G Fuel Energy Formula Review: Benefits, Drawbacks, And Costs

The idea is simple, when gaming, you need to have energy, be focused, have fast reaction times and be hydrated when playing what could be for hours at a time.

This is where products like G Fuel come in by providing what hopefully is a tasting energy drink to keep you at the top of your game (literally).

So, what are my thoughts on G Fuel? Does this energy formula really deliver the goods, or is it a dud? Check out my honest G Fuel review of two of their popular tubs inspired by influencers PewDiePie and Daequan.

What is G Fuel?

G Fuel is a popular energy drink mix brand developed and sold by Gamma Labs, which is based in New York. Their energy formula is popular with gamers and the official esports drink.

I have to say the branding for G Fuel is stunning.

The tubs do look awesome. In fact, the tubs look just as good holding them as they do on the website – this is rare!

It's an exciting brand from Gamma Labs, and I can see why it's popular in the US esports market.

I purchased two tubs of G Fuel that are “inspired” by two well-known influencers, PewDiePie and Daequan. Now I should point out I had only heard of PewDiePie before and not of Daequan, but that didn't matter for the purpose of this review.

If you're researching this brand, then you're likely familiar with these guys!

Background on G Fuel Brand

G Fuel was founded in 2004 by CEO Cliff Morgan and is based in New York.

They were one of the first esports nutrition brands on the market. Their G Fuel energy drink has been popularised by co-branding with online influencers and gaming clans, most notably Dr. Disrespect and PewDiePie.

Our original goal was to create a 100% clean, natural, and healthy alternative to sugar-loaded Energy Drinks.

G Fuel has received some criticism as the brand is aimed at youngsters. In 2016 they received negative press due to a 10-year-old boy getting sick and having to be hospitalized after taking G Fuel. In fairness to the company, the brand is marketed to over 18-year-olds and is unsuitable for children.

Gamma Labs, the company that owns G Fuel, settled a $118,500 lawsuit with California's Environmental Research Center over lead contamination in their G Fuel products.

What are the G Fuel ingredients?

Looking at both tubs of G Fuel, the formula is the same, with only the flavor affecting the ingredients. This makes outlining the ingredients easier as I can simply refer to one set of ingredients.

The energy formula is fortified with vitamins (C + E + B12 + B6) and contains amino acids and antioxidants. Although I am not convinced that the antioxidant part of the formula will do much, other than look good on the label. I will explain this a bit later.

You will notice that according to the G Fuel label, there are three proprietary blends or “complexes,” as they like to call them. Within these complexes we don't get to see a breakdown of each ingredient amount within the Energy, Focus, and Antioxidant blends.

For many consumers, this is probably not a concern, but it's worth knowing that you have to rely on the G Fuel to supply sufficient ingredients actually to be effective.

The main selling point of G Fuel over traditional energy drinks is that they have ZERO sugar.

The downside of traditional energy drinks like Red Bull is the sugar typically seen in these carbonated drinks. There are no concerns here as these are low-calorie, sugar-free energy drinks.

G Fuel PewDiePie Energy Formula Review

This tub is co-branded with the well-known Swedish YouTube influencer PewDiePie (real name Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg).

The flavor is Lingonberry, small red berries that taste similar to cranberries and are regarded as superfruit.

Although flavored, when opening the tub, there was no distinctive smell of lingonberries, not that I am sure what they actually smell like. I was sort of expecting at least some smell.

The powder is also white, which I thought was disappointing, considering the outside tub's color.

When mixed with water, the fluid turns a striking red color, which you can see in the “best G Fuel flavor” section in the picture below.

G Fuel DubMelon Energy Formula Review

This tub by G Fuel is not branded and I thought it would be good to compare this against the Pewds G Fuel brand.

As the tub states, this is DubMelon flavor and, similar to the tub above, had white powder inside with no distinctive smell.

Opening the tubs felt lackluster, considering the bold branding.

When mixed, the color of DubMelon G Fuel is more pinkish than red and looks less striking than PewDiePie G Fuel powder.

Are there any G Fuel side effects?

Considering the target market for G Fuel is teenagers and those in their 20s, safety and side effects are top of the list of concerns.

I never experienced any side effects from taking G Fuel on the few occasions I drank it.

There is caffeine in the formula (140mg per serving) and so if you're very sensitive to this stimulant, you may have unwanted side effects like jittery etc. But if like me you drink coffee or are used to energy drinks like Red Bull it's unlikely.

