Best Transparent Labs Pre-Workout Flavor: I Tried Every One

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Over the course of over a month, I tested every single flavor of Transparent Labs Bulk Pre-Workout.

There are nine total flavors, and I evaluated them on a host of criteria, including sweetness/sour level, how closely it tasted to “the real thing,” and whether I could enjoy drinking it every day. 

Below is the result of my taste testing experiment, ranking each of the Transparent Labs Pre-Workout flavors from best to worst.

It’s important to mention that the flavors are all ranked VERY closely together, and some positions in this list would likely change based on my mood on any given day.

Note: Please read my taste testing methodology and the criteria I used to assess the flavors because it may impact your final choice.

In a Hurry? Here’s My Quick Flavor Guide!

• If I had to choose best to worst, my favorite was Cherry Splash, and my least favorite was Pina Colada. Just know that Pina Colada was still enjoyable, and a last-place ranking doesn’t mean I hated it. 

• Each flavor of Transparent Labs Pre-Workout has at least a mildly sour taste, ranging from “slightly tart” to “extremely sour.”

• There were no flavors of Transparent Labs Pre-Workout that I didn’t like. I found them all enjoyable with a juice or candy-like taste.

Why Trust My Recommendation? 

I have personally tested every single product outlined in this article. This means you are getting a first-hand account of the products from somebody who has ACTUALLY tried them. Also, I have been working in the supplement industry for over a decade and have been using pre-workout supplements for longer. During this time, I have tested hundreds of pre-workouts.  This experience gives me great insight into what makes a high-quality product and allows me better to judge its subjective experiences like taste and mixability.  

Criteria For Comparing Flavor

Here are the different criteria that I used to assess the different Transparent Labs Bulk flavors: 

• Was the product true to taste? The most significant criterion overall was whether the product actually tasted like it claimed to. To test this, I did a blind taste test where both myself (who knew what the 9 flavors were in advance) and my husband (who did not) tried to guess the flavor.

• How strong was the flavor? This evaluated how strong the flavor was when mixed with water. In a lot of instances, I found that the sour taste, in general, overshadowed the flavor of the pre-workout, so I diluted them with an additional 4 ounces of water to see if the flavor still shone through. 

• Was the product sweet or sour? Each Bulk flavor is definitely on the sour or tart side, even the ones that sound like they would be sweet, like Blue Raspberry or Tropical Punch. For the options that are the least sour, I gave them a rating of 1/5. The higher the ranking, the more sour the taste.

• How did the flavor smell? Since some individuals are sensitive to smells, I evaluated whether the pre-workout had a noticeable or appealing smell as a dry powder and when mixed with water. 

• What color was it? Transparent Labs does not use any artificial colors in their products. Many of the flavors still have a color that corresponds with the flavor via the use of ingredients like beetroot powder. In my experience talking with customers, some individuals find it important that the color of their product matches the flavor so I have included the criteria for that reason. 

Note: This article does not evaluate the quality or effectiveness of Transparent Labs Bulk. If you would like more information, I wrote a complete review of Transparent Labs Bulk where I analyze the ingredients, doses, and overall effectiveness of the pre-workout regarding energy, strength, pump, and more. 

Transparent Labs Pre-Workout: A Full Analysis of All Flavors

Cherry Splash

Overall rating: 5/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 5/5
• Sourness Scale: 5/5
• Color: Bright Red
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural flavors, stevia extract, tartaric acid

Highlights

• Very sour
• Reminds me of sour cherry blaster candies

Drawbacks

• Has a slight aftertaste of beets

My Thoughts:

I first want to acknowledge some personal bias here. My first choice flavor for any product is typically cherry. In browsing my supplement cupboard, many of my pre-workouts and amino acid products were cherry or cherry lime flavored. I even have a cherry vanilla-flavored protein powder. 

The Cherry Splash flavor of Transparent Labs Bulk is very sour, even when diluted with extra water. 

The smell and taste of the candy remind me of sour cherry blasters or red Sour Patch Kids (not surprisingly, these are two of my favorite candies). 

When I first tasted this pre-workout, I felt compelled to double-check the ingredient list because I experienced a slightly floral aftertaste that reminded me of beets. Sure enough, Transparent Labs has added some beetroot powder for color. 

This aftertaste wasn’t terribly strong, and I happen to like the taste of beets, so it also wasn’t a deterrent for me. 

Individuals who dislike beets may find this aftertaste off-putting. 

