Alani Nu Flavors: 13 Alani Energy Drinks, Ranked

In a world where energy drinks are already abundant, Alani Nu burst onto the scene offering an ultra-low calorie, sugar-free, caffeine-packed beverage full of vitamins from biotin to B12. Alani Nu energy drinks are popular as pre-workout drinks (the brand offers pre-workout powder, too), and they're a seemingly guilt-free pick-me-up to boot. But are they any good? 

We tried 13 Alani energy drink flavors to give you our honest opinion on which ones you should stock in your refrigerator — and a few you should absolutely avoid.

Kiwi Guava was not a flavor I planned on including in this taste test because I had never actually seen it in stores, just advertised on Instagram. A couple of days after I thought I was done rating Alani Nu energy drink flavors, I found myself in Dick's Sporting Goods, staring this gorgeous, colorful can in the face. Now, in my experience, the super-colorful cans of Alani Nu energy drinks are usually too sweet for my liking, so I thought the Kiwi Guava Alani Nu would disappoint. 

Instead, I was met with a burst of refreshing tropical flavors that weren't overly sweet or tart. I've had plenty of strawberry-kiwi drinks, but this was the first time the combination of guava and kiwi graced my tastebuds, and I have no clue why this fruity pairing isn't more common. This flavor offers just the right balance that you hope for in an energy drink. Plus, unlike other iterations of Alani drinks (more on that later), you really do taste both the kiwi and the guava in this can. My only complaint is that it isn't more widely available. 

I mentioned that the colorful cans of Alani Nu are typically super sweet. The white cans, on the other hand, tend to be lighter, and this flavor is Exhibit A. Before I stumbled upon Kiwi Guava, Hawaiian Shaved Ice had my heart. The brand got the carbonation level for this Alani flavor exactly right — it's crisp and refreshing without making your eyes water and your throat tingle. 

As for the flavor, Hawaiian Shaved Ice delivers there, too. It's a beautiful blend of coconut and strawberries and, as someone who has indulged in the Big Island's Hawaiian shaved ice, I can confirm that the balance of fruity flavors is remniscent of the real thing (especially if you pour this bad boy over a glass of ice). 

The word that comes to mind when I think of this flavor is "refreshing." It's reliable, and since it's the brand's best-selling flavor, you can find it pretty much anywhere (unlike Kiwi Guava, so points for that, too). I still love you, Hawaiian Shaved Ice, even if I bumped you back a bit to second place.

Sometimes, watermelon energy drinks slap you in the face with their tartness. Other times, they tap a watermelon Jolly Rancher essence. The watermelon Alani Nu energy drink does none of that. Whoever creates the flavors at that place is a sneaky genius. 

You'll grab Watermelon Wave thinking it's your run-of-the-mill watermelon energy drink and then surprise: Your tastebuds are met with bursts of cherry, grape, and orange alongside the still-forward watermelon flavor. It's like tossing a few skittles in your mouth all at once with no regard for flavor organization, and we are 100% here for it. We will ride this watermelon wave any day of the week. 

Throughout this endeavor, I noticed something about Alani Nu energy drinks. They're not overly forthcoming with flavor clarification. Often, if a drink has a name that doesn't indicate its flavor, there will be fine print somewhere offering an explanation. Not at Alani Nu. Nope. They like to keep us guessing. 

Such is the case with Arctic White. I definitely get some citrusy notes when sipping on this one, and its sweetness gives off the slightest vanilla vibe, too. As you continue to drink Arctic White, the flavor transforms, leaning into a grapefruit taste. As perplexing as this is, it's absolutely delicious. You know what it tastes like? Good. It tastes good. I'll happily continue blindly drinking this. 

Maybe it's the orange popsicles on the can that made me think this one would be extra orange-forward, but pineapple is definitely the star of the show with Tropsicle. There is still some orange flavor, but this drink definitely packs pineapple power without being overly sour, which I appreciate. There's also some solid zest here that the other flavors in the Alani Nu energy drink lineup don't offer, making the tropsicle flavor one a solid standout.

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I am a peach fanatic. I love peach-flavored everything, so I was honestly surprised Juicy Peach didn't make its way to the top of this ranking, but this one's just a little bit too sweet, without enough tartness, so it doesn't bring the balance I hoped for. It sort of tastes like peach ring candy  — it's peachy, but there's none of that sour hit to bring things full circle. This one still lands on the "this is yummy" side of the spectrum, although we're headed downhill soon, so brace yourselves for impact.

Mimosa brings everything I thought Tropsicle would: seriously punchy orange flavor with a zesty, fizzy bite that's super refreshing. I mean, I don't taste a lick of champagne in this thing, but I guess we'll let that slide. This is another flavor that really comes alive when you pour it into a glass and toss some ice in with it.

This is where things start to tumble downhill, but in an ever-so-slight way that makes you think Kimade is Alani Nu's lone dud. Spoiler alert: It's not. 

Kim Kardashian collaborated with Alani Nu to create this strawberry-lemonade energy drink, hence the name "Kimade." The pink can makes this flavor all the more coveted — it came out right around the time Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" movie took the world by storm — and, if you ask me, it's a giant marketing ploy. The flavor isn't horrible, and I could finish a can of this if I was thirsty or tired enough, but I don't really get "strawberry lemonade" from it. Instead, it tastes like some sort of sugary candy. Not for me.

Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of blue raspberry flavoring. However, I don't mind blue raspberry slushies. Apparently, in order to fall kindly on my taste buds, the flavor really does need to be delivered in an ice-cold, blended format, because despite this truly tasting like a melted blue slushie, I still can't stand it. 

Here's where the Alani Nu energy drink flavors spiral out of control. Cosmic Stardust is way too sweet and there's entirely too much going on in the flavor department. Remember earlier when I talked about tossing a few Skittles of assorted flavors into your mouth, and I painted it as a pleasant experience? Want to know why? Because everything is good in moderation. Cosmic Stardust tastes like downing the whole bag of Skittles with a giant swig of grape soda. I'll leave this one in a galaxy far away from my mouth.

Again with the blue raspberry. I'm not sure why Alani Nu offers two different iterations of this atrociously artificial flavor. This tastes like blue raspberry Dum Dums dissolved in a beverage. The only difference between this and Blue Slush is that Blue Slush is a little bit lighter and offers a bit more of a bite to cut the sweetness.

I love cherry slushies. I went through a phase as a teenager where my tongue was pretty much always red because I drank so many cherry slushies. But, for some reason, any cherry drink other than a cherry slushie does not taste good to me (Except Cherry Coke. I'm not a psycho, relax). This just ... made me thirsty. Explain that. This drink was so sweet and such the opposite of refreshing that I had to down a bottle of water after taking a few sips.

This flavor is so blatantly disgusting that it was super easy to dub it the worst of all the Alani Nu energy drinks. I'll admit, I don't much care for creamsicles and to me, that's what this tastes like. There is absolutely nothing dreamy about Dream Float. More like Nightmare Float. An energy drink should not taste like it has milk in it. That should honestly be illegal. 

Love energy drinks? Cheapism's editorial team has also ranked flavors from Ghost, Bang, Celsius, and Red Bull.  

There were just a handul of flavors that we were unable to find for this taste test, including:

• Witch's Brew (a seasonal caramel apple flavor)
• Berry Pop (a collab with Addison Rae)
• Retro Rainbow
• Rocket Pop