The Powerade Flavor We Ranked The Absolute Best

Sports drinks may be marketed as full of electrolytes to help athletes recover after a grueling workout, but they're also refreshing beverages to fuel long road trips, outings to the park, or just a regular day at home. And Powerade is one of the most famous electrolyte drinks of all, on par with its equally well-known competitor, Gatorade. After over 40 years in the business, Powerade has expanded its flavors far beyond fruit punch and lemon lime. We sampled 15 Powerade flavors to find the absolute best. And our favorite debuted in 2024!

Powerade's Island Burst is the complex and tropical flavor that won our hearts. We based the rankings on criteria like sweetness, taste, and how refreshing each drink was. We were looking for a sports drink with a balanced sweetness and a flavor true to the fruits it tries to mimic. "Island Burst" doesn't outright tell you the different fruit flavors contained within, but after one sip, you could taste each tropical fruit. The first that hit our tastebuds was pineapple, followed by a bright citrusy orange and a sweet, mellow mango. At the finish we picked up caramelized notes of banana. The sweetness of the banana and mango paired perfectly with the tangier, zestier oranges and pineapple, resulting in a well-balanced tropical punch that was exciting to our tastebuds as it was energizing for our bodies.

We scoured grocery sites and social media alike to find plenty of 5-star reviews for Island Burst Powerade. Customer reviews from Kroger praised the flavor as "refreshing with no after taste. There is nothing else quite like this one. I just can't get enough of it and [it] quenches my thirst." In a YouTube review, the taster noted an aroma of mango and orange right off the bat, enticing him to take a big gulp. Once he took a sip he was so pleasantly surprised by the vibrant tropical punch flavor that he said, "kind of reminds me of one of those Baja Blast tropical sodas, only non-carbonated." He also enjoyed that the flavor was sweet and not watered down like many other Powerade flavors. We noted this watered-down flavor experience with the last place Powerade, Sour Grape Shocker.

If you're looking to refuel after a workout with Island Burst, its tropical flavors would pair well with a peanut butter protein bar from our highly ranked Perfect Bar protein bar brand. Of course the sweet and tangy tropical punch would also quench your thirst after delighting in a salty snack like potato chips. You'll always find Powerade at gas stations, so to fuel your next road trip, pick some up to wash down some of our favorite gas station snacks of all time like Doritos, Chex Mix, or Flamin' Hot Cheetos.