Sour Grape

Overall rating: 5/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 5/5
• Sourness Scale: 5/5
• Color: Bright Purple
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural flavors, Stevia Extract, Grape Powder

Highlights

• Sour flavor with a sweet grape aftertaste
• Smells like Fun Dip

Drawbacks

• Tastes like grape-flavored candy, not actual grapes

My Thoughts:

This is another very sour flavor, and if Transparent Labs had simply called this flavor “Grape,” it probably would have ranked lower down on my list. 

Being primed that it was “Sour Grape” prepared me more for the very sour taste and helped drive this flavor to the top of my list. 

This flavor is best compared to a sour grape gummy candy. It first has a strong sour taste, then fades into a pleasantly sweet grape aftertaste, like a grape freeze pop.

This powder smells exactly like Fun Dip that I had as a child and had a strong nostalgic effect for me. 

I struggled to think of any drawbacks for this product, aside from the fact that it doesn’t taste like actual grapes but instead tastes like grape-flavored candy. This is not uncommon for pre-workout supplements, though. They often taste like the candy counterpart to their real fruit alternatives. 

I would pass on this one if you don’t like sour or grape flavors. 

Strawberry Kiwi

Overall rating: 4.75/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 4.75/5
• True to taste: 3/5
• Sourness Scale: 2/5
• Color: Pink
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural flavors, stevia extract

Highlights

• Strong strawberry flavor
• Flavor comes through really well when diluted with extra water

Drawbacks

• Not a significant Kiwi flavor
• A bit sour despite having a sweet-sounding name

My Thoughts:

I was surprised that this one ranked so highly on my list since strawberry kiwi generally is not typically a flavor I gravitate towards.

Personally, I felt like the Strawberry Kiwi flavor was all strawberry, and I couldn’t identify the kiwi taste. Kiwi is not a particularly strong flavor, so my guess is that it contributes an element of sweetness to the overall taste of the product. 

Despite having a sweet name, this pre-workout is still a little sour (though this is a common theme among every single flavor of Bulk). 

This pre-workout tasted good when mixed with the recommended amount of water, but it tasted absolutely incredible when diluted with a few extra ounces of water.

I felt that diluting it and muting the sour aspect of the product allowed the fruit flavor to shine through and made for a nicer overall experience. 

Strawberry Lemonade

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 3/5
• Sourness Scale: 5/5
• Color: Pale Pink
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural flavors, stevia extract

Highlights

• Very strong lemon flavor
• Extremely sour

Drawbacks

• Not a significant strawberry flavor

My Thoughts:

This pre-workout is the best option for people who love a sour pre-workout. 

Despite being called Strawberry Lemonade, it’s the lemon that absolutely takes over the flavor. The initial taste of this pre-workout is overwhelmingly very tart lemon. 

Once the initial sour taste wears off, a sweet strawberry aftertaste sets in, though I found the actual strawberry flavor to be subtle. This surprised me, given how strong the strawberry flavor was in the Strawberry Kiwi pre-workout. 

Based on the smell of the powder itself and the name, I expected this to be much sweeter than it was. I found that diluting it with water allowed the strawberry’s sweetness to come through a little bit stronger, but ultimately, this product is centered around the lemonade flavor. 

Watermelon Peach

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 4/5
• True to taste: 3/5
• Sourness Scale: 2/5
• Color: Bright Pink
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural flavors, stevia extract

Highlights

• Strong watermelon flavor
• Strong watermelon smell

Drawbacks

• The peach flavor gets lost in the watermelon

My Thoughts:

If you choose this pre-workout flavor, make sure you really like watermelon. 

The powder on its own smells strongly of watermelon – it was noticeable from the moment I opened up the tub of pre-workout. 

Where I felt that some flavors got a bit lost by the sourness or tartness of the pre-workout, there is zero doubt that this flavor is watermelon. 

I felt like the peach flavor got a bit lost, and frankly may be an unnecessary addition. If the label didn’t specify that the product flavor was Watermelon Peach, I never would have guessed that there was a secondary flavor. 

I tested this theory on my husband and when having him do a blind taste test, he confidently told me it was watermelon. When I didn’t immediately tell him he was right, he hesitantly asked if there was another flavor or something else he was supposed to guess. Neither of us would have guessed that Peach was a second flavor. 

This was in stark contrast to the next flavor on my list, Peach Mango, where the peach flavor took over the product. 

