Celsius: 7 Best Flavors + 3 Alternatives

Diana Barkley (Senior Editor)

Celsius is a popular energy drink available across the world. Its origins, however, go back to Sweden. Fans do love Celsius drinks and they come in a range of flavors and varieties, which we’ll explore in this article.

In 2009 it was introduced as the first Nordic ‘functional energy drink’ and it’s gone from strength to strength ever since. It’s no surprise, really, with so many delicious flavors available and a natural vibe that somehow looks much more appetizing than many competitors.

When it comes to energy drinks, most people immediately think of Red Bull or Monster. Celsius has taken the market by storm in recent years because of its emphasis on being ‘functional’ and boosting your workouts.

The big caveat when it comes to Celsius drinks is probably the caffeine: they contain much more than any comparable energy drinks, so aren’t suitable for everyone. 

Interesting Facts about Celsius Flavors

Interesting Facts about Celsius Flavors

Celsius not only make delicious flavors of energy drinks, they’re also an interesting brand in general.

For a start, they make claims that their energy drinks are clinically proven to provide sustained levels of energy and increase your metabolism.

Allegedly they help you burn calories, making them a great addition to your workout routine.

Many of the Celsius flavors don’t contain any sugar or artificial preservatives, yet there’s plenty of variety when it comes to tasty flavors. This kind of sets them apart from other energy drinks brands, and offers a diet-friendly alternative.

Celsius are also keen on adding extra nutrients to their drinks, including B vitamins, vitamin C, and calcium. As with any other vitamin drinks, however, we’d question whether the small amounts contained make any sort of difference for your health.

The popular energy drinks brand has quite a following amongst fitness communities. Fitness enthusiasts and athletes often endorse the drinks, suggesting that they’re good pre- and post-workout.

Lastly, Celsius make both carbonated and non-carbonated energy drinks. This is quite a unique thing across energy drinks, and better caters to personal preferences. Not everyone enjoys a fizzy drink, after all.

What Celsius Energy Drink Is

What Celsius Energy Drink Is

Celsius is an energy drinks brand which aims to enhance your athletic performance, boost your metabolism, and provide sustained energy levels.

They’re crafted in a variety of flavors and include a unique blend of ingredients to help you achieve your athletic goals.

Whether they’re actually better for you than other energy drinks is questionable. However, Celsius do have a pretty solid fan following.

Origin of Celsius

Origin of Celsius

Celsius originated in Sweden in 2009. It was the first ‘functional’ energy drink created for people with an active lifestyle in Nordic countries. Since then it’s become available internationally. In the US it ranks in third place, closely behind Red Bull and Monster.

Ingredients of Typical Celsius Drinks

Ingredients of Typical Celsius Drinks

Energy drinks by Celsius tend to have a base list of ingredients which includes the following:

• carbonated filtered water
• citric acid
• taurine
• guarana seed extract
• caffeine
• green tea extract
• sucralose
• calcium carbonate
• ascorbic acid
• glucuronolactone
• ginger root extract
• calcium pantothenate
• niacinamide
• natural flavoring
• pyridoxine hydrochloride
• riboflavin
• chromium chelate
• biotin
• beta-carotene (used for coloring)

If some of the above ingredients sound foreign to you, you’re not alone. Some of the less widely known ones include glucuronolactone, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and chromium chelate.

Glucuronolactone is a chemical which can be produced by your own body but is also manufactured in labs to improve athletic performance and increase your attention span.

Pyridoxine hydrochloride helps treat vitamin B6 deficiencies. Chromium chelate is used to help your body regulate its blood sugar levels.

All of the above is potentially useful, at least in theory, though at least the effects of glucuronolactone haven’t been scientifically proven.

What can be said about Celsius is that it doesn’t contain preservatives, aspartame (an artificial sweetener), high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavoring or coloring.

It’s also low in sodium and non-GMO, so in many ways it is a ‘healthier’ energy drink though of course it does contain an enormous amount of caffeine.

What Celsius Tastes Like

What Celsius Tastes Like

Celsius, like other energy drinks, features a flavor that’s entirely unique to them.

Their energy drinks aren’t too sweet or sugary, don’t taste too artificial, and have a little extra kick to them thanks to ingredients like green tea extract and guarana seed extract.

Some include ginger root extract as well, which contributes to the unique taste of these drinks.

Is There Caffeine In Celsius?

Is There Caffeine In Celsius?

