Wraith Energy is a refreshing and effective alternative to sugary energy drinks
Like many gamers, I’ve always been partial to energy drinks, but it can quickly become a slippery slope. The energy kick they give is great, but they can quickly become addictive and the often sugar-laden concoctions are not exactly what you’d call healthy. I’d often consume several cans during a lengthy gaming session, but due to the constant sugar crashes, I found it hindered my performance as much as it helped.
I’ve tried a few of the powdered formula drinks in the past, but none gave me that same boost that I got from my canned drink of choice (that absolutely does not contain bull sperm…) A friend of mine put me onto Wraith, as he, like many of us, had developed an unhealthy reliance on canned energy drinks, but found Wraith was far cleaner, and it didn’t make him feel like a zombie when he wasn’t drinking it. Having experienced the same slumbering zombification myself, I decided to give it a try.
PUBG x Wraith
I reached out to Wraith, who went above and beyond with the hookup, sending me an exclusive PUBG x Wraith crate! Before I get into the awesome bundle of joy that is the PUBG x Wraith Crate, we should give a quick overview of what it’s all about:
Wraith has been doing a collaboration with PUBG, and in celebration of this, they have released a money-can’t-buy special edition crate.
If you’ve been living under a rock and have never heard of it, PUBG, or PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, is the game that brought Battle Royale roaring into popularity. With their Winner Winner Chicken Dinner message when you (maybe, if you’re lucky/skilful) win a game, the epic 100 player matches rapidly became a streamer’s favourite.
Since its release, they’ve constantly added to the game, with the newest addition being a brand new map, called Taego. Taego is a large 8km x 8km map set in the Korean countryside, based on the stunning scenery of Korea in the 80s and 90s.
It’s not just a new map, though, as the update also brings self-revive kits (a first for the series), as well as Comeback BR, which is basically PUBG’s version of the Gulag. If you get knocked and killed before the first circle closes in, you can enter a mini-BR – outlast the timer and you can drop back in.
Wraith founders TedTheWraith, OneManWraith and MagicManWraith are gamers first and foremost, and they’ve worked hard on developing and promoting their brand. This partnership with PUBG goes a long way towards validating the hard work they’ve put in and hopefully will bring them the success they deserve.
The crate of awesomeness
When companies do crossovers they often only go as far as a couple of loosely related products, but the special edition crate was crammed full of awesome goodies. Inside this crate were an epic PUBG hoodie which I wear frequently, a selection of Korean snacks in celebration of the new map Taego, a Wraith snapback cap, a PUBG crate multi-charger and the best bit, one of each of the Wraith flavours, a shaker, and a whole tub of the exclusive PUBG flavour, Korean Hotteok.
The snacks were pretty awesome, including some double-spicy burn your bumhole chicken noodles, some chocolate coated biscuits (that look and taste similar to Mikado), a soft biscuit/cake thing that was reminiscent of a Wagon Wheel (but much nicer), and these weird milky vanilla chews that I’ll admit to not being a fan of (though my kids seem to enjoy them).
Snacks are good, but clothes are even better – The hoodie is gorgeous; I was expecting the usual giveaway standard with thin material, rough fabric and poor construction, but this is a genuinely nice hoodie with some unique PUBG branding and logos, contrasting stitching, metal zip and a very comfortable fit.
Andy, who is the co-owner of TGA, also received one of these crates, and has put together a video where you can see what he thinks of the crate, too:
The flavours
I received a single-serving of each of their flavours, and I’ve now tried all of them. They are all nice, but some are absolutely superb. Wraith recommends you mix them with 400-500ml of chilled water – the first few I tried with 500ml, but mixed like this they lacked the intensity of flavour which was disappointing. Kind of like when you water down squash too much; tasty but underwhelming.
Sticking to 400ml upped the taste significantly. Wraith doesn’t have that sugary-sweet intensity you get from typical soft drinks, it’s more like the smooth and flavourful taste you get from fresh fruit juice, which is far more enjoyable and very, very guzzleable.
Prepping the drink is easy; simply fill the shaker with chilled water, add a sachet or scoop, depending on which you have, then shake the living bejeebus out of it. It takes a lot of shaking to properly dissolve the powder – if you don’t shake enough you can end up with a chalky residue in the bottom.
