I Tried 13 Electrolyte Drinks to Find the Tastiest Ones

Once upon a time, the “best electrolyte drink” could only be one of a few things: Gatorade, Powerade, or sometimes Pedialyte. But in recent years the category has exploded: In line with other health and wellness-related food and beverage products like protein powders and collagen supplements, there are now enough electrolyte powders, tablets, drops, and ready-to-drink bevs to make anyone’s head spin—including mine. Though I’m someone who likes to start her mornings off with a good sweat, I never thought much about what all these products marketing themselves as “hydrating,” “energy-boosting,” or “replenishing” actually did for my body—or whether whichever option I’d selected that day would actually taste good.

So I went looking for answers to three questions:

1. What do electrolytes actually do?
2. Who should be drinking them?
3. Which ones taste the best?

I spoke with a registered dietitian about the science behind these beverages before taste-testing over 13 popular brands to find the best electrolyte drinks for lots of different active lifestyles, whether you’re crushing HIIT classes on the daily or you’re more of a weekend pickleball person.

• The best electrolyte drink all around: DripDrop ($36 for 32 packets)
• For the person who’s a stickler for ingredient labels: Nectar Essential Daily Hydration ($30 for 30 packets)
• For the coconut water fiend: Coco5 ($30 for 12 bottles)
• For the person who likes it salty: LMNT ($24 for 12 packets)
• The most portable: Waterdrop Microlyte ($23 for 24 tablets)
• For the person who hates flavored water: Buoy Hydration Drops ($39 for 120 servings)
• For athletes and intense exercisers: Gatorade ($3 per bottle)
• Other electrolyte drinks I tried

What are electrolytes?

“Electrolytes essentially help with the fluid balance in our bodies,” says Taylor Grasso, MPPD, RD, a registered dietitian and host of the podcast Simply Balanced. Sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride are some of the most common electrolytes. They play a key role in many of our bodies’ functions, including maintaining the balance between the fluid outside and inside of our cells. “When we have a balance of [electrolytes] in cohesion with proper hydration, then our body is going to actually be able to absorb that water,” says Grasso. That absorption happens through the process of osmosis: When a cell is concentrated with electrolyte ions, water will move into the cell towards that more concentrated solution.

Do I need to be drinking electrolyte enhanced beverages?

It depends. Electrolytes are essential for our bodies to function, but most people get plenty of them in their regular diet. Many fruits, vegetables, and other foods naturally contain a range of different electrolytes, and a lot of processed foods, though they might have other issues, are fortified with some kind of electrolyte—most frequently, sodium.

But there are several reasons you might want to consider adding an electrolyte drink or supplement of some sort to your routine. “We lose a lot of electrolytes in sweat,” says Grasso. That means that if you’re an athlete, intense exerciser, work an outdoor job in a hot climate, or are just generally a heavy sweater, replenishing with extra electrolytes can enable your body to properly hydrate.

Even if you’re not a particularly active individual, there are a few cases in which it may still be helpful to consume electrolytes. One such case? Hangovers. “You’re depleting your body of electrolytes when you're drinking alcohol and a lot of the time it's also dehydrating you,” says Grasso. “Electrolytes can really help to replenish a lot of that and make you feel a lot better as well.” Flying and being at high altitude can also severely dehydrate you, and Grasso notes that electrolyte drinks can be a potential remedy for the feelings of nausea, fatigue, and headache that can often come with air travel. And last, if you find yourself sick with fever, diarrhea, or vomiting, that can deplete you of electrolytes too—which is why Pedialyte, for instance, was historically marketed as a rehydration drink for sick children.

Should I drink electrolytes before or after exertion?

Grasso says this ultimately comes down to personal preference, but as a dietitian she typically recommends adding those electrolytes after your workout, travel, or big night out. “That is when you’re actually needing the electrolytes and they’re going to help replenish you,” she says. “I also think it obviously tastes really good after a heavy sweat.” If you’re partial to chugging your electrolytes before your workout to preempt a sweat sesh, consider that you may need to re-up afterwards as well.

