You ever write a three-page review for an energy supplement?
In early May 2024, 5-hour ENERGY (hereto after shown as 5-hour Energy) released a new Gamer Shot line of energy drink supplements. We got some news about it because this is a video game website that posts video game related news. That is how these things work.
These 5-hour Energy Gamer Shots are available in three flavors: Pineapple Charge, Rocket Raspberry, and Apple Bash. Unless things have suddenly changed in the few weeks since that announcement, only the Pineapple Charge and Rocket Raspberry flavors are showing up in physical stores. The Apple Bash flavor seems to remain exclusive to the 5-hour Energy website, included as part of a 12-bottle variety pack of all three flavors.
Each bottle is 1.93 fl oz and contains 40mg of Niacin, 40mg of Vitamin B6, and 500mcg of Vitamin B12. It has an undisclosed amount of taurine and other ingredients as part of its "Energy Blend." Also included is a hefty 230mg of caffeine, which is roughly the equivalent to a "12oz cup of premium coffee." You get this same 230mg of caffeine in 5-hour Energy's Extra Strength shots. Regular 5-hour Energy shots contain just 200mg of caffeine, or roughly the equivalent of an 8oz cup of premium coffee.
I decided to look up what at least some of these vitamins and other ingredients did, at least as it applies to providing energy to the body. Niacin is otherwise known as vitamin B3 and is used by your body to help turn food into energy. Vitamin B6 helps with brain development and helps to keep both the nervous system and immune system healthy. Vitamin B12 aids in nerve function, the production of DNA, and is essential in the formation of red blood cells, cell metabolism, and nerve function. Taurine is used for energy production in the body. Caffeine is a stimulant and mild cognitive enhancer. Based on this information, I would say it is safe to suggest that 5-hour Energy does include ingredients that will help give you energy.
All this information comes directly from the Mayo Clinic website. Naturally, individual results may vary just as the case is with all nutrients and supplements. I will say that the amounts of B vitamins included in a single 5-hour Energy are well above the daily recommended amount for most people. While this isn't necessarily bad, it just means that a lot of the unused excess will just be filtered out of the body through natural means. As an example, each 5-Hour Energy Gamer Shot includes 20,833% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin B12. Again, it is not bad, but something tells me there's going to be a lot of that excess being literally pissed away at the end of the day.
Now that we got that boring stuff out of the way, it is time to get into how each of these three Gamer Shots taste and if they work. 5-hour Energy was kind enough to offer some samples to try. They sent two of their 12-bottle variety packs along with an assortment of stickers and a "Gaming Trucker Hat." The hat is rather nice. It's well-made and features a neon green and black color scheme with "5-Hour Energy" stitched on one side. The front design displays a retro-futuristic gamer person that seems to be wearing what looks like the past's take on what VR gaming in the world of tomorrow would look like.
Each variety pack included four bottles of each flavor of Gamer Shot. To save you a bit of time, my favorite of the three flavors was Rocket Raspberry, followed closely by Pineapple Charge, with Apple Bash in a distant third.
Before ever trying one, I legitimately believed that I would like the apple one the most, then the raspberry, and then the pineapple one would be my least favorite. What happened? Well, it is not that the apple flavor is bad per se, but whenever I drink it, I get this weird flashback to college and some green apple vodka. Let's just say it's not conjuring up really good memories and the taste of Apple Bash just constantly triggers flashback to getting drunk on that vodka flavor mixed with Baja Blast. It wasn't a good time. This is purely a me thing, of course, which means that the apple could very well be your go-to flavor of choice.
That said, I think the Rocket Raspberry would have taken the crown even if I wasn't being psychologically smacked from the apple flavor. The Apple Bash flavor came off as a bit too harsh in comparison to the other two flavors. It had more of a tart bite and a bit of a lingering aftertaste that I did not find to be all that appealing. The Rocket Raspberry and Pineapple Charge, on the other hand, offered more subdue tasting experiences.
All three flavors sit firmly in the realm of artificial tasting. I suppose that should be expected despite the ingredients listing both natural and artificial flavors. Each tastes like a liquid version of a gummy candy bearing the same flavor profile as each Gamer Shot. Raspberry and Pineapple in particular offered a sweet and tangy hit each, with the pineapple being just a wee bit tangier overall. Rocket Raspberry takes the top spot in my flavor preference because its overall flavor profile was more subdue and did not strike me as being too tart or too tangy, and it certainly scores a few bonus points for not triggering a psychosomatic response like the Apple Bash did.
