Essential Amino Energy by Optimum Nutrition

Dan BorysDan BorysContent ManagerAJ SulcAJ SulcWriterPrices last checkedOct 26, 2026

Lowest Price Found

Buy for $23.99

Amazon

30-Second Review

Optimum Nutrition's light amino drink, scored as a pre-workout. The label serving is 2 scoops: 100mg of caffeine from tea and coffee, plus a 5g amino blend of taurine, glutamine, arginine, EAAs, beta-alanine, and citrulline. None of those amino doses are shown. Four scoops is 200mg and six is 300mg, but that is not the serving. No creatine.

Two scoops are only 100mg of caffeine, so this is an easy light option. The tub is $23.99 for 30 servings, about $0.80 each. The limit is that beta-alanine, citrulline, and the rest of the aminos share a 5g blend, so those doses are not shown.

Disclaimer: This is an independent editorial analysis. No brand paid for this score.

Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy pre-workout tub
Essential Amino Energy

Optimum Nutrition

Light-Stim100mg caffeine
6.8

Rating Breakdown

Price & Value7.8
Ingredients & Blend4.0
Brand Reputation9.0
Review Scan6.4
Final Overall Score6.8

$0.80 / serving · 30 servings / container

Pros

  • Two scoops are only 100mg of caffeine, so this is an easy light option

Cons

  • Beta-alanine, citrulline, and the rest of the aminos share a 5g blend, so those doses are not shown
  • This is an anytime amino drink, not a full pre-workout

Label Snapshot

Caffeine100mg
Beta-AlanineNone
L-CitrullineNone
L-TheanineNone
CreatineNone

Flavors

Blue Raspberry, Blueberry Mojito, Citrus Spritz, Concord Grape, Fruit Fusion, Green Apple, Juicy Strawberry, Orange, Peach Mango Tango, Rainbow Sherbet, Strawberry Lime, Tropical Sunrise, Watermelon, Blueberry Lemonade

Where to buy

4 stores we checked on Oct 26, 2026, best price per serving first. Prices change often, so the price at checkout is the one that counts.

Best price per serving
Amazon
Available flavors

Blue Raspberry, Blueberry Lemonade, Blueberry Mojito, Citrus Spritz, Concord Grape, Fruit Fusion, Green Apple, Juicy Strawberry Burst

amazon.com
Buy for $23.99$0.80 / serving
iHerb321 reviews at iHerbThese stars are how shoppers rated this product at iHerb. They rate the product, not the store. Amazon doesn't let other sites show its ratings, so the Amazon row has none. Checked Oct 26, 2026.
Available flavors

Blue Raspberry, Citrus Spritz, Concord Grape, Green Apple, Juicy Strawberry Burst, Orange, Strawberry Lime, Tropical Sunrise, Watermelon

iherb.com
Buy for $24.71$0.82 / serving
Optimum Nutrition457 reviews at Optimum NutritionThese stars are how shoppers rated this product on the brand's own website. Brands collect and show their own reviews, so their scores often run higher than at big stores. Amazon doesn't let other sites show its ratings, so the Amazon row has none. Checked Oct 26, 2026.
Available flavors

Blue Raspberry, Blueberry Mojito, Citrus Spritz, Concord Grape, Fruit Fusion, Green Apple, Juicy Strawberry, Orange

optimumnutrition.comOfficial Brand Store
Buy for $27.49$0.92 / serving
The Vitamin Shoppe
Available flavors

Concord Grape, Blueberry Lemonade, Tropical Sunrise, Juicy Strawberry Burst, Peach Mango Tango

vitaminshoppe.com
Buy for $29.99$1.00 / serving

We may earn a commission when you buy through these links, at no extra cost to you. It never changes a score. How we make money

Tub price history

Lowest price we have written down

$21$22$23$24$25$26OctNov

About the brand

The company behind Essential Amino Energy

Brand name
Optimum Nutrition
Parent company
Glanbia
Founded
1986
Key people
Tony Costello, Mike Costello
Headquarters
Downers Grove, Illinois

Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy video reviews

From other creators on YouTube. We don't make these videos or pay for them.

Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy Stats

How its label, price and reviews stack up against the 158 pre-workout tubs we rank.

Supplekings Score

Okay6.8
Higher than 6% of tubsAverage 7.6
  • Price & Value0.97.8
  • Ingredients & Blend3.54.0
  • Brand Reputation1.09.0
  • Review Scan1.46.4

Shopper Rating

4.5/5

778 reviews at Optimum Nutrition, iHerb

Sold At

At a Glance

Type
Light-stim pre-workout
Caffeine
100mg
Stim level
Light
Servings per tub
30
Flavors
14
Prices checked
Oct 26, 2026

Label Doses

Next to other pre-workout tubs. This one is the bright bar.

CaffeineMore than 1% of tubs
100mg
124mgTypical 300mg420mg+
Amino Blend
5g
Creatine
None

Price Stats

Cheapest on the left. This one is the bright bar.

Per servingCheaper than 94% of tubs
$0.80
$0.67Typical $1.50$3.00+
Per 100mg of caffeineCheaper than 18% of tubs
$0.80
$0.27Typical $0.56$1.33+
Lowest price for 30 servings
$23.99 at Amazon
Change since Oct 22, 2026
No change

Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy FAQ

How much caffeine is in Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy?

Each serving of Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy has 100mg of caffeine, more than 1% of the 122 pre-workout tubs we rank that list an amount. That makes it a light-stim pre-workout (1-149mg), where it ranks #4 of 4.

What's on the Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy label?

The doses we track are 5g of amino blend. It has no creatine.

How much does Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy cost per serving?

The lowest price we found is $23.99 for 30 servings at Amazon, or $0.80 per serving. That's cheaper than 94% of the 158 pre-workout tubs we rank, where the typical one costs $1.50.

Where can you buy Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy?

We checked 4 stores on Oct 26, 2026: Optimum Nutrition, Amazon, iHerb, and The Vitamin Shoppe. It comes in 14 flavors.

How do shoppers rate Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy?

Shoppers give Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy an average of 4.5 out of 5 across 778 reviews at Optimum Nutrition and iHerb. Our Review Scan score for it is 6.4 out of 10.

Who makes Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy?

Optimum Nutrition makes Essential Amino Energy. Its parent company is Glanbia. The brand was founded in 1986 and is based in Downers Grove, Illinois. We rank 8 Optimum Nutrition products, averaging 7.9 out of 10.

How does Optimum Nutrition Essential Amino Energy score?

We score it 6.8 out of 10, #188 of 199 pre-workouts. Its strongest rating is Brand Reputation 9.0 and its weakest is Ingredients & Blend 4.0.

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