Peach Mango

Overall rating: 4.5/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 3/5
• Sourness Scale: 3/5
• Color: Bright yellow
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural flavors, stevia extract, citric acid

Highlights

• Strong juice flavor, peach is the dominating flavor
• Smells like Five Alive juice

Drawbacks

• Not a significant mango flavor

My Thoughts:

Where I felt like the peach flavor was non-existent in the Watermelon Peach pre-workout, this flavor is the opposite. 

There is no doubt that this pre-workout is peach-flavored. Based on the description, I wasn’t expecting this pre-workout to be sour and was surprised by how tart it was. 

Even when diluted with 50% more water than recommended, it still had a tart, juice-like taste. This isn’t necessarily a pro or a con, just worth noting since the Peach Mango descriptor doesn’t indicate that it might be sour.

If this flavor had been named differently, it might have landed higher on my list. What I mean by that is, if this flavor had been called Sour Peach or Tangy Peach Rings instead of Peach Mango, I would have been more prepared for the tartness instead of expecting a sweeter product. 

This is similar to the effect I mentioned above, where I felt like the Sour Grape flavor landed higher on my list specifically because it was called Sour Grape, and I knew what to expect before drinking it. 

That’s not to say I didn’t like the Peach Mango flavor, because I did! It had a hugely nostalgic effect on me. It tasted very similar to Five Alive juice which I drank frequently throughout my childhood and teen years. 

Tropical Punch

Overall rating: 4.25/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 4/5
• Sourness Scale: 1/5
• Color: peach
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural Flavors, Stevia Extract

Highlights

• One of the least sour flavors
• Pineapple and peach flavors come through the most

Drawbacks

• Can’t quite pin down what the actual flavors are

My Thoughts:

Of all the flavors, I found tropical punch among the least sour options (with the least sour being blue raspberry). 

I couldn’t quite pinpoint exactly which flavors went into making the Tropical Punch flavor, but pineapple and peach seemed to come through the most. 

I couldn’t think of any drawbacks for this product, and again, I think that comes down to how the product was named. The main drawback of some of the other flavors is that some of the fruity flavors don’t come through very strongly. 

Since Tropical Punch has a more ambiguous name, it doesn’t have the same expectation behind it that others do. 

If I had to think of a single drawback, it is just that the flavor isn’t quite as strong as some others. This could also be a pro for individuals looking for a more muted flavor or an option that is more easily diluted. 

Blue Raspberry

Overall rating: 4/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 3/5
• Sourness Scale: 1/5
• Color: light yellow
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural Flavors, Stevia Extract

Highlights

• The least sour of all flavors
• Generic candy taste

Drawbacks

• No significant flavor until the aftertaste sets in

My Thoughts:

The first thing that stuck out to me was the color of this pre-workout. I typically drink my pre-workouts from colored shaker cups and pay little attention to the color. 

It surprised me that the Blue Raspberry flavor mixed up a pale yellow color. (Of course, this shouldn’t really be surprising since it’s well established that Transparent Labs doesn’t use any artificial flavors or colors in their products). 

I appreciate Transparent Labs’ dedication to quality ingredients, and I am often critical of companies who add artificial colors to their products unnecessarily, but it still made me double-check that I had mixed the correct flavor into the shaker cup. 

Out of all of the flavors of Bulk, this was the only one that my husband couldn’t identify at all while doing his blind taste test. In all other cases, he was able to pick out at least one of the key flavors. 

Knowing that it’s Blue Raspberry flavored makes it easier to identify, but we both agreed that it mostly had a nice, generic candy taste instead of a strong, identifiable flavor. 

To reiterate, this flavor isn’t rated low because it wasn’t good. There is likely some negative bias here because, for many years, blue raspberry and fruit punch were two of very few available flavors for pre-workout, and virtually every company has done some variation of blue raspberry over the past few decades. 

Because of this, I tend to opt for more exciting or newer flavors because they are novel compared to flavors like Blue Raspberry, which have been around forever. 

This is a good option if you strongly dislike particular fruit flavors. I often hear customers say things like, “I hate artificial grape flavor” or “I can’t stand watermelon flavors.” Blue Raspberry offers a nice, neutral alternative. 