No matter which flavor you end up preferring, it is hard to deny the effectiveness of 5-Hour Energy Gamer Shots. They did seem to "work as advertised" in that they provided me with a few hours of additional energy during periods of the day where I typically start to drag. I estimate that I started to feel the effects kick in roughly 15-20 minutes after consuming a bottle, and the bonus energy did seem to last for several hours. I did not go so far as to break out a timer and go, "Ah yes, I have been energized for precisely five hours! Well done!" I did, however, gain some additional energy that allowed me to continue working or stay awake during periods of the day where I have been known to take regular naps.
I normally drink about two cups of coffee per day. Sometimes, although quite rarely, there will be a third cup consumed. This third cup depends on how late it is and how busy the day has been. About two years ago I started to give up having a daily evening soda (I have soda only about once a week now). Without that late day caffeine infusion from soda, I do find myself to be more tired than I was in the past. This sleepiness could also be because I'm nearing 40 and that's just how life is as you age, but that's a discussion for another time.
The point I am trying to convey here is that with the coffee in the morning coupled with no caffeine anymore at night, I am usually extremely tired once late evening rolls around. Instead of reaching for a soda, I instead opt to take about an hour-long nap in the evening so that I can be awake to talk to friends or even to play a game with them at night. I put the 5-hour Energy Gamer Shot to the test over the past couple of weeks to see if I could eliminate those late day naps and continue with my normal routine. I did this by consuming a 5-hour Energy Gamer Shot on several different work days. I had no specific schedule on what days I would or would not drink one.
All I know is that on the days in which I drank a 5-hour Energy Gamer Shot, I did not feel the need to take one of my usual evening naps. Conversely, on the days where I didn't take a Gamer Shot, I again felt compelled to take a quick snooze. During this brief testing period I set some ground rules for myself. While 5-hour Energy says that you can consume up to two bottles in a day, I only ever had one per day. I also made sure that I did not take a 5-hour Energy if it got to be too late in the day, say past 2-3PM. I did have my typical two cups of coffee in the morning and then a 5-hour Energy Gamer Shot a couple of hours later. There were a couple of days in which I only had one cup of coffee and then a Gamer Shot a bit later.
No, this test was not scientific by any stretch of the imagination. All I wanted to see is if I could notice literally any sort of added energy on the days in which I drank a Gamer Shot. I did indeed notice a difference. I did have more energy which in my mind means that the product delivered on its promise. It should be noted that while I personally did not experience any adverse effects from drinking a Gamer Shot, those who do not consume caffeine on a regular basis may find a whole bottle of 5-hour Energy to be a bit too stimulating. This is why the company also suggests that it is fine to just drink half a bottle now and the other half later if desired.
What I don't fully comprehend here is what specifically makes these "gamer" related. Is it the snazzy colorful packaging? Are apple, raspberry, and pineapple "gamer" flavors? I don't think so, but maybe I'm just not enough of a gamer to understand. At the end of the day, it's honestly just about marketing. I can't fault 5-hour Energy for that, because we all know there are countless companies that have done the very same thing. I believe that the "gamer" angle works in this case given how closely tied gaming is to energy drinks and snacking in general. I also think that maybe it worked on me because I largely enjoyed these Gamer Shots. This contrasts with the one (and only one) time I bought a regular, non-gamer 5-hour Energy years ago at a store and ended up kind of hating it.
Are 5-hour Energy Gamer Shots for you? Hell if I know. You may like these, you may not. If you are someone that already enjoys 5-hour Energy, energy drinks at all, or even fruity beverages, then you will probably quite enjoy these. Personally speaking, I certainly enjoyed them. They helped me avoid those late day naps and helped me to continue avoiding reaching for a soda at night. One of them even helped me to stay focused while writing this very review. Thank you Pineapple Charge for that assist today. That said, not all three flavors are created equally here. As such, each flavor will be scored separately below based on my personal assessment.
Pineapple Charge Score
Rocket Raspberry Score
Apple Bash Score
Additional Information
- 5-hour ENERGY Gamer Shots
- Manufactured by: 5-hour ENERGY
- Distributed by: 5-hour ENERGY
- Price: Starting at $33.99 (USD) for a 12-pack, $58.96 for a 24-pack
- Platform reviewed on: A 39-year old body with bad knees and chronic anxiety
- Release Date: May 2024
- This product was provided to Total Gaming Network for review purposes.
