North Texas Daily

Written by || Spencer Kain

As back to school looms on the horizon, it’s about time to shamefully get back into consuming probably unhealthy mass amounts of caffeine in whatever form you like the best. Whether it be coffee of the hot or cold variety, sodas, or all those different energy drinks, I think we all can agree we need to get our energy fix in for the semester one way or another. There are so many options you can embrace when you’re feeling bogged down by all the many things you need to do for your classes and you need a little bit of a boost, but here I want to focus on the energy drink side and all the many options they have. 

Judging from the vast array of ones available already along the grocery store shelves, I am sure there are more energy drink brands that I don’t even know about simply because there are just too many to keep up with. But as an experienced longtime drinker of these things, I know which ones you might want to try and which ones you should probably avoid.

I am going to rank some of my favorite, and least favorite. It will be based off of their taste, ability to energize and overall variety of different flavors they have because I know how difficult it can be trying to pick the best one that is not only going to give you the right amount of energy, but also taste good.

As for my absolute favorite drink, it is one I am sure you have seen many times lining the shelves of many grocery stores and stocked to the absolute brim at the local 7-11, simply because it not only tastes the best, but it gives you just the right amount of energy where you do not immediately crash and burn after drinking it:

Monster Zero Ultra

This is arguably the best energy drink around simply because it has the best flavor of them all and it has zero sugar so you do not get that added buzz of the extreme sugar intake with it. This is the Monster that has the white can so make sure you are looking out for that one so you do not accidentally get the regular one!

The next one is a relatively new drink on the scene, but one that definitely has its perks:

Bang Star Blast/Cotton Candy

I picked these two specific flavors simply because I think they taste the best out of all of the other, many flavors that Bang has. A lot of the other flavors are good but these are simply put, the best tasting ones. Bang is a very good drink to get when you have a lot of work to do and want to stay up really late because it gives you a lot of energy, and I mean a LOT of it. It has about 300 milligrams of caffeine in one can, so tread lightly when drinking!

My next one is one that I feel does not get enough credit for how good it tastes mainly because I think people do not actually know it exists:

Red Bull Blue Edition

I say that because this one is honestly really hard to find in stores. If you do however find it somewhere randomly, I suggest picking it up for your caffeine fix because it tastes great. It has about 100 milligrams of caffeine — significantly less than other energy drinks — so it may not give you the boost you really need when you are swamped with homework, but it gets a lot of points for its flavor. 

Another one that I also feel almost no one knows about because it is so hard to find:

NOS Energy

I feel this one is a little bit hard to find because it does not taste all that great to begin with. It is not awful in the overwhelming sense, but it could certainly taste a lot better especially knowing so many that can taste really good. It has about 160 milligrams of caffeine so it will give you that much needed boost, but it leaves a bit to be desired in the taste department. 

Last but certainly not least, the energy drink that should be avoided at all costs:

Rockstar Energy

Rockstar has a lot of different flavors so points for variety, but the gag is that none of them taste good! It also has about 160 milligrams of caffeine in it, so a pretty good amount, but the flavor -or lack thereof- makes this energy drink just simply not worth the time or investment. 

There are many other energy drinks you can experiment with, but the ones highlighted here are ones I feel will do the trick in giving you what you need to help you get through those long nights at the library or your dorm room. Remember to not go crazy with these things, but if you are looking for good little energy boost, look no further than some of the best ones here and know to avoid the bad ones, too. 

Featured Image: Energy drinks line the shelves at CVS Pharmacy on August 5, 2019. Photo by Kara Dry