How to take G Fuel

I found G Fuel a little tricker to take than most powder supplements delivered in tubs. The reason is the rather funny serving spoon that's included in each tub.

I have never seen this style of a spoon before. You can see in the picture that it has a funnel at the top, presumably to help guide the powder into a shaker.

But, this made it slowly scoop the powder into my glass before I mixed it.

I was trying out the tubs, and for these each serving is 7g and is measured with the scoop that's included inside the tub. Each tub contains 40 servings, which should be enough for one month, depending on usage.

What is the Best G Fuel Flavor?

Checking the G Fuel range of energy drinks, I found out they now have over 20 unique flavors for you to choose from.

As they highlight, the taste is very unique. What I may like you could find disgusting and vice versa. G Fuel has enough flavors to satisfy even the fussiest of gamers.

So, what G Fuel did I like best, from Dubmelon mint to the PewDiePie-inspired tub (that actually was cherry flavored)?

I admit I wasn't a big fan of either of the G Fuel tub flavors I tried. They tasted very artificial to me with quite a sharp taste. I am not sure that I could drink much of these.

I actually slightly preferred the lingonberries flavor of the PewDiePie G Fuel.

The taste was more distinctive and stronger than the Dubmelon mint flavor, which seemed a little diluted. There are of course, many other flavors to try.

Does G Fuel Energy Formula work?

I was disappointed that not all the ingredient amounts were available. But in contrast to many supplement brands, the important parts of the formula don't appear to be overloaded with so many ingredients and so should be in decent quantities.

So, for example, the energy and focus complexes are where the magic will happen.

The Energy blend contains five ingredients in a 1.2g serving amount, and the Focus blend has 4 ingredients in a 1.7g serving. It's a legal requirement for the most prominent ingredient to be listed first, so we know that there is likely to be a significant amount of Taurine and L-Tyrosine in the formula.

This is a good sign and one that I believe gives some credibility to G Fuel and its energy formulas.

On top of this, we're getting a good mix of B vitamins that are crucial for energy production and release processes in the body.

All in all, I am pretty happy with the Energy and Focus complexes.

The “antioxidant complex” is a long list of 18 fruit powders mixed into a tiny (and I mean tiny) 163.5mg blend. There will be so few of these fruits in this proprietary blend that I struggle to see what benefit these will have.

I think including the antioxidant complex is a waste of time and is only window dressing to make the supplement look better.

I would be interested in being informed differently with evidence from any study suggesting otherwise.

G Fuel Reviews

I went checking for reviews of G Fuel from actual customers. The most obvious place to check was their Amazon shop, where they have a few hundred reviews on their products.

I picked a few reviews from their products from satisfied and unhappy customers.

This is the first G-Fuel I've ever bought and I taste exactly the way a blackberry is supposed to taste. Plus it looks great in my Red on Black on Black Dr. Disrespect G-Fuel Shaker Cup. Helps you to be able to maintain the energy you have without making you feel shaky and gross. 5 star reviewer

The only flavor that doesn't leave a powdery texture after shaking, tastes pretty good for gfuel standards.3 star reviewer

Pros: Tastes good, great energy, crash isn't anywhere near as rough as conventional energy drinks. CONS, OH GOD THE CONS: If you're looking for a sneaky laxative that will turn your bowel movements a radioactive green color and leave your stomach grumbling all day, all you need to do is drink one scoop of Black on Blackberry mixed with 16oz of sweet sweet purified water.2 star reviewer

Where to buy G Fuel

You can buy G Fuel from the official website and other online retailers.

Is there a money-back guarantee?

Checking their terms and conditions, refunds are only possible when ordered from the official website and if unopened. Unfortunately, they can’t take back open products simply because GFUEL is consumable and could have been tampered with after opening.

So, effectively then there is no money-back guarantee and it's only a refund policy.

My G Fuel Verdict

Would I take this product? I probably would if I was 20 years younger and into gaming.

The price is okay, and the taste is good.

Some of the ingredients are simply window dressing, and I don't believe they will do much, I am very much thinking of the “antioxidant complex” here.

The use of proprietary blends is a negative for me, as I mention in all my supplement reviews, as we don't get to evaluate the amount of each ingredient amount. That said, the energy and focus complexes are in good sizes, and so believe they have sufficient amounts inside.

Overall, a strong brand ticks most of the things I look for within a supplement. If only I was 20 years younger and into gaming! These days though, I would rather stick with greens or reds supplement that outlines what you're consuming.