Dubby review — Clean energy, smooth focus

That morning pick-me-up energy drink is a vibe. Heck, I need a mid-day and evening pick-me-up half the time. That said, the impact of a good pick-me-up changes your day. I’ve tried a bunch of different drinks – and some even for review here – and even though some cans and powders might drink smoother or have a more intense flavor, I don’t think I’ve drank anything that made me feel better the next day than Dubby. Trading in the bags under my eye is an unexpected benefit that I need to tell someone about.

For those unfamiliar, Dubby is an energy drink that comes in powder form. It’s available both with caffeine for a boost, or in a hydration formula if you need some extra electrolytes. On their website, there are a host of different flavors, and they keep growing further. They’ve even managed to land a collaboration recently with Solo Leveling, a popular anime, dropping two flavors and merchandise.

In my first box, I have a Dubby shaker, along with a few tubs of Energy and Hydro, and some packets as well. The energy tubs I’ve went with are the Solo Leveling Igris Strike, which is a tropical blue punch, Cali O Cream, which is a mango orange cream, Beach'n Peach, which is a mango white peach cooler. There were also two sample packets for Big Energy Tears, a blue raspberry blend, and Pushin’ Punch, a lemon-lime fruit punch. Following with Hydro, there are two flavors currently which I’ve tried both of, Watermelonada, a watermelon lemonade, and Pineberry Splash, a strawberry pineapple blend. 

That’s a lot of available drinks, and there are even more flavors to try. I will say that it seems the “library” is currently focused on tart and sweet. As I’ve said before, diversifying flavors is great, and I’d love to see a tea or cola variant creep its way into Dubby's lineup. More is better in this game.

Dubby’s formula is based on a lot of principles I connect with. Not only is it a zero-sugar and calorie drink, but there’s also no maltodextrin, fillers, or artificial colors. Just one of those things would be good – and zero sugar is my usual choice – but making a more clean formula is amazing. Less random fillers are always great; maltodextrin is something unnecessary I’m glad to find absent in Dubby.

Caffeine is an important ingredient on the list of Dubby’s energy concoction, but it’s not the end all be all. Dubby caps theirs at 150mg, a good middle ground. Given this falls well under the recommended daily 400mg amount, you can drink two in a day (obviously Hydro is under a different jurisdiction). Beyond that, the makeup of Vitamin C (immune health), B3 (helps your body make energy), B6 (improves brain function), and B12 (boost to cognitive thinking) offer a nice punch, with Taurine, Glutamine, and Cirtuline following behind with additional health benefits. As I’m a game reviewer and not a scientist, I can’t tell you exactly how it all works, but rest assured I’ll deal with that shortly.

Hydro also has its own formula at the ready. It blends some of the former ingredients, while adding Vitamin E (antioxidant) and B7 (assists metabolism), along with magnesium (can help with focus), zinc (helps your body heal and a lot of other benefits), sodium (helps balance electrolytes), and potassium (works against fatigue). The lack of caffeine gives you an additional drink to have during your daily routine, a boon to those like me who can drink like a fish depending on the day.

An ingredient of note on the energy label is coffee fruit extract. These have been researched and contain many health benefits. While it’s not a guarantee you’ll receive them all, coffee fruit can raise your levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, is rich in antioxidants and polyphenols, and can even promote weight loss. It’s clearly meant to be the star of the show, and is a good choice for its numerous qualities.

When mixing Dubby for the first time, you’ll want a shaker handy. As per most energy drink powder companies, Dubby does have a wide variety of shakers. The one I have is interesting, beyond just the nice blue color. It doesn’t have a grill inside or a shaker ball, items I’d expect to help separate the powder. That tells me the team is confident in the powder form mixing in properly without any assistance. I can confirm that, as I tried Dubby with both their shaker and another with a grill without any change in the consistency of mixing.

You’ll also need anywhere from eight to sixteen ounces of water. I’ve seen quite a bit of variation on the tubs and website as to how much exactly you’ll want to use, but it seems to be more about preference. I’ve gone the full sixteen ounces and not felt the mix was watered down, and as low as ten to twelve ounces without it being overpowering. The sweet spot is at twelve ounces, with great taste and feeling like I got a full drink out of my scoop.

Speaking of the scoop, you only need one. This should equate out to thirty scoops per tub, which should bring you to thirty drinks. At forty bucks a tub, that’s still well under the two dollars you’d spend on a soda, or more if you want an energy drink.

I prefer to take a whiff of my powder and the drink to see if I can make out what it is before the eventual first sip. Compared to the other drinks I’ve mixed up, in powder form it’s not recognizable, and mixed up only slightly. My first taste of Dubby was one of surprise, and mainly due to not knowing what to expect. The easiest comparable drink is G FUEL, with a similar texture and mix. It can be a bit powdery in taste – and my preference would be for it to be a little smoother – but it’s something you adjust to as you drink it.

By the time I made it to my second and third drink throughout my time, I was used to Dubby, and I’ve been nothing but surprised at the range and outstanding tastes. The Solo Leveling flavor is more of a tart taste, where Beach’n Peach is incredibly sweet yet stimulating. Watermelonada, the Hydro flavor, absolutely blew me away with a tasty mix of sour and sweet that balances perfectly on your tongue. Besides all the great taste, it’s remarkably refreshing; it doesn’t overpower the natural power of the water behind it.

Even better, I have felt reinvigorated by Dubby’s blend of vitamins, neurotrophic, and caffeine. As mentioned before, I drink a lot of different kinds of energy drinks, and Dubby has given me a boost where I’ve needed it. A lot of times the overload of a canned drink has left bags under my eyes in the morning, not that I crashed, but that they were almost too effective and kept me from sleeping well. Dubby seems to have given me a lift without destroying my rest. Maybe it’s less caffeine, maybe it’s their blend specifically and how it affects my body’s chemical makeup, I don’t know. But, in any case, it’s given me a cleaner energy to help me throughout the many things I do, whether work or play.

Smoother focus has also been a benefit. I’ve been playing a lot of Call of Duty, as I usually do being the aficionado at GamingTrend, and I’ve experienced some incredible matches. I can’t always attribute this specifically to the drink in my hand, but I’ve noticed my concentration feeling stronger. Besides that, my usual falloff when testing a new controller (of which I’ve done two recently) was non-existent, posting a 2.0 eliminations vs deaths ratio while going 14-1 in matches. For someone with a 1.4 average E/D, I’ve been punching above my weight, and at least some of that can be credited to Dubby.