Liquid Caffeine
Liquid Caffeine is a concentrated caffeine solution intended for diluting in any drink to get your caffeine fix. Let us explore more about this product.
What is Liquid Caffine
Liquid Caffeine is a liquid you can add into any drink to add caffeine. Pretty straightforward.
What do you Get
We ordered the 16oz Sweet & Regular Combo but ended up with 2 regular flavor Liquid Caffeine. It is actually hard to tell what bottle you receive, because as far as we can tell there are no markings on the bottle indicating which flavor it is.
Using it
For our testing we added liquid caffeine to a sports drink and to water, making caffeinated water which they really seem to like on their website, dedicating a 1,000 word article touting it.
Sports Drink Mix
- 1 32 oz Powerade
- 2 Pumps of Liquid Caffine
Caffeinated Water Mix
- 16 oz water
- 2 Pumps of Liquid Caffeine
The Pump
We had some issue with the pump overall. It is hard to get a single continuous pump of the Liquid Caffeine without wasting some first. Even after using the pump a few times, the next time you tried using it, you would have to pump several times before a little comes out and then you get a steady stream. That is, unless you want to not be sure of how much Liquid Caffeine you’re getting. On that note…
The Dosage
Liquid Caffeine claims that 1 pump = 80mg caffeine = 1 cup of coffee. We can’t disagree with the estimated caffeine for a cup of coffee. What we can investigate though, is the claim that 1 pump contains 80mg of caffeine.
Liquid Caffeine comes in a 16oz bottle and claims to have 8,000mg of caffeine. This results in 100 pumps per bottle. Each pump should result in 0.16oz or about 4.73ml.
With our testing of 4 full pumps, we received about 15ml of liquid. We should have received 18.92ml. This is a shortage of about 20.7%. Each pump then only gives you around 64mg of caffeine. To us this is a bit too inaccurate. For those tolerant or intolerant to caffeine, knowing how much you are ingesting is especially important. We advise to perform the same test at home or use a different measuring technique.
How Does it Taste
From previous experience with pure caffeine, we know that caffeine is very bitter. In our caffeine water drink, we were able to detect the bitter flavor, but it was not too strong or unpleasant for us. Mixed in with a sports drink, we were not able to taste any of the liquid caffeine. If you want to taste the pure Liquid Caffeine, the taste does not appear to be unbearable.
Other Concentrated Liquids
In case you accidently or purposely ingest some pure Liquid Caffeine, we wanted to see how it compares to some of our other favorite energy liquids.
| Liquid | Volume | Caffeine Content | Strength |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liquid Caffeine | 0.16 oz | 80 mg | 500 mg/oz |
| 5 Hour Energy Extra Strength | 1.9 oz | 242 mg | 127 mg/oz |
| Rockstar Pure Zero | 16 oz | 240 mg | 15 mg/oz |
| Original Red Bull | 8.4 oz | 80 mg | 9.5 mg/oz |
Needless to say, it will get you going.
Breaking Down the Price
Liquid Caffeine is niche, so the price is justifiable. If you are interested in making your own, here is how much it could cost you.
Purebulk will sell you 1.5kg of powdered caffeine for $43.25. That means your 16oz bottle of Liquid Caffeine contains about 23 cents of caffeine powder. Liquid Caffeine sells a single bottle for about $16. Slight markup.
Looking Back
We here at Firestarter Labs have actually purchased from Liquid Caffeine before. We were surprised it was the same company as the one we bought from in 2013. Back then the product came in what looked to be a glue bottle container and went by the name of 5150 Energy. It is interesting to note their recommendation of popular drinks to mix it with.
Final Thoughts
We like Liquid Caffeine. We wish that the accuracy was a bit better but the convenience of just giving yourself a pump of caffeine in any liquid is great. You may end up with all of the drinks at your place caffeinated, which is not an ideal situation when you’re up in the middle of the night looking for a hydrating beverage, oh well.