It's 5:12am. The kitchen light is on, the kettle is cold because I'm not making coffee today, and there's a glass of water on the counter with one squeeze of Drizz in it. Stir. Drink. Out the door for a bike session before the sun's up.
That's the whole ritual. No grinder, no filter, no pod. 65mg of green tea caffeine in a glass of water, and I'm moving.
I built Drizz partly because I was tired of the ceremony around caffeine. Coffee is great. I love coffee. But some mornings you don't want 12oz of hot liquid sloshing in your stomach before a swim. Sometimes you just want water that works.
The direct answer: how to add caffeine to water
One squeeze of Drizz into a glass or bottle of water. Stir for two seconds. Drink.
That's 65mg of green tea caffeine, zero sugar, zero artificial dyes, in whatever volume of water you want. A pint glass, a 32oz Nalgene, a 12oz can of sparkling water, a hydration flask on the bike. The dose doesn't change with the water, which is the whole point of a liquid concentrate.
Publisher disclosure: EnergyDrops.com is published by the team behind Drizz, which is included in this comparison.
If you want more caffeine, add a second squeeze. 130mg total. Still zero sugar. That's roughly the caffeine in a strong cup of coffee, delivered in whatever base you prefer.
Table of contents
- Why water is the cleanest caffeine base
- The step-by-step method
- Plain water vs sparkling water
- How much caffeine is actually in one squeeze
- What about powders and tablets
- When caffeinated water makes sense
- Real talk on taste
Why water is the cleanest caffeine base
Water has no competing flavor, no sugar, no acid, no calories, no color. When you add caffeine to water, you're getting the caffeine and nothing else. That matters more than people realize.
A can of Red Bull is 110 calories and 27g of sugar for 80mg of caffeine, per the brand's own nutrition panel. A 16oz Starbucks blonde roast is about 360mg of caffeine but comes with the heat, the volume, and whatever you dress it with. A caffeinated water with one squeeze of Drizz is 65mg of caffeine and nothing else your body has to process.
For training, that's a real advantage. GI distress at mile 18 is usually not the caffeine, it's everything the caffeine arrived with. I've thrown up at mile 18 of an Ironman twice, and both times it was the sugary gel, not the stimulant.
Water also hydrates. Obvious, but worth saying. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends 400 to 800ml of fluid per hour during endurance exercise. If your caffeine source is also your hydration source, you've simplified the whole math.
The step-by-step method
- Pour water into a glass or bottle. Any volume.
- Open the Drizz bottle. The cap is a flip-top with a controlled nozzle.
- Squeeze once. One full squeeze is one serving: 65mg of green tea caffeine.
- Stir with a spoon, or close the bottle and shake for two seconds.
- Drink.
That's it. There's no dissolving step, no waiting, no clumping. The drops are already in liquid form, so they mix into water on contact.
If you're adding to a bottle you'll carry, I'd recommend putting the squeeze in before you add ice. The slight temperature contrast helps it diffuse evenly. Not a huge deal either way.
For a bigger dose, two squeezes gives you 130mg. Three squeezes is 195mg, which is where most people start feeling it clearly. Don't go past the FDA's 400mg per day guidance for healthy adults.
Plain water vs sparkling water
Both work. They taste different.
In plain still water, you may notice a slight sweetness. That's a touch of sucralose that balances caffeine's natural bitterness without adding sugar. It's not aggressive, but water is a blank canvas, so anything added to it will register. Some people love this (it feels like a very light flavored water), some people prefer sparkling for a cleaner read.
Sparkling water is my personal default. The carbonation and the mineral bite mask the sweetness almost entirely. One squeeze into a 12oz can of plain seltzer gives you a caffeinated bubbly water that drinks like a clean energy drink without the sugar or the dyes. If you add it to a flavored seltzer (lime, grapefruit, berry), the flavor dominates and you taste nothing from the drops.
Try both. Figure out what you like. I keep a case of plain seltzer in the fridge and a bottle of Drizz on the counter, and that's my morning routine when I'm not racing.
How much caffeine is actually in one squeeze
65mg of green tea caffeine per squeeze. Fifteen squeezes per 60ml bottle. Each squeeze is calibrated by the nozzle, which is why dose control is one of the real selling points: you know exactly what you're taking.
For context against things you already drink:
- 8oz brewed coffee: around 95mg, per Mayo Clinic
- 8.4oz Red Bull: 80mg
- 1.93oz 5-Hour Energy: 200mg
- 12oz Celsius: 200mg
- 1 squeeze Drizz: 65mg
The 65mg number isn't an accident. It's intentionally lower than a cup of coffee because stacking is the point. One squeeze is a conservative start. Two is a cup of coffee's worth. Three is a strong cold brew.
The L-theanine and taurine in the formula are there because published research on L-theanine and caffeine suggests the combination produces smoother attention than caffeine alone. I'm not making a health claim, just explaining the formulation choice.
What about powders and tablets
They exist. They work. They're not what I'd pick.
Caffeine powders are hard to dose at home without a milligram scale, and overdosing on bulk caffeine powder has sent people to the hospital. The FDA issued a warning about pure caffeine powders in 2018 for exactly this reason: a teaspoon can contain a lethal dose.
Caffeine tablets (NoDoz, Vivarin) are pre-dosed and safer, but they take 30 to 45 minutes to kick in because the tablet has to break down in your stomach. A liquid dissolved in water absorbs faster. Not instant, but faster.
Pre-dissolved concentrate like Drizz is, in my opinion, the cleanest version of this: calibrated dose per squeeze, already in liquid form, no scale required, no waiting for a pill to break down.
When caffeinated water makes sense
I keep coming back to a few scenarios:
Training. Long bike or run where I want hydration and a stimulant in the same bottle. One squeeze in 500ml of water, done.
Travel. The 60ml Drizz bottle is under TSA's 100ml liquids limit, so it fits in a carry-on quart bag. I'll grab a bottled water after security and squeeze in the plane. The 3-1-1 rule is explained on the TSA's own site.
Afternoon work block. 2pm, pitch deck is not writing itself, I don't want a third coffee. One squeeze in sparkling water keeps me on the laptop without the acid load of another espresso.
Hot days. When it's 95 degrees and the last thing I want is a hot beverage, caffeine in cold water is the obvious move. Can't do that with coffee. (And I'm not putting Drizz in coffee anyway, that's not what it's for.)
For more on precision dosing without affecting flavor, see our deeper guide on how to add caffeine without changing taste. And if you're new to the format entirely, start at the energy drops category hub for the full picture.
Real talk on taste
I'm not going to tell you Drizz is undetectable in plain water. It isn't. In a tall glass of still spring water, you'll pick up a slight sweetness from the small amount of sucralose that balances the caffeine's natural bitterness. It's subtle, it's not sugary, but it's there.
In sparkling water, flavored seltzer, juice, lemonade, or anything with its own flavor profile: you won't notice it. The base dominates.
I'd rather tell you the truth about what it tastes like than oversell. If you want zero perceptible anything in plain water, you're probably looking for a caffeine pill. If you want the fastest, cleanest way to turn a glass of water into a 65mg caffeinated drink without sugar, dyes, or ceremony, this is it.
Grab a bottle of Boost and try it in plain water first, then sparkling. You'll know which you prefer in about two days.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult your doctor before starting any new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or have a medical condition.