Energy drinks and fall flavors traditionally don't get along. Pumpkin spice is the domain of creamy coffees, not sharper, tangy Rockstars and Red Bulls.
Recently, however, brands have found a way to make apple flavors work amidst the tingling carbonation and acidic backbone of the genre. Bloom Nutrition's Crisp Apple earned a promotion from seasonal sip to full-time eye-opener. Other companies have followed suit. That includes, in 2026, Alani Nu.
Alani Nu operates in its own niche within the energy drink world. Unlike sister drink Celsius, its flavors tend to be sweeter and broader. They're bolder and, in some cases, a bit confusing (lots of slushes). What does that mean when it turns its attention to some crisp weather extensions?
Let's see what
we've got.
Witch's Brew: C
Let's start with the flavor that's currently on sale at Costco (and satisfies my poor-brained, arbitrary limit of under or at $1 per can). My daughter, upon hearing the name, suggested it shouldn't be caramel apple flavored but just "gross." I follow the logic.
There's a pleasant Charms caramel apple pop smell floating upward after it's poured over ice. The opening sip is a clash of flavors. The round, soft and sweet caramel against the sharp, drier and tart green apple. It's a lot! The apple is pretty roundly artificial, landing directly in hard cardy land. The caramel is nicer, but a little weird against the sour of the fruit and the inherent acidity of an energy drink.
Alani Nu's entire vibe is turning up the sweetness beyond what Celsius brings. It works pretty well with its slushes. But in caramel apple it's too much. It feels like it's more appropriate for a 5 Hour Energy than a 12-ounce can.
Ruby Apple: C+
This smells acidic, even for an energy drink. The apple is bright Jolly Rancher flavors wafting off the top with a sugary tang behind it. It smells... loud, like this is going to be something I don't want 12 ounces of.
The actual flavor is more full-bodied. It's still tangy and sweet, but you get an apple that starts in lollipop form before rounding into something adjacent to a red apple. It persists through the snappy carbonation and that citric acid, leaving you with more of an aftertaste than other Alani Nu flavors.
It's totally fine, but outclassed by other apple variants in the realm. Bloom, for example, has a crisp, cidery apple flavor. This feels entirely inauthentic, which is true to the Alani Nu vibe (pink slush!) but a little disappointing.
Voodoo Vanilla Elixir: A
The elixir is a snack compared to the energy drink meals Alani Nu typically serves. It comes in an 8.4-ounce can. It has 65 milligrams of caffeine compared to a 12-ouncer's 200. It's also in a more unique flavor; the only other vanilla energy drink I believe I've had is Hi*Ball's seltzer.
It smells like a car air freshener, which sums up both the good and bad of it. The vanilla is rich and creamy on your tongue, playing well against the crispness of the bubbles underneath. It's sweet in the way Alani Nu does best, and the smaller format leaves you to worry less about finishing a can of it before it overloads your taste buds.
It's... kinda great! I feel like this would be awesome to mix into a can of cola for a vanilla Coke/Jolt Cola experience. It's got a solid, long lasting flavor that feels like the tail end of a root beer float. Oh hey, another good thing to mix it with. It stands up on its own as well, making an easily drinkable sip that tweaks the Alani Nu formula and goes beyond it.
Would I drink it instead of a Hamm's?
This a pass/fail mechanism where I compare whatever I’m drinking to my baseline cheap beer. That’s the standby from the land of sky-blue waters, Hamm’s. So the question to answer is: on a typical day, would I drink Alani Nu's new fall energy drinks over a cold can of Hamm’s?
No to the apple variants -- you can get better fall flavors elsewhere (Bloom in particular). Yes to the vanilla elixir, which tastes great and has flavor that deserves to be sipped more than 8.4 ounces at a time.
This is part of FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Alani Nu fall flavors are mostly misplaced, with 1 beautiful exception
