C4 Starburst Energy Drink Review – Strawberry Falls Short

Although it is not the best formulation, Cellucor’s C4 pre workout is undoubtedly the most popular pre workout on the market today.

Even if you don’t take supplements, you’ve probably seen or heard of C4. It’s no longer confined to supplement retailers, C4 is now found in supermarkets and popular stores like Costco and Walgreens. There are few, if any, supplement companies that can claim to be found in such ubiquity as Cellucor.

Cellucor burst onto the scene in the late 2000’s, aided by GNC who pushed the product line in stores. Back then Cellucor had high end products in terms of price point, but have since then become more financially friendly (a small bottle of C4 is only about $25).

With the success of the C4 products (there are numerous versions of the pre workout), Cellucor has expanded the product line and entered the energy drink market. Keeping the name C4, Cellucor has numerous energy drink options.

Cellucor started with a basic C4 energy drink that had a somewhat similar formula to the powder pre workout supplement. However, it has expanded to energy drinks with ingredients centered around mental focus and stronger energy drinks containing more caffeine. They also offer a non carbonated energy drink shooter.

Perhaps piggybacking off the success of Ghost’s Sour Patch Kids energy drink, Cellucor has licensed their own flavors based on popular fruity candies like Starburst and Skittles. This review will delve into the Cellucor C4 Energy X Starburst Candy version.

The C4 Energy X drink comes in the 4 traditional Starburst flavors; lemon, orange, cherry, and strawberry. There is no difference in terms of formulation and ingredients among the flavors, aside from perhaps the flavoring technology itself.

Taste 5/10

I was super excited to try this product, especially with how much I love the Ghost Sour Patch Kids energy drink. I chose the strawberry flavor, because who doesn’t love a pink Starburst?

It doesn’t taste like Starburst, at all.

It didn’t taste bad or anything, but it didn’t taste like what it was supposed to. Suffice to say I was disappointed. Perhaps the other flavors are more akin to what they taste like, but it’s highly doubtful that the flavoring technology would change that much between flavors.

As mentioned, my expectations were high after trying the Sour Patch Kids energy drinks. Those flavors were spot on. With that being the case I don’t think expectations were unreasonable. If Ghost could do it, I imagined other companies could too.

Key Ingredients 6/10

Most people consume energy drinks for the caffeine content and couldn’t care less about what else is in there. But I like when companies go above and beyond to put other efficacious ingredients in their product.

Cellucor’s C4 energy drink contains 200mg of caffeine per can. Personally, I think this is the perfect amount, not too strong and not too weak. If you can’t get some decent energy from 200mg of caffeine, your tolerance is likely high and could use a break from stimulants.

Aside from that, the ingredients leave much to be desired. On paper it looks promising, as beta alanine, citrulline, and betaine are quality ingredients for exercise performance. These are ingredients commonly found in pre workout supplements, as they increase muscular endurance, blood flow, and delay fatigue.

However, the ingredients are part of a proprietary blend.

A proprietary blend does not disclose the exact amount of each ingredient. This is a red flag in most cases, as it usually means the ingredients are underdosed. After all, why not disclose the amount unless there is something to hide?

In order for the ingredients to work, they have to meet a certain threshold in terms of potency. For example, you need 3 grams of beta alanine to elicit the muscular endurance benefits.

This is not meant as a dig at Cellucor in particular, many companies use proprietary blends. This is especially evident in energy drinks. Other popular brands like Bang Energy use proprietary blends as well.

However, consumers are more educated in the supplement space nowadays. They want to know what’s in the products they are using.

Supplement companies will claim they use proprietary blends as a way of keeping the formulation a secret from their competitors. But this is not a valid excuse since a competitor could easily have the product tested in a lab. In addition, there’s nothing revolutionary in here, so hiding the ingredients in a blend doesn’t have much merit.

Effects 7/10

The energy drink does what it’s supposed to do, in the sense that it provides… energy.

Caffeine increases wakefulness and alertness, and 200mg is enough to get the job done. But piggybacking off the ingredients section it doesn’t do much more than that.

Looking at some of the marketing behind the product it’s hard to tell if it fancies itself as a pre workout formulation or simply an energy drink. As an energy drink it is par for the course, similar to other leading competitors.

If it’s supposed to mimic a pre workout supplement it needs more. Again, it’s hard to tell since it is an energy drink but it keeps the C4 name.

Price 9/10

If you look in the right place, you can find a case which comes to about $2 per can. This is as good as it gets for a name brand energy drink. Say what you will about taste or ingredient profile, $2 per can is a great price.

Buying cans individually will drive up the price, but not to an outrageous degree. You can still find individual cans for under $3.

While there is no definitive proof of this, as a consumer I can say C4 energy drinks are always one of those things that are easy to find on sale. Often times I’ll see promotions like 2 for $5 in stores.

Availability 8/10

As mentioned, Cellucor have made a diligent effort to get their products into popular retailers. Even though the Starburst energy drink flavors are fairly new, they can already be found in certain supermarkets.

Shopping online is even easier, C4 energy drinks are available at all major outlets.