What to look for in an electrolyte drink

Grasso tends to look at the quantities of two main ingredients when considering an electrolyte drink: sodium and sugar. They’re the two that can vary the most. Sodium had the widest swings compared to other types of electrolytes in the drinks I tested, from the mere 50 milligrams in the Buoy Hydration Drops to the whopping 1,000 milligrams found in LMNT. “In terms of what to look for, pay attention to the sodium in comparison to where you’re getting sodium from in your diet,” says Grasso. If you eat a lot of frozen foods, canned soups, or processed meats, but you’re still looking to supplement your electrolyte intake for one reason or another, Grasso recommends opting for something on the lower end of the spectrum of the sodium range—something with 500 milligrams or less. If you’re a salt lover who can’t resist the taste of the more sodium-heavy drink mixes like LMNT, consider going with half of a packet rather than the full dose.

As for the sugar content, Grasso recommends that “if you’re using it for lighter activities—you’re not doing intense, long workouts past an hour and a half—then looking for something with under 15 grams of added sugar is probably going to be your best bet.”

Most brands in the hydration space keep their ingredient lists short and sweet, so there isn’t much you need to worry about avoiding when making our choice. The only thing Grasso says to watch out for are artificial sweeteners or sugar alcohols like erythritol, xylitol, and maltitol. “I don’t view those things as ‘bad,’ and as long as they don’t bother you specifically I’m totally fine with people enjoying them.” But they can cause digestive upset in some people, Grasso warns. So you may want to take any hydration drinks that contain them for a test drive before you chug one before or during a 10 mile run. Similarly, artificial sweeteners like sucralose cause headaches or migraines in some people. “It’s just kind of person dependent,” says Grasso.

What’s the deal with traditional sports drinks like Gatorade?

Sports drinks such as Powerade and Gatorade often get a bad rap these days because they contain so much added sugar, but Grasso notes that there’s a reason it’s there. These drinks are designed for athletes, and “when athletes are exercising and working out, not only are they sweating and losing electrolytes, but they’re also burning through glucose, which is sugar,” says Grasso. In addition to replenishing electrolyte stores, “we also need to keep that balance of sugar and carbohydrates within the body.” There’s also science that shows that glucose helps electrolytes—particularly sodium—get into the cells a bit faster, which is helpful for athletes who need to be on their A-game for long stretches of time.

But that’s for athletes engaged in long bouts of intense exercise. The amount of added sugar in some of these traditional sports drinks will be overkill for more casual activities. If you aren’t working out for that long or that hard, Grasso recommends simply diluting the drinks with water. “You’re still getting the benefit of the glucose and the sugar that you need for the activity, and you’re still getting the electrolytes.”

Do electrolytes need sugar to be effective?

While sugar is beneficial for speeding up the process by which electrolytes enter the cells, there’s a myth that it’s necessary in order for electrolytes to be effective—which is not true. “The electrolytes themselves are still going to work in the absence of glucose,” says Grasso. They may just take longer to get the job done, which is why drinks marketed as “rapid hydration” solutions typically do contain some amount of sugar.

If you’re a longtime Gatorade devotee looking for an alternative that may be better suited to the average active person, the doctor-developed electrolyte packets from DripDrop are the choice for you. With seven grams of added sugar and a more modest amount of sodium than some of the other options on this list, they’re an ideal pick for anyone who’s exerting themselves to a decent extent—but not at the intensity level and duration of a pro athlete. Most importantly, DripDrop was one of the tastiest options I tested: sweet but not overly so, incredibly refreshing to down post-workout, and available in 13 different flavors. It’s the option I’ve found myself reaching for after my own workouts since conducting all this testing. They also make a sugar free version sweetened with sucralose, which I did not try.

