🔌Review - Costco's Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink

🔌Review - Costco's Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink - Tropical Flavor

Released in Q1 2026, the Kirkland Sparkling Energy Drink lineup features three flavors: Orange, Tropical, and Peach. The style, ingredients, and caffeine content are chasing a similar value proposition to Celsius Energy. The packaging evokes that brands "clean" veneer with no high fructose corn syrup, GMO ingredients, or artificial colorings.

🛒Price: $16.99/12 ~$1.42/each - Costco. Celsius is normally around $20/12 without sales, so figure around 25 cents savings per can vs. full sticker which is around 15% savings. I'm seeing Celsius sales prices that match or are cheaper than the Kirkland pricing which does make me wonder a bit about the relative value of going generic. Perhaps Costco will also put this one on sale?

✨Calories: 10, 12oz. can

🍵Caffeine: 200mg, around a third more than a cup of coffee, more than Monster and Red Bull - similar to Celsius.

👅Flavor: Semi-sweet citrus and pineapple forward but with lots of mango that stays into the aftertaste. Starfruit is pictured but I think it sits under the pineapple, adding a little bit fore depth/floral.

🧪Ingredients: Fairly standard other than the call-outs for non-GMO, No Artificial Dyes, and No High Fructose Corn Syrup. They do have a disclaimer that says to not drink more than two per day which does align with FDA guidelines for adult caffeine consumption.

Sweetener: Sucralose
Energy Blend: Caffeine (200mg), Green Tea Extract, Guarana Seed Extract, Glucuronolactone, and Taurine
Vitamins: 250% DV of Vitamin B12, 120% DV of B6, 130% DV of Niacin, and 200% DV Pantothenic Acid, plus Vitamin C (70% DV). It also contains Chromium (140% DV), Biotin 1000%

🏆Rating: 3.25 - Good - It's much more to my liking than the Orange Flavor, a solid edition that does more closely remind me of Celsius and drinks well. The Tropical profile suits the level of carbonation well.

⚖️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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