GU Energy Gels: Taste Test & Ranking

Date Posted: 25 August 2023

GU Energy Gels are some of the most popular sports gels we stock. Customers sometimes ask for flavour recommendations or are hesitant to try new flavours, so we're taste tested every single GU Energy Gel flavour that we stock. You're welcome ;)

Flavour	Description
#1: Mint Chocolate	Our favourite GU Energy Gel that we tried. Tastes fantastic - just like a mint slice! Texture was smooth and easy to swallow. Overall very yummy, 10/10.
#2: Chocolate Outrage	Tastes like just like chocolate! Initially a little sweet but taste becomes more rounded as it goes down. Smooth texture and appealing colour. Chocolate Outrage was one of the four original Energy Gel flavors back in 1993, so it's stuck around for good reason. It's made with real, organic dark chocolate for a rich, sweet flavour profile. Strong but simple enough that you can enjoy it day after day.
#3: Espresso Love	Very tasty flavour for coffee lovers, especially those who like their coffee rich and dark-roasted. Our non-coffee drinkers here enjoyed this as well, and still agreed that it was tasty without being overwhelming. Plus it's packing 40mg of caffeine: perfect for those early morning workouts!
#4: Strawberry Banana	Best fruit-based flavour out of the bunch. The banana taste was subtle, which is impressive because banana flavours tend to dominate in blends. Overall this tastes very similar to a quality fruit smoothie. Pleasant, tasty and easy to get down!
#5: Campfire Smores	Fantastic! We loved this gel for its strong marshmallow flavour, though we didn't taste as much chocolate or graham cracker as we were expecting. Those flavours were more of a hint in the aftertaste. Be warned: this one is big on the strong sugary taste, which could be an upside or a downside depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have.
#6: Toasted Marshmallow	Consider this a less sugary-sweet version of Campfire Smores: still very sweet but not overpowering and with a subtler aftertaste. It's impressive how GU managed to make a toasted-over-the-fire marshmallow flavour rather than straight-out-of-the-packet marshmallow.
#7: Caramel Macchiato	This was a hit for coffee lovers! However, we’d recommend giving this one a miss if you’re not a fan of a cup of joe. It has a strong, sweet caramel initial taste with a pleasant strong, dark coffee aftertaste. And its 40mg of caffeine is perfect for early morning workouts or when you need a buzz in the afternoon.
#8: Jet Blackberry	This gel is another solid fruity option. It's not too sweet because it has just a touch of tartness. It has a lovely tangy aftertaste, plus a nicer texture than some other gels. It's also packing 40mg of caffeine to help you turn on the jets.
#9: Salted Caramel	Salted Caramel is yummy, almost decadent, but we found the overall flavour more salty than sweet, likely due to its 125mg sodium. This made the gel stickier than usual, which was a bit harder to swallow - it really does have the same consistency as caramel. On the other hand, that sodium would come in handy on days when you're sweating lots, and could mean you don't have to add salt capsules to your nutrition plan.
#10: Mandarin Orange	Mandarin Orange has a more subtle flavour (bar the aftertaste) than we expected: juicy, tangy but not too citrus-y, and pretty easy to get down.
#11: Birthday Cake	Birthday Cake got such a mixed review that we had to pull in a third party to referee! Lauren found it unpleasant - too sweet and with a strange texture. Chloe and Izzy found it absolutely delicious - like cake batter - and wanted to rank it higher. Fun fact: Birthday Cake was created to celebrate GU Energy's 25th birthday!
#12: Cola Me Happy	Very true to flavour, so if you like Coca-Cola we recommend this one! Its only downside was that its texture trickier to swallow without water than other flavours.
#13: Tri-Berry	Tri-Berry goes down smoothly thanks to a lovely silky texture. We didn't love the flavour profile though. GU Energy does say that the flavour has "slight floral notes" as well as its berry flavours. Maybe it was trying to taste like too many things at once?
#14: Vanilla Bean	For something that has a reputation as "basic", Vanilla is a tricky flavour to perfect. We thought it hit the mark, but its aftertaste was too strong for us. It's made with vanilla extract from real vanilla beams, which is probably why it tasted so bold to us. If you're a hardcore vanilla fan, you'll probably love this one.
#15: Salted Watermelon	The Watermelon portion of the flavour was great, just like watermelon-flavoured hard candy. The Salted part not so much: it's the first thing you taste. Admittedly we're not the biggest salt fans, so we might be biased. This one packs in 125mg sodium, which you might find helpful for sweaty workouts.
#16: Lemon Sublime	In our opinion, sour flavours just don't translate well to energy gels. Lemon Sublime was a swing and a miss with us! Try it out if you're hardcore sour taste fan though. If nothing else, it's refreshing!

