Comparison · Prices and labels checked September 19, 2026 · Published by VeryVery Good Tea. We make one of the products in this table. Every figure comes from the manufacturer's label or website, or a retailer listing named in the sources below.
Seven of the biggest energy drinks sold in the US, side by side with VeryVery Good Energy, a tea-based powder you mix into water. The same rows for every column: what's in it, how much caffeine, what it costs per serving, and what the label says.
Per serving as sold: one packet, one can, one shot. Scroll sideways on a phone.
| Per serving | VeryVery Good Energy | Red Bull 8.4 oz | Monster Energy 16 oz | CELSIUS Original 12 oz | Alani Nu 12 oz | Ghost Energy 16 oz | 5-hour Energy 1.93 oz | Yerba Madre Enlighten Mint 15.5 oz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Dissolving tea crystals: one packet into the bottle you already carry, hot or cold, ready in about 10 seconds | Sealed can | Sealed can | Sealed can | Sealed can | Sealed can | 2 oz shot | Sealed can |
| Calories | 51 | 110 | 230 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 0 to 42 | 120 |
| Sugar | 0 g | 26 to 27 g (all added) | 54 g added (108% of the Daily Value for added sugars, as printed on the label) | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 0 g | 28 g added (organic cane sugar and honey) |
| Sweetener | Stevia leaf extract | Sucrose and glucose | Sugar, glucose and sucralose | Sucralose | Sucralose and acesulfame K | Sucralose and acesulfame K | Sucralose | Cane sugar and honey |
| Caffeine | 100 mg | 80 mg | 160 mg | 200 mg | 200 mg | 200 mg | 200 mg (Extra Strength: 230 mg) | 150 mg |
| Caffeine source, as stated on the label or by the brand | Black tea and organic green tea leaf extract (63.2 mg extract). The label does not split the 100 mg of caffeine by source. | Synthetic (brand-stated) | Caffeine (source not stated) plus guarana extract | Caffeine anhydrous plus guarana seed and green tea extracts | Caffeine (source not stated) plus guarana seed extract | Natural caffeine from coffee bean (label) | Caffeine (source not stated) | Yerba mate plus added organic caffeine |
| L-theanine | 100 mg, disclosed | None | None | None | Yes, amount not disclosed | None | None | None stated |
| Declared preservatives3 | None declared | None declared | Sorbic acid and benzoic acid | None declared | Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate | Sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate | Potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate and EDTA | None declared |
| Other ingredients (selected) | Organic peach flavor, citric acid, stevia leaf extract. With tea and L-theanine, that is the full list. | Taurine, natural and artificial flavors, colors, vitamin B6 at 250% DV | Taurine, ginseng, carnitine, color added, vitamin B12 at 500% DV | Proprietary "MetaPlus" blend, biotin at 1,000% DV, chromium | Taurine, ginseng, carnitine, inositol, gum arabic | Taurine 1 g, carnitine 1 g, Alpha-GPC, coffee fruit extract | "Energy blend," vitamin B12 at 20,833% DV, vitamin B6 at 2,353% DV | Brewed yerba mate and peppermint, honey, citric acid, mint flavor |
| Single-unit price4 | $0.94 (veryverygoodtea.com, same in every quantity) | $2.79 (Target.com) | $2.69 (Target.com) | $2.59 (Target.com) | $2.79 (Target.com) | $2.48 (Walmart.com) | About $3.50 (Walmart.com, singles from $3.32) | $2.84 per can on the brand site 12-pack; single-can price not checked at this size |
| Best multipack, per unit4 | $0.94 | $2.04 (Target 12-pack); about $1.62 (club 24-pack) | $2.04 (Target 12-pack); about $1.25 to $1.90 (club 24-pack) | $1.58 to $1.87 (club 24-pack, Target 12-pack) | $1.50 to $2.50 (club 12-pack, brand 12-pack) | About $2.00 (12-pack) | About $2.20 to $3.00 (10- and 24-count) | $2.84 (brand 12-pack) |
| Dose control | Half a packet or a full packet, in any vessel; follow label directions | Fixed can | Fixed can | Fixed can | Fixed can | Fixed can | Fixed shot; label maximum 2 per day | Fixed can |
| Hot or cold | Both | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Cold | Room temperature shot | Cold |
| Advisory | For adults. Not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women, or people sensitive to caffeine. Caffeine content (100 mg) is stated on the label. | Not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women and persons sensitive to caffeine | Not recommended for children, people sensitive to caffeine, pregnant women or women who are nursing | Not recommended for people sensitive to caffeine, children under 18, or women who are pregnant or nursing | Same advisory, plus a note that daily caffeine from all sources should be limited to about 400 mg | Only intended for healthy adults, 18 years of age or older | Do not exceed two shots daily; niacin flush disclosure; not for children or pregnant or nursing women | Not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women, or individuals sensitive to caffeine |
1 Declared as 5 calories on the Supplement Facts panel. The formulator's calculation is 4.6 calories per serving, rounded up; FDA labeling rules would also allow a value under 5 to be declared as 0. 2 5-hour Energy's site describes the product as zero calories; label transcriptions show 4. 3 We count only ingredients declared as preservatives on the label. Citric acid, present in most drinks here including VeryVery, is an acidulant with a preservative effect and is not counted. 4 Retail prices checked September 19, 2026 at the retailer named; they change weekly. Multipack prices are ranges across retailers and pack sizes. Per serving, not per milligram of caffeine: most cans carry 200 mg per serving, VeryVery carries 100 mg.
