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Nootropic drinks are a niche new addition to the beverage market that claim to improve your memory, focus and motivation.
Nexba, a popular kombucha brand, has jumped on the bandwagon with its own nootropic drinks range, while supermodel Bella Hadid has spruiked her own nootropic-style drink called Kin Spritz to tens of millions of Instagram followers.
But are these brain-boosting beverages all they're cracked up to be?
We take a look at the ingredients of nootropics drinks and their associated claims, a panel of CHOICE volunteers rate seven drinks on taste, and two staff members drink one brand across a couple of days to see if they notice any cognitive or mood difference.
If you're looking to completely overhaul your life, nootropic drinks won't be a quick fix.
It seems as though this is another body-hacking concept that's a shortcut to implementing actual lifestyle habits, such as eating a healthy and varied diet, drinking enough water, getting enough sleep and doing plenty of exercise. These habits have overwhelmingly strong evidence to support healthy cognitive function and mental health.
But if you're already living a healthy lifestyle and want a buzzy alternative to your usual afternoon tea or coffee, you may or may not get a small cognitive boost from Arepa, Shine+, Nexba and Kanguru nootropic drinks. If you end up trying any of them, let us know what you think.
Read more: Gordon's alcoholic vs non-alcoholic gin taste test
Let's take a look at some of the active ingredients commonly found in nootropic drinks, what their claimed health benefits are, and whether there's enough scientific proof to support these claims.
Claim: Improves memory and learning.
Evidence: May help with memory and learning. May help reduce stress and anxiety. More studies are needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Savvy Brain Boost.
Claim: Improves memory, attention and cognitive performance.
Evidence: An increase in memory in older people has been observed in small trials. May increase cognitive performance attention in children. More research is needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink , The Juice Lab Wellness Calm, Mojo Superbooch Calm-omile.
Evidence: More research is needed for a calming effect. May be useful in the short term to assist with anxiety.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: The Juice Lab Wellness Calm, Mojo Superbooch Calm-omile.
Evidence: May improve speed of response and recognition when also supplemented with vitamin C. More studies are needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink , No Ugly Skin Collagen + Enzogenol Wellness Tonic.
Evidence: May help with cognitive function. Increases in memory observed in a small trial of healthy adults. More studies are needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Nexba Focus, Nexba Gut, Nexba Glow, Shine+ Better Energy.
Claim: Improves cognitive function, learning and memory.
Evidence: No statistically significant differences in cognitive function and memory observed in studies. May help reduce anxiety and stress symptoms. More research is needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Kanguru Energy Blend.
Evidence: May offer short-term additional stimulant effect when combined with caffeine, but more studies are needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Kanguru Energy Blend, Kanguru Wellness Blend.
Evidence: May increase focus when taken with caffeine. May help anxious people focus better. May help with relaxation. More research is needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink, Shine+ Better Energy, Kanguru Energy Blend, Savvy Brain Boost.
Claim: Improves memory and focus.
Evidence: Some research done on rats and mice shows improvements in stress, memory and learning. More evidence is needed.
Nootropic drinks with this ingredient: Kanguru Energy Blend.
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The Juice Lab Wellness Calm.
Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink.
No Ugly Skin Collagen + Enzogenol Wellness Tonic.
Read more: Is kombucha good for you?
We were curious about whether nootropic drinks actually do what they claim to do, so we gave two willing staff the Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink to trial for two days to see whether they thought it improved their mental clarity, motivation and focus.
They each drank one 300mL bottle of Arepa at any time during the day and took an online survey immediately before drinking and 20–30 minutes after drinking the whole bottle. The survey reported on their subjective feelings of tiredness, motivation, happiness, focus and relaxation.
We chose the Arepa nootropic drink because it has the highest amount of L-theanine of the products we tasted, and the marketing for this product looks very convincing with claims that it was developed by neuroscientists. It's also readily available in Coles and has a subscription service.
Arepa's website claims this drink can:
After drinking Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink , both people said they felt less tired, more motivated, and had a clearer mind.
"I really didn't notice a big difference, although I found I felt tired later on in the day and fairly relaxed," reported one CHOICE staffer.
The other staff member also reported a lower mood after consuming the drink on both days.
Both triallists thought the flavour was OK, and neither disliked the drink overall.
"I quite like the Arepa drink, but it tastes pretty strong – a little bit goes a long way. For this test, I drank each bottle fairly quickly, over a few minutes or so, but it would probably be nicer in two or three servings across the day, maybe diluted a little, or with meals. It also [temporarily] stained my teeth and tongue!"
"The flavour isn't too bad after a few sips and isn't too sweet, and there's no aftertaste of sweeteners."
Read more: Food additives to avoid
Nootropic drinks range in price from $2.50–6.99 per can or bottle, which works out to between 78 cents and $2.33 per 100mL. The serving sizes we saw ranged from 250–500mL, and they're packaged in cans and glass bottles which means most can be recycled or returned for a 10c refund (in participating states).