Type: Packet
Price: $36 for 32 packets at Amazon
Sodium: 330mg
Sugar: 7g
Sweetener: Sugar, fructose, dextrose, and sucralose

If you glance at the nutrition labels of the options on this list, you’ll notice that these types of products tend to have pretty short ingredient lists. But if you’re looking for a very natural option that also tastes great, Nectar Essential Daily Hydration packets fit the bill. With only seven ingredients (all of which have names you can pronounce), this drink mix makes use of organic fruit rather than any sort of artificial flavoring. I liked the slight tartness that comes from an addition of acid (citric or malic depending on the flavor), and the fact that it’s not super sweet, which makes it especially downable. Note that Nectar uses organic stevia rather than sugar as its sweetener, and it only contains 100mg of sodium, which means it’s best suited for very mild levels of exertion or everyday drinking. For heavy sweating and intense exercise, you might want to consider an option with a more sodium and some added sugar to help replenish those glycogen stores.

Type: Packet
Price: $30 for 30 packets at Amazon
Sodium: 100mg
Sugar: 0g
Sweetener: Stevia

If you, like me, crave ice cold coconut water the minute you feel parched, you’ll love Coco5. Made up primarily of coconut water concentrate and filtered water, you can essentially think of this as a coconut water-based sports drink. Coco5 makes use of the electrolytes found naturally in coconut water (like potassium, calcium, and magnesium) and adds salt for an extra hydration boost. Available in six flavors, I thoroughly enjoyed the taste of each one I tried. The passion fruit flavor tasted remarkably of passion fruit for something that doesn’t have, well, real passion fruit in it, and I liked the addition of citric acid for the welcome tartness it brings.

Type: Ready-to-drink
Price: $30 for 12 bottles at Amazon
Sodium: 120mg
Sugar: 14g
Sweetener: Cane sugar and rebiana (a form of stevia)

If you live for the salted rim on a margarita or you find yourself adding a pinch of flaky salt to everything you eat, you’ll love this drink mix. LMNT is one of the big names in today’s hydration game for a reason: It’s got a straightforward ingredient list that separates itself from the rest of the pack with the amount of sodium it contains. At 1000 milligrams per packet, this is the kind of hydration drink you’ll want to save for those extra sweaty sessions, or opt for if you’re prone to heavy sweating in the warmer months. It’s so notably salty that its flavor is quite polarizing, though it has plenty of staunch fans (including Grasso). Note that LMNT is sweetened with stevia and has zero sugar, so if you are using it after intense exercise you’ll likely need to replenish your glucose in addition.

Type: Packet
Price: $24 for 12 packets at Amazon
Sodium: 1000mg
Sugar: 0g
Sweetener: Stevia

While most of the options on this list come in packet form and are easy enough to take on the go, the tablet-style “Microlyte” cubes from Waterdrop are even more compact and portable—plus you won’t need to worry about spilling powder everywhere when you go to mix up your bev. Just peel open the packaging and drop one into a bottle of water and you’re good to go. The one thing I didn’t love about this option is that the tablets take a fair amount of time to dissolve—but once they do, you’ll be left with a lightly sweet, pleasantly fruity, and ultra refreshing drink that’s ideal for all of you flavored water fans.

Type: Tablet
Price: $14 for 12 tablets at Amazon
Sodium: 240mg
Sugar: 0g
Sweetener: Stevia

Maybe the thing you truly crave after a workout is good old-fashioned water. If that’s the case, Buoy Hydration Drops are a great way to get a tiny electrolyte boost without any added flavor or sweetness whatsoever. Now, when I say “tiny,” I do mean it—these drops only contain 50 milligrams of sodium (and similarly small amounts of other electrolytes). That's because they're meant to be added to multiple beverages throughout the day—for a total of four to seven servings, to be exact. They're a great option to keep by your desk for all-day hydrating, or to bring with you on that next road trip.

Type: Drops
Price: $39 for 3 bottles at Amazon
Sodium: 50mg per drop
Sugar: 0g
Sweetener: None

As Grasso mentions above, there is a time and place for this OG sports drink. It contains more than triple the amount of added sugar as Liquid I.V., with 34 grams per 20-ounce bottle; but for serious athletes, pro football players, and the like—that is, people who are exercising for hours at a time every day—that sugar is absolutely necessary.

