Visual Guide Of 50 Energy Drinks

How does your favorite energy drink stack up against the other options out there? I’m breaking down 50 popular energy drinks in this post to see how the caffeine content compares.

There is no shortage of energy drinks out there, and the list seems to keep growing.

When I originally wrote this energy drink caffeine comparison, I only looked at 16 different energy drinks. In this post, I am breaking down 50 different energy drinks.

Now, this is only a caffeine comparison, and I am not getting into the nitty-gritty of all the ingredients and added benefits a drink may have. In terms of “health,” some energy drinks may be much more appealing than others, but I wanted to keep this guide to caffeine only.

If you’re curious how your favorite energy drink stacks up against the competition, read on.

Energy Drink vs Coffee vs Tea Caffeine

It’s easy to fall into the assumption that energy drinks contain significantly more caffeine than coffee, but that is not the case at all.

Based on the information in this post, we can conclude that the average energy drink contains 210mg of caffeine per 16oz (this is based on scaling every energy drink to 16oz and then finding the average).

If we compare other 16oz beverages, we can see that energy drinks are right on par with coffee in terms of caffeine:

The average 16oz energy drink contains 210mg of caffeine, the same as a medium coffee from Dunkin‘. A grande coffee from Starbucks contains even more caffeine than an energy drink with 310mg.

Cold brew can be a bit misleading because while they are listed as having less caffeine than an energy drink, they contain less liquid overall due to ice. If we removed the ice, 16 ounces of cold brew coffee would surely contain more than 210mg of caffeine.

Energy drinks often contain other stimulants in addition to caffeine, so you’ll need to take those into account, but the caffeine content should not automatically scare you off.

Caffeine Content of Every Energy Drink

Let’s kick this off with a visual guide for the caffeine content of energy drinks.

Below this infographic, I will list each drink from least caffeine to most, allowing me to provide additional context about a drink if necessary.

How Much Caffeine is Too Much

If you check out my caffeine comparison for Dunkin & Starbucks, you’ll see that caffeine content for coffee is all over the map. Depending on the type of roast, brewing method, etc, the caffeine can vary pretty widely.

I like to estimate that a small cup of coffee will typically have around 100mg of caffeine. If you’re like me and drink a big cup (or glass) of coffee, you’re looking at around 200mg of caffeine.

If you were to have 2 of those coffees per day, that’s about 400mg of caffeine.

According to the FDA, 400mg is the recommended caffeine consumption limit. Since tolerances vary, you may very well be able to handle more caffeine without any ill effects, but this is the general rule of thumb.

If your coffee consumption is very high, you may already consume more than 400mg of caffeine, which can be fine. It’s very individualized, and that may work fine for you, but consult a physician if you are unsure.

For me personally, I try to cap my consumption at 500mg per day. Some days just call for a large cold brew, so it may end up north of this, but that’s generally what I aim for.

Some energy drinks contain 300 mg of caffeine, so if you were to pair that with a coffee, or drink 2 of these energy drinks on a given day, you can quickly go over your usual caffeine consumption limit.

Are Energy Drinks Healthy?

Remember, we all define “healthy” differently, so we can’t answer this definitively.

However, I’d like to point out that many energy drinks are indeed healthy by most definitions of the word.

They’ve gotten a bad rap as being mostly sports drinks with caffeine, but over the years, energy drinks have evolved a lot.

Sure, some options have a ton of added sugar, and that may not be ideal for you. But most energy drinks offer a low-calorie and sugar-free option, making them great options for anyone on a low-calorie diet.

At the end of the day, coffee is the “healthiest” kind of energy drink, as it is just one ingredient, free from sugar, and completely natural.

But that being said, many energy drinks out there today are organic or completely natural. With caffeine from natural sources, and added vitamins or antioxidants to boot, many of the options today are perfectly healthy.

All of that being said, you don’t HAVE TO identify the healthiest option. If you want an energy drink and it has a ton of sugar, that’s perfectly okay to enjoy. It may not be ideal to consume that every single day, but you can enjoy whatever drink you’d like.

Everything in moderation.

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