No Ugly Focus Blackcurrant Wellness Tonic: $2.40
Mrs Toddy's Chill Out Tonic: $2.00
No Ugly Skin Collagen and Enzogenol Pineapple Wellness Tonic: $2.00
The Juice Lab Wellness Calm: $1.20
The Juice Lab Wellness Focus: $1.20
Shine+ Better Energy Mixed Berry: $1.20
Shine+ Better Energy Blood Orange: $1.20
Kanguru Energy Blend Mixed Berry and Pomegranate: $1.00
Kanguru Energy Blend Natural Citrus: $1.00
Kanguru Wellness Blend Green Apple: $1.00
No Ugly Focus Blackcurrant Wellness Tonic: 35 milligrams
Arepa Nootropic Brain Drink: 35 milligrams
Mrs Toddy's Chill Out Tonic: 0 milligrams
No Ugly Skin Collagen and Enzogenol Pineapple Wellness Tonic: 0 milligrams
The Juice Lab Wellness Calm: 0 milligrams
The Juice Lab Wellness Focus: 0 milligrams
Shine+ Better Energy Mixed Berry: 160 milligrams
Shine+ Better Energy Blood Orange: 160 milligrams
Kanguru Energy Blend Mixed Berry and Pomegranate: 96 milligrams
Kanguru Energy Blend Natural Citrus: 96 milligrams
Kanguru Wellness Blend Green Apple: 0 milligrams
Shine+ Blueberry Lemonade: 80 milligrams
Shine+ Orange Mango: 80 milligrams
Mojo Superbooch Calm-omile: 0 milligrams
No Ugly Focus Blackcurrant Wellness Tonic: 2.5 stars
Arepa Nootropic Brain Drink: 4 stars
Mrs Toddy's Chill Out Tonic: 3 stars
No Ugly Skin Collagen and Enzogenol Pineapple Wellness Tonic: 2 stars
The Juice Lab Wellness Calm: 3 stars
The Juice Lab Wellness Focus: 3 stars
Shine+ Better Energy Mixed Berry: 3.5 stars
Shine+ Better Energy Blood Orange: 3.5 stars
Kanguru Energy Blend Mixed Berry and Pomegranate: 3 stars
Kanguru Energy Blend Natural Citrus: 3.5 stars
Kanguru Wellness Blend Green Apple: 3 stars
Many nootropic drinks do contain caffeine, which is a common ingredient in energy drinks as well as other ingredients that claim to give you a boost, such as guarana and B vitamins. But others such as Mojo's Calm-omile and The Juice Lab's Wellness Calm are designed to have more of a calming effect rather than a stimulating one.
The legal caffeine limit, set by Australian food standards, for a standard 250mL energy drink in Australia is 80mg – about the same as an average cup of instant coffee. The recommended daily limit of caffeine for the general adult population is about 400mg.
Too much caffeine can cause headaches, increase anxiety, make you restless and impair your sleep.
We compared the caffeine content of nootropic drinks to a cup of coffee and a can of V Energy.
The nootropic serving sizes we saw ranged from 250mL to around 500mL and they're all intended to be drunk in one sitting. Caffeine content varies a lot between products: a 500mL can of Shine+ Charged, for example, provides 160mg of caffeine, while other brands contain none.
Of the drinks we tasted, Kanguru Energy Blend has the highest amount of caffeine at 96mg per serve (300mL can), which is roughly 1/4 of your caffeine limit for the day. Shine+ Better Energy has 80mg per 250mL serve, while the other five drinks have no added caffeine.
Technically, yes! They're easy to drink, taste great and are easily accessible for most people. Caffeine, found in coffee and tea, is classified as a nootropic because it provides mental stimulation. Tea also contains L-theanine in amounts ranging from 5.1–6.5mg per gram or 10.2–13g per serve (1 tea bag = 2g).
Read more: Artificial sweeteners vs sugar
Only two of the drinks we tasted, Nexba and Mojo, were sugar-free, while three contained less than 4g (1 teaspoon) of sugar per 100mL. The Juice Lab's Wellness Calm had the highest amount of sugar at 5.5g per 100mL followed by Arepa with 4.9g per 100mL.
Just one 300mL bottle of Arepa Performance Nootropic Brain Drink provides nearly 30% of an adult's maximum daily sugar intake (12 teaspoons). However, both Arepa and The Juice Lab drinks contain large amounts of fruit juice, which was the contributing factor to their higher sugar content.
The Health Star Rating (HSR) was not listed on any of the nootropic drinks we looked at, so we calculated it based on the nutritional information on the product labels. The calculated HSR for each of these drinks ranked from 2–4 stars, with Arepa scoring 4 health stars and No Ugly Skin having the lowest rating of 2.
Like with any other caffeinated beverage, those who are caffeine sensitive, pregnant or breastfeeding should avoid or limit these drinks. Other ingredients may also be unsuitable if you're pregnant or breastfeeding, may interact with some medications, and may have recommended daily intake limits.
While the Arepa drink doesn't contain caffeine, the website still states to cap your intake at no more than four drinks per day. It's always a good idea to adhere to the limits stated on the label.
As many nootropic drinks contain caffeine and/or other additives designed to cause mental stimulation, it's best to avoid drinking them six hours before bedtime (depending on the person). On the other hand, others contain additives designed to calm you down such as chamomile, so you might not want to drink these when you need to be most awake and focused.
CHOICE staff ventured into the supermarket and bought any ready-to-drink packaged drink that was marketed as a nootropic or claimed to provide cognitive benefits. We chose seven different products available from national supermarkets Woolworths, Coles, IGA and online. Price is as purchased in stores and online in May 2022.
All up 26 willing CHOICE staffers tasted the seven different nootropic drinks. Drink samples were put into coded containers immediately before the test, and our staff tasted the drink samples 'blind' (without knowing the brands) before rating them.
The CHOICE Score is made up of 90% taste (flavour – 50% , aftertaste – 30%, appearance – 10%, mouthfeel – 10%, and smell – 10%) as well as 10% nutrition (based on the product's Health Star Rating, calculated from the details in the nutrition information panel and converted to a percentage).
We've tested to find you the best.
Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
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We at CHOICE acknowledge the Gadigal people, the traditional custodians of this land on which we work, and pay our respects to the First Nations people of this country. CHOICE supports the First Nations people's Uluru Statement from the Heart.