Let's talk drinks. I have a big caffeine habit, and I generally use various caffeinated beverages to keep me going when I need to work or want to game. That can mean coffee, tea, or any number of energy drinks.
But what if traditional energy drinks aren't specific enough for you? What if you need a nice, focused, buzz specifically so you can do your best ganking, no-scoping, raiding, or general gaming?
If you want that laser-focused product catering, you can find several gamer-focused energy drinks that are specifically designed for people who swear by the gamepad (or mouse and keyboard, or maybe fight stick—you see where I'm going with this).
I know, I know, gamer drinks sound like relabeled energy drinks. I decided to test whether or not that's the case by downing various gamer-oriented energy drinks. I found some surprising differences in flavor, presentation, preparation, and included supplements.
Surprisingly, only about half of these gamer drinks are available in the typical, canned, energy drink form. Three of the gamer-focused drink brands are primarily available as powdered drink mixes that you prepare with water in a shaker cup.
Virtually all gamer drinks contain caffeine and vitamins. However, many also add various supplement cocktails that include herbal extracts, amino acids, and other chemicals. The manufacturers often claim that this mix improves focus or reduces crashing. There's little question that caffeine and B vitamins help with energy and focus, but the effectiveness of the other supplements remains in question. On top of that, your brain chemistry will react to these supplements in different ways than mine, so I can't honestly say whether you'll find a given gamer drink effective.
I can, however, tell you how they taste, and whether I personally got anything out of them. Here's what I found.
C4 Smart Energy
Form: 12oz and 16oz cans
Flavors: Black Cherry, Electric Sour, Freedom Ice, Icy Blue Razz, and Peach Mango Nectar
Where to Buy It: Online. Possibly in some physical stores, but most only stock standard C4 Energy.
Caffeine Per Serving: 200mg per 16oz
Supplements: Cognizin Citicoline, N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, and Vitamin B12
How Is It? First, you should be aware that this isn't the usual C4 Energy you can find at your local convenience store. Those cans are mostly yellow, and they fit better in the "Non-Gamer Energy Drinks" below. C4 Smart Energy is specifically marketed as an energy drink to boost your mental functions, and has the supplements to match.
Freedom Ice is hilariously non-specific in its flavor, not quite nailing the popsicle taste that JuJu Energy's (listed below) Bomber Pop flavor delivers. Still, it's tasty and vaguely fruity. Peach Mango Nectar is full of mango flavor, and very sweet. This is an easy drink. In fact, it seems that nearly every caffeine-and-supplements beverage manufacturer besides Red Bull itself has been shying away from that weirdly sour Red Bull taste.
G Fuel
Note: This is different from Game Fuel. I know that's confusing.
Form: Mostly powdered, in tubs and packets. Also available in canned, premixed forms.
Flavors: About two dozen, including Blue Ice, Bubble Gum, FaZeberry (berry punch), Galaxy Grape, Iced Coffee, Moon Pie, and PewDiePie (lingonberry). All versions are sugar free.
Where to Buy It: Order online for the full range of flavors and types. It's also available in cans at some shops like Sheetz (which is better than Wawa, fight me Jerseyites and Pennsylvanians).
Caffeine Per Serving: 140mg
Supplements: Vitamins C, D, E, B6, and B12. Plus, G Fuel's Antioxidant Complex (various fruit extracts), Energy Complex (Taurine, L-Citrulline Malate, Glucoronolactone, N-Acetyl-L-Carnitine HCl, and velvet bean seed extract), and Focus Complex (L-Tyrosine, N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, Adenosine-5 ATP, toothed clubmoss aerial parts extract, and bacopa leaf extracts). It's a bunch of supplements, but nothing hit me too heavy.
How Is It? This has become a low-key favorite of mine since I first tried it out at a PAX convention a few years ago. It might sound weird to use a powdered energy drink, but it's more economical (especially if you use a coupon code, which G Fuel regularly offers on its site) and easier to store than cans.
Blue Ice (a standard "blue" flavor that hints at some sort of berry but doesn't actually specify which one) and FaZeberry are my go-to drinks. The supplements don't hit me particularly hard either way, but all those chemicals make a pleasant alternative to coffee when I don't feel like brewing a pot in the morning, or if I want to be more active later in the day. Fun tip: Use half as much water and blend ice cubes with the powder instead of using a shaker cup to make an energy slush!
Gamer Supps GG Energy
Form: Powdered, in tubs and packets
Flavors: Nine flavors, including Blue Razz, Dragonfruit Punch, Lemon Limeade, and Mango Meta. All versions are sugar free.
Where to Buy It: Online
Caffeine Per Serving: 100mg
Supplements: Vitamins C, D-3, B6, B12, and H, as well as Gamer Supps' n.r.GG Nootropic Blend that includes L-Theanine, L-Tyrosine, Choline L-Bitartrate, CoQ10, acai berry extract, goji berry extract, and ginseng.