Pina Colada

Overall rating: 4/5

Features:

• Overall flavor rating: 5/5
• True to taste: 
• Sourness Scale: 2/5
• Color: pale yellow
• Ingredients used to flavor: Natural Flavors, Stevia Extract

Highlights

• Strong pineapple flavor

Drawbacks

• The coconut flavor is missing

My Thoughts:

This flavor is definitely pineapple, and the first time I tried it, I wrote down in my notes that I felt like the coconut flavor was missing and that I was looking for more sweetness, which made me place this flavor at the bottom of my list.

Interestingly, I had left a scoop of pina colada in the fridge overnight, and when I came back to it the next day, it felt like the coconut flavor was more pronounced, and I enjoyed this flavor much more. 

This pre-workout has a sour initial taste, which accentuates the pineapple flavor, but the coconutty sweetness does come through in a slight aftertaste. 

I personally am not one to slowly sip my pre-workout supplements, though. These are usually something that I will drink relatively quickly as I am driving to the gym. Because of this, it’s not likely that I would get the opportunity to sit and assess the subtle aftertastes the way I did while researching for this article. 

If you are like me, then it’s likely that this flavor will taste more like a tart pineapple fruit juice than a sweet pina colada. 

If you prefer to sip your pre-workouts, I recommend diluting this with a bit extra water (around 15oz total) to allow the coconut flavor to come through. 

Taste Testing Methodology Explained

Honest Review Guarantee from FeastGood: Our testing team purchases each product 100% independently and uses the product for several weeks up to several months before writing a review. Learn more about our review process here.

I deliberately followed a methodical process for testing these to try to eliminate any personal bias  

Step 1: I mixed each pre-workout according to the instructions on the bottle. It recommended one scoop to 10-12 ounces of water.

Step 2: I jotted down notes about each flavor, including mixability, color, smell, and different aspects of the actual taste, including the strength of the flavor, whether it was true to taste, and whether it was sweet or sour.

Step 3: Over several days, I compared three products at a time, head to head, to see if any stood out as definite favorites

Step 4: I dragged my husband into the testing process. I have been using pre-workout for over a decade and had the “advantage” of knowing all nine flavors before going into taste testing. Since he doesn’t commonly use pre-workouts, he is more judgemental. He also did not know the nine flavors beforehand, so it was easier to evaluate whether a product was “true to taste.”

Step 5: Ultimately, I felt I couldn’t make a #1 to #9 ranking for these pre-workout flavors since they were all close and had similar pros and cons. Because of this, I retested each flavor multiple times, taking as detailed notes as possible to give you the clearest idea of which is best. 

How Does Transparent Labs Flavor Their Pre-Workout?

Transparent Labs uses two key ingredients to flavor their Bulk pre-workout: Natural Flavors and Stevia naturally. 

In some instances, we see the addition of citric acid (derived from lemon juice) or tartaric acid (found naturally in grapes and citrus foods), which help to provide a more significant tartness or sour flavor to the products. 

• Stevia: Stevia is calorie-free and is around 250-300 times sweeter than table sugar. This ingredient is responsible for contributing to the sweetness of the pre-workout.

• Natural Flavors: Natural Flavors is an umbrella term used by the FDA to describe a flavoring that is derived from a spice, fruit, vegetable, yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf/plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, or dairy. These ingredients are responsible for the actual taste of the product. 

The Bottom Line

In reviewing my own loosely defined “best” to “worst” list for Transparent Labs Bulk pre-workout, it’s apparent that the more clearly and accurately defined flavors generally ranked higher for me. 

For example, when sampling flavors like “Sour Grape” or “Strawberry Lemonade,” I was primed to expect the sour taste and rated my overall experience higher. 

On the other hand, flavors that were more ambiguous or hard to define, like Tropical Punch and Blue Raspberry, ranked generally lower. 

Furthermore, products that I expected to be sweet, like Peach Mango and Pina Colada, fell towards the bottom of my list because I was initially caught off guard by the tartness of the products. 

There were no flavors that I didn’t enjoy, and nothing stood out as a product that I couldn’t take multiple times per week. I would be a satisfied customer if I ordered any of these flavors. 

Regardless of your choice, one thing to remember is that they all have at least a slightly tart aspect to them. If this concerns you, I found that the Strawberry Kiwi, Tropical Punch, and Blue Raspberry flavors were the easiest to dilute to enhance the sweetness. 

If sour is your preferred flavor profile, I would go all in on Cherry Splash, Sour Grape, or Strawberry Lemonade. 

What To Read Next

• Check out my article ranking the best Transparent Labs Protein flavors.