B, inositol and niacin. It contains about one hundred calories and comes in a flavor its makers call ‘original’. Many people compared the taste to Red Bull, for some this was a plus, for others not so much.
This sixteen fluid ounce drink packs a powerful kick for a good two hours. Not as long as others out there, but the kick given is a very good one. Some have called it a red Bull clone while others think it beats Red Bull easily for its great kick, better taste and caffeine delivery. This gets an eight out of ten from caffeine buzzed fans.
4. Fuze Energy Drink 8/10
This is the best energy drink for those that ant the energy boost, but can’t seem to handle the massive amounts of caffeine in other energy drinks. Active ingredients include ginseng, guarana, B3 and B12. The taste is unbeatable, made from real fruit juices and contains no carbonation. It is smooth, not too sweet and delicious. The energy is more like a warm buzz than an in your face kick like most other energy drinks. While hard-core energy drinkers only rate this at about a five out of ten, caffeine sensitive drinkers gave this energy drink an eight out of ten.
3. Five Hour Energy – Extra Strength 9/10
You may have seen the commercials, over and over, but do these tiny little shots live up to their big claims? Customers everywhere seem to think so. The active ingredients are caffeine, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, B12, taurine, folic acid, citicoline, N-Acetyl and L-Tyrosine. It comes in a two fluid ounce bottle, contains only four calories and available in berry or citrus. Many people love how pleasant tasting Five Hour Energy is and love how it is not thick and syrupy like so many other energy drinks.
Although the majority of users said the energy did not last quite the five hours, more like a solid three, thanks to the sugar-free formula there were no jitters or crash afterwards. Five Hour Energy comprises more than seventy percent of the energy drink market and it is easy to see why with this energy drink. Overall, Five Hour Energy gets a nine out of a ten because it tastes great despite being sugar free, it has a good mix of vitamins and herbs and it delivers on the energy promise as well with its one hundred and thirty-eight milligrams of pure caffeine.
2. Burn Energy Drink 9/10
Burn energy drink not only has a hilarious tagline, ‘Chill It. Shake It. Drink It Like You Stole It’, but it also has ingredients unique to the energy drink world. Its active ingredients include taurine, arginine, glucuronolactone, panax ginseng, guarana and caffeine. With unknown ingredients like arginine and glucuronolactone, customers may wonder what exactly they are drinking.
Arginine, or L-Arginine, is an amino acid commonly sold in supplement form. It occurs naturally in many plant and animal products. Glucuronolactone is a chemical important to developing bodily structures like connective tiussues. It is naturally occuring and is also found in the gum of many plants. It is commonly sold as a supplement used in the aid for detoxification. Burn energy drink packs a ton of energy-producing ingredients in their sixteen ounce can. Burn is tart, sweet and slightly citrusy. Overall, most people found the flavor pleasant and would drink it again just based on flavor alone.
But, the favorite feature of this drink was the incredible and long-lasting energy kick it provided with no jittery crashes afterwards. Burn’s can claims to provide an astonishing one hundred and ninety-nine milligram dose of caffeine. Some people have reported sensitivity to the caffeine found in Burn as opposed to other energy drinks, and with that high of an amount, that is not very surprising. Overall, Burn Energy Drink gets a nine out of ten for its great taste, powerful kick and the best tagline of any energy drink ever created.
1. Monster Hitman Energy Shooter 10/10
Monster Energy Juice is a fan favorite of many people, and their shooter is no different. Its active ingredients include Vitamin B12, taurine, caffeine, Vitamin b6 and panax ginseng. It also includes a Monster exclusive energy blend consisting of guaranal, glucuronolactone, inositol, L-Carnitine and glucose. The energy blend sits at five thousand milligrams, while there is only six grams of sugar, so the energy kick is huge with no discernible crash later. The kick is lasting, often reported of up to four hours.
There are a few different Monster Hitman Energy Shooter’s but only slight differences between them. So, pick your choice and be prepared for a pleasant surprise. They taste better than the original Monster Energy drinks, deliver a boost few would complain about, lasts for hours and there is no horrible crash later. There is not too much not to love with this energy shot.
What We Learned
Energy drinkers all over the world love trying out the newest, latest and hottest energy drinks out there. Five Hour Energy and Monster Hitman were the preferred energy shot while Burn and Amp Overdrive were the favorite energy drinks. As with all beverages containing large amounts of caffeine, care should be taken when consuming them. If you are sensitive to caffeine, or become sensitive to caffeine, there are all natural alternatives out there that may be right for you.
