🔌Review - QuickTrip Energy

🔌Review - QuickTrip Energy - Original

QuickTrip has a long history of being in energy beverages with it's "Rooster Booster" brand, most often in Big Q form from the fountain. In 2021-2022, they rolled out a 16oz canned line simply titled "QT Energy" to capitalize on continued growth in the energy drink segment, particularly with younger consumers. The cans feature a digital camouflage design, in this case red, and seem to be primarily marketed at young men.

🛒Price: $2.39 (often 2/$4 or with a BOGO coupon in the app). I got this one for .75 with a coupon.

✨Calories: 230, 16oz. can

🍵Caffeine: 160mg, slightly less than a cup of coffee

👅Flavor: This feels very much like a Red Bull clone, conveying the classic "generic berry", cotton candy, and bubblegum profile of that brand albeit with much less of a spice tingle or citrus pucker. The drinking experience is overall smoother and sweeter.

🧪Ingredients:

Notably this is a full calorie energy drink with a high-glycemic load of 230 calories from 53grams of sugar. In addition, it packs the following standard lineup of nootropics and B-vitamins:

Taurine: An amino sulfonic acid that regulates intracellular calcium and osmolarity. In the context of this beverage, it is used to modulate the "jitteriness" of caffeine. While studies vary, standard inclusion levels in this class of beverage are approximately 1,000mg–2,000mg per can.
D-Glucuronolactone: A naturally occurring glucose metabolite. It is included based on a largely unproven industry consensus claim that it enhances detoxification via glucuronidation in the liver.
Inositol & Choline Bitartrate: Both are "lipotropic" agents and precursors to neurotransmitters (acetylcholine). They are added at sub-therapeutic levels (estimated <150mg) primarily to support the "mental focus".
B3 (Niacinamide) - 40mg (250% DV) Critical for NAD/NADP synthesis; aids in glycolysis.
B5 (Pantothenic Acid) - 10mg (200% DV) Precursor to Coenzyme A (CoA), essential for fatty acid metabolism.
B6 (Pyridoxine HCl) - 7.6mg (447% DV) Co-factor in amino acid metabolism and neurotransmitter synthesis.
B12 (Cyanocobalamin) - 2.1mcg (87% DV) Essential for DNA synthesis and neurological function.

The only other deviation I noted from other common competitors is that it has 19% of your daily value of sodium at 430mg which is a good bit higher that peers (Monster has 370mg and Red Bull almost half that by volume) . This does help enable the SGLT1 (Sodium-Glucose Linked Transporter 1) in the small intestine which increases the rate at which sugar is absorbed into the bloodstream. It also tends to increase thirst.

🏆Rating: 2.75 - Bordering on Serviceable - It's a solid knock-off but perhaps a bit too sweet for my taste and I miss the electric tingle of standard Red Bull. That being said, I'm excited to try the other members of the QT Energy lineup which are more in line with diet energy offerings. On sale, they do provide a solid value, especially versus full priced alternatives.

⚖️Scale:

1 | Bad | Don't Drink it | I Wouldn't Drink it

2 | Poor | I would drink it if there was nothing else or it was free

3 | Good | Serviceable | Buy it on sale

4 | Great | A Cut Above | White Monster | Buy at full price

5 | Excellent | Standout in the Category | Pay venue prices

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