Where to start if you have never had one
Which energy drink flavour you start with matters more than it sounds, because the first can sets what you compare everything else to. Thirty eight cans across four ranges is enough to become a decision, and a decision is enough to make somebody close the tab. So here is the short version, arranged by what you already know about yourself rather than by what we would like to move off the shelf.
First question: which kind of drink
Four ranges, three kinds of drink. Guilt Free Pleasures and Sweet Sins are fizzy fruit energy drinks. Herbal Delights are still iced teas brewed from real black and green leaf. Coffee Culture is cold brew coffee, two of them black and eight of them iced lattes. If you already know you want tea or coffee rather than fruit, you have just skipped thirty of the cans.
Second question: sugar or not
This only splits the fruit cans, and it splits them cleanly. Guilt Free Pleasures are made without sugar and finish dry. Sweet Sins are made with sugar and do not pretend otherwise. Neither is the sensible choice or the indulgent one; they are two different drinks. The teas and the coffees are all made without sugar, so twenty seven of the thirty eight cans have none in them. The shop filters on it in one click.
Third question: what sort of taste
The shop groups flavours by taste rather than listing every name, because nobody browses by name until they already have a favourite.
- Citrus is the sharp end: Citrus Havoc, Orange You Glad To See Me?, Green Tea Yuzu Zen.
- Berry is the crowd pleaser: strawberry, cherry, grape, blue raspberry and two of the black teas.
- Tropical is the loud one: mango, guava, banana, dragon fruit and passion.
- Orchard is the soft, sweet end: peach, fig, date, melon and pear.
- Roasted is the whole coffee range, from black cold brew to caramel and hazelnut.
- Botanical is the odd corner, and on purpose: Mint Frenzy and Green Tea Jasmine Citrus.
If you have no idea
Take four different cans from the shop and let the fridge decide over a week. Finding out which one you reach for on a bad afternoon is more useful than any description on this page.
A note on the concepts
Four flavours in Guilt Free Pleasures are marked as concepts. Their artwork is finished and their recipes are written, and they are not drinks you can hold yet. We list them because pretending the range is further along than it is would be a strange way to start a relationship.
Six picks, and which energy drink flavour each one is for
Take these in order. The first one you nod at tells you which energy drink flavour to buy.
- You dislike sweet drinks. Grape Madness. It is the driest can we make and the one people who say they hate energy drinks tend to finish.
- You want the loudest thing on the shelf. Mango Riot. Ripe, tropical, no apologies.
- You want something in the middle. Strawberry Fever. It is the safest can in the range and there is no shame in that.
- You came here for sugar. Anything in Sweet Sins. Them Melons Tho is the easiest way in.
- You want tea rather than fruit. Green Tea Yuzu Zen. Still, not fizzy, sharp with yuzu, and it reads as a different drink entirely.
- You want coffee rather than either. After Hours. Cold brew with milk and an Irish cream flavour, no sugar and no alcohol.
Does the caffeine strength change the flavour?
No. Every can comes in three strengths at the same price, and the recipe underneath does not move, so you can find the flavour first and set the caffeine afterwards. On the fruit cans the three are none, standard at 80 mg in a 250 ml can, and a boost at 96 mg. On the teas and coffees, where the caffeine comes from the leaf and the bean, they run light at 40 mg, standard at 80 mg and the same 96 mg boost. For reference, the European Food Safety Authority puts a single dose of 400 mg of caffeine a day in the safe range for most adults, which is five standard cans.
How many should you buy the first time?
Four. It is the first volume tier, so it is ten percent cheaper per can than buying one, and it is enough to drink the same flavour on a good day and a bad one. One can tells you whether you like the first sip. Four tells you whether you like the drink.
The whole shelf, with filters for sugar and taste, is in the shop.
