What is the best sports drink? It’s a drink that tastes good and helps replenish your fluids. Sounds pretty appetizing, right? Okay, let’s go deeper. The best sports drinks are flavorful—but not too sugary—packed with replenishing electrolytes, and extremely refreshing. They should be gulpable—chuggable, even. But how do you find the best sport drink? You listen to me—and the other taste testers at Sporked. Because we tried 19 different bottles to find the best sports drink on the market.
I wouldn’t call myself an athlete. Just look at what I do for a living—I eat snacks. But I did used to be an athlete and I have gone to the gym a few times in my life. That said, I came at this taste test with an eye for flavor rather than performance. I was looking for a sports drink that tasted really good and was extremely refreshing, regardless of whether or not it would help me recover from a 5K. So, without further ado, here are the best sports drinks that are actually pleasurable to drink.
- Gatorade Lime Cucumber
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I didn’t think I liked Gatorade until I tried this flavor. It has a wonderfully fresh cucumber scent—like you’re about to drink some spa water. Then you take a sip and you’re hit with vibrant lime flavor (that fake lime flavor, like lime JELL-O, but in a good way). And then there’s that touch of salinity that tells you you’re drinking Gatorade and getting thirst-quenching electrolytes. “It tastes natural, which is shocking to me,” said Sporked writer Jordan Myrick. It’s like water—but better. And isn’t that what the best sports drink should be?
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- Vitamin Water Power C Dragonfruit
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Dragon fruits are extremely pretty. Hot pink and green on the outside, white with black spots on the inside, they’re a mood board for a hip dorm room. Their flavor is mild and a little floral, and it’s not often synthesized. But Vitamin Water does a pretty good job of capturing that mild berry flavor in this refreshing, magenta beverage. It’s just different enough to distract you from the pain of physical exertion and extremely refreshing. It’s the best sports drink if you’re looking for something new—something more interesting than “red” flavor. And it packs 200% of your daily recommended vitamin C intake on top of everything else.
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- Electrolit Fruit Punch
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The packaging for this sport drink makes it look like something you find in a medicine cabinet rather than a fridge. This is the best sports drink for hydration when you really want to be aware that you are hydrating your body. “This is electrolytes to the dome,” said Jordan. It smells like Kool-Aid powder and it has a good hit of salt to it. One swig of this and you’ll be ready to get back to the field or court or couch (it’d be great for a hangover).
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- Gatorade Lemon Lime
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If you’ve ever had Gatorade, chances are you’ve tried this neon yellow-green hydrating beverage. And if you’ve ever been a championship-winning football coach, chances are you’ve had it poured onto your head. I was surprised at the high citrus quality of Lemon Lime Gatorade—it has actual bite and tang, not just sweetness. “The flavor is sharp compared to something that’s muted like a Vitamin Water,” said my Sporked colleague Naajia Shukri. If Cucumber Lime is not Gatorade-y enough for you, but you still want a Gatorade, this is the best sports drink for you.
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- Powerade Grape
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Do you want big flavor? This is the best sports drink to grab hold of and chug like you just smashed a triathlon. “I would drink this entire thing,” said Sporked managing editor Gwynedd Stuart. “I find it incredibly refreshing. You don’t expect big flavor—but that’s what this is.” And, like all of the best sports drinks, it has a touch of salt. “You want to feel the salt so you know it’s working,” Jordan said.
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- Gatorade Glacier Freeze
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There are a lot of blue sports drinks. This is the best blue sports drink. It smells like melted blue JELL-O (my favorite JELL-O) and it tastes like a mild blue raspberry. It’s tart, tangy, and not too sweet. And can we talk about the color? It is just so pretty. It’s tropical blue skies. It’s a husky dog’s eyes. It’s Cinderella’s ball gown. Just gorgeous.
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- Vitamin Water Essential Orange-Orange
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Here’s the tasting note I took after taking a swig of this Vitamin Water: “It tastes like watered-down orange juice—and I like it!” If that sounds like something you’d like, then this is the best sports drink for you. It’s a great option for sports drink newbies who are looking for some enhanced hydration but aren’t ready to go full Powerade.
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- BODYARMOR Mixed Berry
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This is a controversial selection. For many of the Sporked staff members, this did not belong on the best sports drinks list. But I think it has a place. Gwynedd described it as tasting like “a yummy fruit punch—like Juicy Juice—something for kids that you don’t drink anymore as an adult.” It doesn’t have any of the salt of the other sports drinks on this list, but it does have a coconutty undercurrent. That makes sense because it is made with coconut water, which is naturally high in electrolytes. It’s different from any other sports drink we tasted and it deserves to be recognized for that.
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Best of the Best
Best Vitamin Water
Best Extreme
Best Gatorade-y Gatorade
Best Powerade
Best Blue
Best for Beginners
Best Coconutty
More sports drinks we tasted: Gatorade fruit punch, Propel zero sugar berry, 365 sports drink fruit punch, Monster red dawg, monster blue streak, Kirkland fruit punch, Kirkland orange, Kirkland blue raspberry, Vitamin Water energy, BODYARMOR lyte drink watermelon, Powerade lemon lime, Powerade mountain berry blast, Prime blue raspberry