Five of the eight drinks have no sugar. CELSIUS, Alani Nu, Ghost and 5-hour Energy use sucralose, and two of them add acesulfame K. VeryVery uses stevia leaf extract. Monster's original can carries 54 g of added sugar, printed on its own label as 108% of the Daily Value for added sugars (50 g), and also contains sucralose. Red Bull's 8.4 oz can carries 26 to 27 g, all of it added sugar. Yerba Madre's Enlighten Mint carries 28 g of added sugar from organic cane sugar and honey.
Servings range from 80 mg (Red Bull) to 230 mg (5-hour Energy Extra Strength). CELSIUS, Alani Nu, Ghost and regular 5-hour Energy are 200 mg; Monster is 160 mg; Yerba Madre 150 mg; VeryVery 100 mg. For reference, USDA FoodData Central lists about 95 mg of caffeine in an 8 oz cup of brewed coffee. For most adults, the FDA has cited 400 mg a day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects; the FDA sets no per-serving limit. The American Academy of Pediatrics says children and adolescents should avoid energy drinks and caffeine. VeryVery Good Energy is for adults and is not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women, or people sensitive to caffeine. Every can and shot in the table carries an age or sensitivity advisory on its label.
L-theanine is an amino acid found in tea leaves. In this set, VeryVery discloses 100 mg of L-theanine per serving; Alani Nu lists L-theanine without a quantity; the other six drinks do not contain it.
Bought one at a time, the cans run $2.48 to $2.79 at the retailers listed and the shot about $3.50. The tea powder is $0.94 a serving at every quantity. Multipacks narrow the gap: the best 12-pack prices land around $1.87 to $2.04 a can, and club 24-packs can reach $1.25 to $1.62. A weekday afternoon habit, about 22 servings a month, costs roughly $21 in packets, $35 to $45 on the best multipack can prices, and $55 to $61 on single cans at the grocery prices above. Circana data reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2025 put the average single-serve energy drink at about $3.45, which would make the same month about $76.
Label data is from each manufacturer's US website or the printed can, cross-checked against retailer ingredient panels on September 19, 2026: Red Bull (redbull.com ingredients list and Q&A; Target.com), Monster Energy (Target.com panel image), CELSIUS (celsius.com FAQ; Target.com), Alani Nu (alaninu.com product page), Ghost (retail label transcriptions; H-E-B listing), 5-hour Energy (5hourenergy.com FAQ, nutrition and caffeine-facts pages), Yerba Madre (yerbamadre.com Enlighten Mint; Wegmans listing). Prices are single-unit listings at the retailer named, checked September 19, 2026, and move week to week; multipack prices are ranges across Target.com, Costco.com, Sam's Club and brand sites. Average single-serve energy drink price: Circana data reported by the Wall Street Journal, 2025. Caffeine guidance: US FDA, "Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?"; USDA FoodData Central for brewed coffee; American Academy of Pediatrics, HealthyChildren.org. Added-sugar Daily Value: FDA Nutrition Facts label guidance (50 g). Brand names are trademarks of their owners, used here only to identify the products compared; VeryVery Good Tea is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. VeryVery Good Tea publishes this page and sells one of the products in it. Corrections: hello@veryverygoodtea.com.