Flavour

Description

#1: Mint Chocolate

Our favourite GU Energy Gel that we tried. Tastes fantastic - just like a mint slice! Texture was smooth and easy to swallow. Overall very yummy, 10/10.

#2: Chocolate Outrage

Tastes like just like chocolate! Initially a little sweet but taste becomes more rounded as it goes down. Smooth texture and appealing colour.

Chocolate Outrage was one of the four original Energy Gel flavors back in 1993, so it's stuck around for good reason. It's made with real, organic dark chocolate for a rich, sweet flavour profile. Strong but simple enough that you can enjoy it day after day.

#3: Espresso Love

Very tasty flavour for coffee lovers, especially those who like their coffee rich and dark-roasted. Our non-coffee drinkers here enjoyed this as well, and still agreed that it was tasty without being overwhelming.

Plus it's packing 40mg of caffeine: perfect for those early morning workouts!

#4: Strawberry Banana

Best fruit-based flavour out of the bunch. The banana taste was subtle, which is impressive because banana flavours tend to dominate in blends. Overall this tastes very similar to a quality fruit smoothie. Pleasant, tasty and easy to get down!

#5: Campfire Smores

Fantastic! We loved this gel for its strong marshmallow flavour, though we didn't taste as much chocolate or graham cracker as we were expecting. Those flavours were more of a hint in the aftertaste.

Be warned: this one is big on the strong sugary taste, which could be an upside or a downside depending on how much of a sweet tooth you have.

#6: Toasted Marshmallow

Consider this a less sugary-sweet version of Campfire Smores: still very sweet but not overpowering and with a subtler aftertaste. It's impressive how GU managed to make a toasted-over-the-fire marshmallow flavour rather than straight-out-of-the-packet marshmallow.

#7: Caramel Macchiato

This was a hit for coffee lovers! However, we’d recommend giving this one a miss if you’re not a fan of a cup of joe. It has a strong, sweet caramel initial taste with a pleasant strong, dark coffee aftertaste. And its 40mg of caffeine is perfect for early morning workouts or when you need a buzz in the afternoon.

#8: Jet Blackberry

This gel is another solid fruity option. It's not too sweet because it has just a touch of tartness. It has a lovely tangy aftertaste, plus a nicer texture than some other gels. It's also packing 40mg of caffeine to help you turn on the jets.

#9: Salted Caramel

Salted Caramel is yummy, almost decadent, but we found the overall flavour more salty than sweet, likely due to its 125mg sodium. This made the gel stickier than usual, which was a bit harder to swallow - it really does have the same consistency as caramel. On the other hand, that sodium would come in handy on days when you're sweating lots, and could mean you don't have to add salt capsules to your nutrition plan.

#10: Mandarin Orange

Mandarin Orange has a more subtle flavour (bar the aftertaste) than we expected: juicy, tangy but not too citrus-y, and pretty easy to get down.

#11: Birthday Cake

Birthday Cake got such a mixed review that we had to pull in a third party to referee! Lauren found it unpleasant - too sweet and with a strange texture. Chloe and Izzy found it absolutely delicious - like cake batter - and wanted to rank it higher.

Fun fact: Birthday Cake was created to celebrate GU Energy's 25th birthday!

#12: Cola Me Happy

Very true to flavour, so if you like Coca-Cola we recommend this one! Its only downside was that its texture trickier to swallow without water than other flavours.

#13: Tri-Berry

Tri-Berry goes down smoothly thanks to a lovely silky texture. We didn't love the flavour profile though. GU Energy does say that the flavour has "slight floral notes" as well as its berry flavours. Maybe it was trying to taste like too many things at once?

#14: Vanilla Bean

For something that has a reputation as "basic", Vanilla is a tricky flavour to perfect. We thought it hit the mark, but its aftertaste was too strong for us. It's made with vanilla extract from real vanilla beams, which is probably why it tasted so bold to us. If you're a hardcore vanilla fan, you'll probably love this one.

#15: Salted Watermelon

The Watermelon portion of the flavour was great, just like watermelon-flavoured hard candy. The Salted part not so much: it's the first thing you taste. Admittedly we're not the biggest salt fans, so we might be biased. This one packs in 125mg sodium, which you might find helpful for sweaty workouts.

#16: Lemon Sublime

In our opinion, sour flavours just don't translate well to energy gels. Lemon Sublime was a swing and a miss with us! Try it out if you're hardcore sour taste fan though. If nothing else, it's refreshing!