With the promise that it’s ‘NOW MORE DELICIOUS,’ I gave Liquid Death Sparkling Energy a try

For most of my adult life, I didn’t drink coffee. I’m sure that sounds shocking, but I was never interested in starting off my day with a hot beverage. Instead, I love the cool, carbonated hit of an energy drink. Amps. Kickstarts. The occasional Red Bull. A Monster Zero when all other options were exhausted.

I start my days with an iced coffee or cold brew now, but I still probably drink an energy drink or two each week. Kickstarts are getting harder to find, but I was intrigued by a newish entry in the world of energy drinks: Liquid Death Sparkling Energy.

Unlike the Celsius energy drinks that pack an insane 200 mg of caffeine and are everywhere now — I had my first one thanks to a hotel cafe in Philadelphia a few weeks back — Liquid Death’s lineup offers “unextreme caffeine” that clocks in at 100 mg per can.

“We thought, ‘Let’s have a sane level of caffeine, that’s equal to a cup of coffee, because it seems like the category has gone a little caffeine-crazy’,” Liquid Death founder and chief executive Mike Cessario told The Wall Street Journal.

Liquid Death has been around since 2018, but I only recently got into the brand. I found myself driving back and forth between Virginia and Rochester over the summer, and I needed to mix up my car beverages beyond my standard Coke Zero. My very first Liquid Death? Dead Billionaire, the brand’s tea/lemonade crossover. I enjoyed that flavor enough to currently have it stocked in our fridge alongside Pop-Tarts Carnage. (Yes, that’s a real flavor. And yes, it’s pretty good.)

While Liquid Death has two new flavors of Sparkling Energy making their way into stores right now, I spotted the original lineup at the grocery store and couldn’t resist grabbing one can of each flavor for Snackology. Yes, these four flavors technically came out earlier this year, but two of them have “NOW MORE DELICIOUS” badges on their cans, which makes them fair game for this review.

What they cost

Liquid Death Sparkling Energy drinks were on sale for two for $4 at my Harris Teeter. They’re normally $2.99 per can.

also from the omnicosm

Love what you’re reading? You might also enjoy Popculturology, a deep-dive into the world of movies, television and more. Already a subscriber? Update your settings to add Popculturology to your inbox.

Read the latest from Popculturology

My thoughts

Liquid Death Sparkling Energy Murder Mystery

While three of the four flavors of the original wave of Liquid Death Sparkling Energy drinks come with names that do a pretty good job of letting you know what they’re going to taste like, Murder Mystery is, well, a mystery. This felt like a good place to start my “death to drowsy” journey through this lineup.

Murder Mystery and Tropical Terror both come with “NOW MORE DELICIOUS” badges on their cans. I haven’t been able to track down what changes Liquid Death made to these flavors to earn this distinction, but it seemed like a curious move considering these energy drinks only just hit the market at the beginning of 2026.