In case you haven’t heard, energy drinks are back — big time. According to data from Circana, energy drink sales were up 14.6 percent in 2023, amassing a whopping $14.1 billion. Driven in part by the public’s growing interest in functional beverages, the energy drink industry isn’t expected to slow down anytime soon. Custom Market insights predicts that the category will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.3 percent through 2033.
But despite their popularity, buzz-inducing drinks have continued to come under fire for their often-extreme caffeine content. Panera Bread faced two wrongful death lawsuits in 2023 involving its since-discontinued Charged Lemonade, and the year prior, Logan Paul-backed Prime Hydration was sued for purportedly misleading customers regarding its caffeine content and alleged inclusion of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a.k.a. “forever chemicals.” With so many energy drinks on the market — and so much controversy surrounding them — it’s important to know just how much caffeine is in the nation’s most popular cans.
In what may come as a shock to some, Red Bull, the U.S.’s largest energy drink brand, actually ranks fairly low in terms of caffeine content with just 80 milligrams per serving. (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends a maximum daily caffeine intake of 400 milligrams for healthy adults.) Comparatively, Celsius — one of the category’s fastest-growing brands — packs a whopping 200 milligrams of caffeine per serving. And major player Monster Energy has a wide range of offerings with caffeine contents ranging from 140 milligrams to a colossal 300 milligrams, making it even more challenging to parse out exactly how much of a boost each can contains. (Scroll down for the full rundown.)
Curious to see how much juice is in your favorite pick-me-up? Check out the most popular energy drink brands and their caffeine content below!
The Most Popular Canned Energy Drinks, Ranked by Caffeine Content (Per Standard Can)
Energy Drink Brand
Milligrams of Caffeine per Standard Can
Reign
300
Bang
300
5-Hour Energy
200
Celsius
200
Prime
200
C4
200
Fast Twitch by Gatorade
200
Ghost
200
Alani Nu
200
Clean Cause
160
Full Throttle
160
Monster Energy
160
Riot
160
Rockstar
160
NOS
160
Vuka
160
Gorgie
150
Guru
142
G Fuel
140
Oca
120
Zevia
120
Ardor
100
Mountain Dew Kickstart
92
Red Bull
80
Monster Energy Drinks, Ranked by Caffeine Content
Monster Energy Flavor
Milligrams of Caffeine per Standard Can
Java Monster Triple Shot French Vanilla
300
Java Monster Triple Shot Mocha
300
Java Monster Loca Moca
200
Java Monster Irish Crème
200
Java Monster Café Latte
200
Monster Energy Nitro Super Dry
180
The Original Monster Energy Super-Premium Import
170
Java Monster Mean Bean
170
Rehab Monster Peach Tea
170
The Original Green Monster Energy
160
Zero Sugar Monster Energy
160
Monster Nitro Cosmic Peach
160
Monster Energy Reserve Peaches N’ Creme
160
Monster Energy Reserve Kiwi Strawberry
160
Monster Energy Reserve Pineapple
160
Monster Energy Reserve Watermelon
160
Monster Energy Reserve Orange Dreamsicle
160
Monster Energy Assault
160
Juice Monster Rio Punch
160
Juice Monster Aussie Lemonade
160
Juice Monster Khaotic
160
Juice Monster Mango Loco
160
Juice Monster Pacific Punch
160
Juice Monster Pipeline Punch
160
Juice Monster Papillon
160
Rehab Monster Tea & Lemonade
160
Rehab Monster Wild Berry Tea
160
Rehab Monster Green Tea
160
Rehab Monster Strawberry Lemonade
160
Zero-Sugar Ultra Sunrise
155
Zero-Sugar Ultra Fantasy Ruby Red
150
Zero-Sugar Peachy Keen
150
Zero-Sugar Watermelon
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Gold
150
Zero-Sugar Paradise
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Fiesta Mango
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Rosa
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Violet
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Blue
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Strawberry Dreams
150
Rehab Monster Watermelon
150
Zero-Sugar Ultra Red
141
The Original Lo-Carb Monster Energy
140
Zero Ultra a.k.a. The White Monster
140
Zero-Sugar Ultra Black
140
*Image retrieved from Kenny Eliason via Unsplash.com
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