Celsius Original energy drinks contain 200 mg per 12 fl oz can. By comparison, a 12 fl oz can of Red Bull contains 110.7 mg of caffeine, and 12 fl oz of Monster contains around 120 mg.

So it’s quite a hefty amount of caffeine, meaning if you’re sensitive to it you may wish to opt for a different type of energy drink.

Some medical professionals appear to have warned that those with heart conditions could be at risk when consuming Celsius or similar high-caffeine drinks.

Similarly, teens should limit their caffeine intake to 100 mg per day maximum, ruling out Celsius as a brand entirely. If in doubt, speak to your doctor first, but be cautious when it comes to ingesting too much caffeine.

The Best Celsius Flavors Ranked

The Best Celsius Flavors Ranked

At time of writing, Celsius comes in 29 different flavor varieties, plus 9 ‘on the go’ flavors we’ll cover in the types of drinks section further on in this article. There are some definite fan favorites out there, as well as varieties you’d better skip (more on that later.)

Peach Vibe

Peach Vibe

The Peach Vibe Celsius consistently ranks high amongst Celsius energy drink fans.

It tastes heavily of juicy peaches with a touch of green tea, which is nice. It’s not very fizzy, which gives it a sort of peach iced tea vibe that’s refreshing.

With that said it is just a tiny bit artificial tasting, as with other Celsius flavors.

Raspberry Açaí + Green Tea

Raspberry Açaí + Green Tea

Another fan favorite is the Raspberry Açaí + Green Tea. This one is refreshing and slightly herbal tasting, with a touch of pleasant berry sweetness. It’s a still drink (rather than sparkling), which some may find a nice alternative.

Fuji Apple Pear

Fuji Apple Pear

Even diehard fans of this one don’t detect much of the pear flavor, but that doesn’t matter. The Fuji apple offers a ton of brightness and tartness that’s nice when you don’t love overly sweet drinks.

It’s been compared to sparkling cider, so if you like the taste of that you’ll probably love this, too.

Peach Mango Green Tea

Peach Mango Green Tea

The Peach Mango Green Tea Celsius is almost like an energy drink meets iced tea. This makes it a popular variety amongst ice tea fans.

The peach smell of this drink does border on a bit artificial, but you soon get past that.

There’s a lovely balance of mango and peach with a hint of green tea. Enjoy this one ice cold.

Grapefruit Melon Green Tea

Grapefruit Melon Green Tea

This is a good variety if you like flavors that are sweet but not overly so. The grapefruit gives a nice tart element to balance the melon sweetness.

It’s another variety that isn’t carbonated, so don’t expect any fizziness. With that said, it makes for a good energy iced tea drink.

If you like iced tea and enjoy unusual fruit flavors, this is the one for you.

Fantasy Vibe

Fantasy Vibe

This one sounded odd to us but it’s quite popular. Celsius mix sparkling mandarin with marshmallow flavoring here and, somehow, it works.

It’s reminiscent of orange creamsicles with a kind of vanilla-esque flavor.

It would be even better if this flavor was fizzier, but besides that, it’s a pretty good one.

Tropical Vibe

Tropical Vibe

All of the ‘Vibe’ range are reasonably popular, bar Arctic Vibe. Tropical Vibe features a starfruit and pineapple flavor which is just a bit sweeter than other flavors.

It’s nice and fizzy and essentially just tastes ‘tropical’ rather than being too specific on either flavor. However, that’s perfect for fans of the flavor.

Worst Celsius Flavors

Worst Celsius Flavors

Celsius appears to be one of those drinks you either love or loathe. There are plenty of fan favorite flavors out there, but also some that just aren’t particularly nice.

Despite Celsius being fairly staunch on not including many artificial ingredients, some of the below just taste… artificial.

Fuji Apple

Fuji Apple

As you’ll have noticed, Fuji Apple features on both lists and for good reason: it has firm favorites, and people who really hate this one. Some say it’s actually nauseating, with a bad aftertaste, and a flavor reminiscent of cafeteria apple juice.

Arctic Vibe

Arctic Vibe

A lot of people seem to love to loathe this one. Arctic Vibe Celsius features what they call a ‘frozen berry flavor.’ For whatever reason, Celsius fans tend to rank this one among the lowest, probably because it’s very artificial tasting.

Sparkling Kiwi Guava

Sparkling Kiwi Guava

This one’s been compared to something akin to cough syrup. People can’t really taste the kiwi flavoring, and guava is hit or miss with many. All in all, it’s not one we’d recommend, as there are plenty of other fruity flavors that taste a lot nicer.

