Captains and anglers have opinions about everything: tides, tackle, weather windows, and definitely what they drink on the water. So when 5-hour ENERGY rolled out a new lineup of candy-inspired flavors, there was only one fair way to judge them. Hand them to the saltiest crowd we know and let the reactions speak for themselves.
For the latest FishLab Taste Test, we brought Cotton Candy, Birthday Cake, and Fruity Rainbow to captains and anglers from Cape Cod to the Florida Keys. These are people who run boats for a living, rig baits before sunrise, and push through long days that start at 4 a.m. and end well after the last fish is cleaned. If an energy shot can earn a permanent spot in their console, it has truly earned it.
The new flavors did not just hold up. They won the boat over.
Cotton Candy drew immediate double takes, with one tester calling it candy in a bottle that tastes exactly like the real thing. Birthday Cake stole the show in the Florida Keys, where one captain called the flavor amazing and nothing like he expected, packed with everything you’d want out of a birthday cake as a kid. His verdict: it made him feel like a child again. Another angler praised how smooth and easy to drink it was, with just the right amount of sweetness. Fruity Rainbow rounded out the lineup with a simple, solid endorsement straight from the cockpit: tasty.
Across the board, the crew was surprised at how true each flavor stayed to its name. One captain even said he could drink a couple a day, and from someone who measures everything against an early departure and a full day offshore, that’s about as strong a review as it gets.
The same energy that powers long runs and longer days now comes in flavors worth looking forward to. Watch the full Salty Captain Test above to see the honest reactions for yourself, then grab the new flavors from 5-hour ENERGY before your next trip.