Type: Ready-to-drink
Price: $2.59 per 20-ounce bottle at Target
Sodium: 270mg
Sugar: 34g
Sweetener: Sugar, dextrose

Another option from the Gatorade family is Gatorlyte. With far less sugar than traditional Gatorade (12 grams versus 34) and more sodium (490 milligrams versus 270), it’s a great pick for those looking for a widely-available ready-to-drink hydration solution. Do note that the extra sodium does mean Gatorlyte tastes a bit saltier than normal Gatorade.

Type: Ready-to-drink or packets
Price: $2.69 per 20-ounce bottle at Amazon or $23 for 18 packets at Gatorade
Sodium: 490mg (bottle) or 420mg (packet)
Sugar: 12g (bottle) or 10g (packet)
Sweetener: Sugar, stevia

There were a few drinks I tried that tasted good, but didn’t have any distinguishing factors in terms of flavor or use case, or didn’t quite stand up to another brand that filled a similar need. Read more about them below, as well as a couple options I didn’t love.

With four fruity flavors, 250 milligrams of sodium, and a touch of organic cane sugar, this is another great ready-to-drink option that strikes a good balance between sweetness and salt level. I’m partial to the Fruit Punch and Wildberry flavors, and would definitely recommend enjoying these chilled or over ice.

Type: Ready-to-drink
Price: $30 for 12 bottles at Local Weather
Sodium: 250mg
Sugar: 6g
Sweetener: Cane sugar, stevia

This Japanese sports drink has been around since 1980. It has a subtle flavor and sweetness that most would find agreeable, and I appreciated that it wasn’t overly salty. It comes in bottles and in packets that make a liter (three servings) of mixed drink, which makes it a great option for any frequent exercisers or sweaters looking to keep a pitcher in their fridge for hydrating throughout the week.

Type: Packets or bottles
Price: $12 for 5 (three-serving) packets or $24 for 12 bottles at Amazon
Sodium: 170mg (packet) or 245mg (bottle)
Sugar: 20g (packet) or 29g (bottle)
Sweetener: Cane sugar

This drink mix is a favorite among college kids for those post-frat party hangovers because of its claim of “faster hydration,” but it works just as well as a post-exercise or sickness boost. As explained above, the reason it’s able to hydrate you faster is because it contains real sugar. It’s noticeably salty but not as much so as LMNT (which makes sense, as it has about half the amount of sodium). I found it pretty tasty to drink, and liked that it comes in over 20 flavors that range from passion fruit to Popsicle Firecracker.

Type: Packets
Price: $25 for 16 packets at Liquid I.V.
Sodium: 490-630mg depending on flavor
Sugar: 11g
Sweetener: Cane Sugar, dextrose, stevia

I was drawn to the electrolyte drink packets from Only because of the four flavor options: Yuzu Citrus, White Peach, Asian Pear, and Lychee. Like the Nectar Daily Hydration packets, these contain real fruit, though there are “natural flavors” added as well. Ultimately, though, I wasn’t wowed by any of the varieties, and the lychee in particular tasted a bit like soap. That said, lovers of tart citrusy things might like the yuzu flavor, which I found to be the best of the bunch.

Type: Packets
Price: $33 for 16 packets at Only
Sodium: 550mg
Sugar: 3g
Sweetener: Sugar, monk fruit

Safety Shot was designed primarily as a hangover prevention and recovery solution. It’s marketed as “the world’s first rapid alcohol reducer,” with claims that it can lower your blood alcohol content in as little as 30 minutes. I can’t confirm or deny that—I’m sorry to say I did not get drunk in order to test it out—but regardless, this drink tastes so bad that I couldn’t imagine stomaching an entire 12-ounce can. That’d be especially true if I was hungover. I can best describe its flavor as what would happen if you concentrated Emergen-C and amped up its vitamin-y aftertaste.

Type: Ready-to-drink
Price: $20 for 4 cans at Safety Shot
Sodium: 200mg
Sugar: 0g
Sweetener: Sucralose