How Is It? Smooth, fruity, and very sweet. I quite liked the Dragonfruit Punch flavor; it's a bit zippier than the usual red fruit/berry punch flavors. Mango Meta's mango flavor is strong, so keep that in mind if you dig mango.
JuJu Energy
Form: Powdered, in tubs and packets.
Flavors: Seven flavors, including Cherry Bomb, Blue Raspberry, Bomber Pop, and Horchata(!). All versions are sugar free.
Where to Buy It: Online
Caffeine Per Serving: 135mg
Supplements: Vitamins C, D, B6, and B12. It also contains JuJu's Gaming Energy formula that includes Alpha GPC, Lutemax 2020, green coffee beans (accounts for 45mg of the caffeine), bacopa monnieri, and cordyceps mycelium. Yes, cordyceps as in the mushroom. It's actually a supplement you can order and take in pill form, like ginkgo biloba!
How Is It? Sweet fruit punch flavors, like the other powdered gamer drinks I tested (unfortunately, the Horchata flavor was out of stock at the time of writing this). If you like popsicles, Bomber Pop tastes just like those red, white, and blue rocket pops. That's pretty impressive for a sugar-free mix.
Mtn Dew Amp Game Fuel
Note: This is different from G Fuel. I know that's confusing.
Form: 16-ounce cans
Flavors: Berry Blast, Cherry Burst, Orange Storm, Original Dew (Sugared), Raspberry Lemonade (Zero Sugar), Tropical Strike, and Watermelon Shock
Where to Buy It: Any place that sells both Mountain Dew and energy drinks (though I've found the zero sugar versions are a bit more rare). Can also be ordered online, by the case.
Caffeine Per Serving: 90mg
Supplements: Vitamins A and B6, plus the amino acid L-Theanine. Ginkgo and yerba mate, for some flavors.
How Is It? Well, it's Mountain Dew (or specifically, Mountain Dew AMP), in various familiar flavors. It's one of the simplest and easiest-to-find gamer drinks out there. It's caffeine, vitamins, and Mountain Dewness in a can, without nearly as many supplements as the "harder" gamer drinks.
Nerd Focus
Form: Canned
Flavors: Nerd Focus flavor. Tastes vaguely melon-ish?
Where to Buy It: Online, where it's sold by the case. It's also available at some convenience stores across New Jersey and in Texas (around San Antonio and southeast of Dallas).
Caffeine Per Serving: 128mg
Supplements: Caffeine and vitamins B2, B3, B6, and B12. Plus a nootropics and adaptogens cocktail that includes DMAE, Huperzine A, GABA, Alpha-GCP, and gingko biloba.
How Is It? Pretty tasty. The flavor reminds me of a non-alcoholic Midori, or a slightly less sweet Mountain Dew (with a green tint to match). Sort-of melon, sort-of citrus, not nearly as harsh in taste as, say, Red Bull. I had a can for breakfast, and it seemed to work about as well as coffee does (I drank it around 9:00 a.m., and it's after 1:00 p.m. and I'm still going, so that's a good sign). Nerd Focus sent me a case to test for this story, but if I could easily find it in my area, I'd certainly consider it a good alternative to the usual Monsters and Red Bulls that fill bodega shelves.
Non-Gamer Energy Drinks
Form: You know what these are. Your Red Bulls, your Monsters, your Rockstars. These are energy drinks you can buy in any convenience store. Let's take a quick look to see how they differ from gamer energy drinks.
Flavors: Many different flavors, but let's be real: The "standard" energy-drink flavor, as pioneered by Red Bull, tastes like rancid chewable vitamins, and Monster and Rockstar taste like nondescript sodas.
Where to Buy Them: Anywhere soft drinks are sold.
Caffeine Per Serving: Red Bull delivers 80mg per 8.4-ounce can. Monster and Rockstar offer 160mg per 16-ounce can.
Supplements: Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar are all loaded with B-vitamins and taurine.
How are They? Did you read the flavor section? I'm not a big fan. Don't get me wrong, I'll drink them if I need caffeine and can't get a cold brew, but they aren't my preferred energy drinks. All three have more caffeine per 16 ounces than any of the gamer drinks I tested, and honestly that doesn't make much of a difference to my caffeine-absorbing self. I find the powdered gamer drinks and Nerd Focus smoother to drink, and they leave me with a bit more energy than the caffeine-and-B-vitamins stuff you can get anywhere. Does that make me an energy-drink hipster?
R.I.P., Jolt Cola
This one just hurts me. Back in the day ("the day" as applies to Gen-Xers and early Millennials), Jolt Cola was beloved among hackers, programmers, and other tech heads. It disappeared in the late oughts, but returned for a short time in 2017, available at Dollar General stores and over Amazon. The new Jolt Cola site is still up, but its social media presence has been defunct since 2019, and you can't get cans anymore. Jolt Cola is again, it seems, dead.
But what say you? Which energy drinks do you prefer guzzling during long gaming sessions? Leave a comment below!