I tried with soda water so I could have a fizzy version, but by the time I’d shaken it enough to dissolve the drink it had gone flat (that, and the pressure caused the top to fly open and sprayed me with Wraith). If you want it fizzy, you can try mixing the powder with about 50ml water first. This way you can dissolve it and then add the sparkling water/soda and gently mix it, which works much better.
When it came to the various flavours, my predictions of which would be my favourites was pretty accurate. If you see a flavour and it sounds like something you’d usually like, chances are you won’t be disappointed.
The Cult Cola flavour was a bit of a letdown, though. I love Coke and Pepsi and was hoping for something similar, but it actually tasted like cola bottle sweets. Still nice, but not what I was hoping for. Similarly, the Pear Drops flavour was nice, and it smelled and tasted just like pear drops boiled sweets, but it’s not something I would drink over and again.
For me, the best flavours were those that were closest to regular fruit drinks, which is most of them, to be honest. The Tropical Punch flavour is delicious, as are the Strawberry Kiwi, Nitro Orange and Cherry Lime. RGBerry (kind of like summer fruits) was definitely a favourite, and the Voodoo Grape is divine, but one flavour reigned supreme – Sour Apple. I could drink that lip-smackingly tangy goodness all day long.
Like I said, if a flavour looks like something you would usually drink, you won’t be disappointed.
Putting the effects to the test
So the flavours are great, but there’s no point buying a tasty energy drink if it doesn’t replace the effects of your usual can of wet caffeinated sugar. I use energy/caffeine drinks for two reasons: to keep alert and focused while gaming late into the night after a hard day of work, and to try to rouse myself in the morning when I’m unceremoniously awoken by my children after staying awake late into the night gaming (it’s a vicious circle, I know).
Slamming a shaker full of Wraith down my gullet, I settled at my desk, and instead of absent-mindedly scrolling through endless lists of games trying to decide what to play (and often just putting on Netflix), I was perked up and couldn’t wait to get down to it. I don’t know about you, but when I’m worn out it’s hard to get that initial motivation going. Wraith definitely helped here, but I could say the same for regular energy drinks in this regard.
Where Wraith surpassed regular energy drinks was in the sustained energy release and lack of sugar crash that I usually experience an hour or two into gaming. I felt wide awake without being wired, and focused without that almost anxiety-like effect I often get from Relentless-Monster-Bull comedowns.
Another thing I found with Wraith is, if you’ll pardon the crassness, it doesn’t dehydrate me and cause me to constantly need to go for a piss. Most energy drinks have a diuretic effect on me, causing my body to want to relieve itself of precious water. Whatever they’ve done with the Wraith formula, though, it really works. I feel hydrated, and it’s actually a really refreshing drink.
The bigger test for me, though, is does it wake me up in the mornings. As someone who doesn’t like coffee or tea, those longstanding mainstays of morning motivation have been replaced with a good chug of energy drinks, and although they have the kick to get me going, once they wear off I don’t feel any better for it.
Wraith gave me that caffeinated kick that I need to cope with hyperactive children (who for some reason think pre-7am is a good time to start getting out toys and playing the xylophone), but it also felt clean and refreshing, like having a glass of fresh juice. Not only did I feel awake, I felt great!
The verdict
If you have found yourself addicted to those cans of luminous coloured liquids and want to try a cleaner alternative, I can wholeheartedly recommend Wraith. It’s important to note Wraith contain vitamins and other supplements, so it’s not something you should drink all day long, but it’s definitely a better sugar-free alternative to regular energy drinks when consumed in moderation.
A tub contains 40 servings and retails for about £29.99, but due to their partnerships with streamers, you will find codes offering from 10-20% off, which makes the price very reasonable.
I wasn’t convinced Wraith was going to bring anything new to the table in comparison to other powdered drinks formulas, but with effective energy release that is free of the post-rush crash, and some standout flavours, it’s definitely something I’m going to get more of.
You can order Wraith Energy from their website, along with shakers, single-serve samples of the flavours and some sweet merch (gotta love merch!): https://www.drinkwraith.com/
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to Twitch to find some promo codes…