The Original Celsius Flavors

The Original Celsius Flavors

Celsius offered just three original flavors back in 2009. None of these appear to rank very highly amongst fans anymore, but they’re still worth noting here.

The flavored varieties are still available today, but the unflavored original seems to have gone.

Celsius Original Non-Flavored

Celsius Original Non-Flavored

In all fairness, we couldn’t find out what this one tasted like. Apparently it was a bit tangy and tart, but didn’t have a distinct flavor profile.

It’s no longer available and nobody seems to be missing it much either.

As far as energy drinks are concerned, fans definitely seem to prefer flavored varieties (just take a look at competitor Monster.)

Celsius Sparkling Cola

Celsius Sparkling Cola

Celsius Sparkling Cola tastes a bit like other cola drinks with a touch of caramel, vanilla, and spices.

The downside of this one appears to be the carbonation, which isn’t much.

Celsius do seem to have less fizziness in their drinks than competitors, which you’ll either like or not.

Some have likened this to flat cola or pepsi.

Celsius Sparkling Orange

Celsius Sparkling Orange

This has been compared to a creamsicle flavor, though we think the Fantasy Vibe variety probably does that just a little bit better. It’s sweet but not overpoweringly so. Of the original flavors, this one is probably the most popular.

Types of Celsius Drinks

Types of Celsius Drinks

At time of writing there are three product lines available on the Celsius website. They’re all somewhat similar, with the exception of the On-the-Go range being, well, aimed for when you’re out and about. If you enjoy Celsius drinks, you’re likely to find all of these quite tasty.

Celsius

Celsius

This is Celsius’ signature range of energy drinks, available in 23 flavors.

There’s everything from standard fruit flavors such as Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade and Sparkling Orange to more ‘out there’ varieties such as the Vibe range.

The latter include unusual sounding drinks such as Sparkling Galaxy Vibe and Sparkling Astro Vibe.

Celsius Essentials

Celsius Essentials

The Essentials range of Celsius drinks appears to be aimed at providing a little extra boost beyond just energy. They contain nutrients such as B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, and more.

Flavors include Fruit Burst, Mango Tango, Blue Crush, and Cherry Limeade to name a few.

Celsius On-the-Go

Celsius On-the-Go

These are Celsius’ energy powders, designed to add to water when you’re on the go.

They’re available in nine flavors, including Orange, Berry, Strawberry Coconut, and Watermelon Ice.

Gym-goers and athletic people seem to really like these for the convenience, though they do also contain a lot of caffeine.

Tasty Alternatives to Celsius

Tasty Alternatives to Celsius

Celsius brands itself as a kind of ‘healthier’ energy drink with actual benefits for your body if you’re athletic.

They do however contain quite a substantial amount of caffeine, which doesn’t work for everybody.

Below is a small range of alternatives which follow a similar concept. The first two are, in fact, pretty much entirely natural. Why not try a few to see which you like best?

Guayaki Organic Yerba Mate

Guayaki Organic Yerba Mate

This is an intriguing alternative to Celsius and other energy drinks, because it’s entirely natural. It’s made using yerba mate tea, some lime juice, and no added sweeteners of any kind.

It doesn’t contain quite as much caffeine as other energy drinks (and certainly not as much as Celsius), but it’s a natural alternative that isn’t bad for you.

Guayaki make a yummy Lemon Elation flavor, a Revel Berry, Enlighten Mint, Orange Exuberance, and more. The Enlighten Mint sounds particularly good for its honey and peppermint flavor.

Clean Cause Yerba Mate

Clean Cause Yerba Mate

Clean Cause also utilizes yerba mate tea for its energy boosting main ingredient, but it’s a little sweeter thanks to added stevia leaf extract.

It’s organic and made with carbonated water for a refreshing bit of fizziness. Clean Cause is also special because it donates 50% of its profits to drug and alcohol addiction recovery programs.

Clean Cause is available in several flavors, including Cherry Lime, Orange Ginger, Blackberry, and more.

Zoa Zero Sugar Energy Drink

Zoa Zero Sugar Energy Drink

Zoa is actually Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s brainchild. This one features added B vitamins, vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, and amino acids.

It also contains caffeine and, sadly, artificial sweeteners and more sodium than other energy drinks.

Besides this, it does feature a really cool design and the flavors sound interesting: so far there’s Tropical Punch, Wild Orange, White Peach, Super Berry, and Pineapple Coconut to name just a few.

The brand also makes pre-workout dietary supplements, so if that’s your thing you may wish to look into them.

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