Discontinued Gatorade Flavors You'll Never Drink Again

Since its inception, Gatorade has been the preeminent sports drink among athletes. Thanks to its tasty flavor and reasonable price, it's equally popular with the masses, too. Sold on multiple continents, Gatorade has a global presence, and its popularity doesn't appear to be waning any time soon. Perhaps part of what has made it so successful is its flexibility. The sports drink brand is constantly adapting and finding ways to stay relevant, whether it's rebranding or partnering with a celebrity.

Gatorade remains interesting thanks to another classic business technique. Currently, Gatorade has dozens of flavors, and every so often it announces a new offering. While the buzz is good for business, the creation of a new flavor often comes at the expense of another type of Gatorade. Over more than 50 years in business, Gatorade has discontinued several flavors. Many people enjoyed them while they existed, but now they're nothing more than a distant memory. Let's pay homage to the discontinued Gatorade flavors you'll never drink again.

One of several bygone series, Gatorade Rain was once all the rage. The company produced several different flavors of it, presumably hoping to encourage more customers to try the new product. Rain Lime came in the standard Gatorade bottle (which has gone through several iterations itself), and it was a neon green color most of the drink's customers know well. Per the name, it had a citrus flavor and was in production for quite some time. 

However, in 2016, the Gatorade social media team alerted a sorrowful customer via Twitter that the company had, in fact, discontinued the flavor. That being said, the employee assigned to replying to DMs assured the user they'd note their praiseful feedback.

The Twitter user isn't the only person who'd like to see Gatorade Rain Lime make a comeback. A man named Dan Ellis created a petition on Change.org urging the company to return the flavor to shelves, and it's garnered over 540 of the 1,000 signatures it's seeking. "Rain Lime was an amazing gatorade flavor [...] I feel it should be on the permanent flavor roster alongside lemon lime, fruit punch, and all the other greats," the petition reads.

By and large, Americans are not a healthy group of people. A study conducted from 2009 to 2016 determined that only one in every eight American people "is achieving optimal metabolic health." During those same years, Gatorade discontinued its Naturals line of products. It had been created in an effort to meet the demands of consumers, as American people were seemingly growing concerned with health and fitness, particularly with the ingredients contained in their food and drinks. However, per PepsiCo's findings, after speaking with athletes regarding what they were seeking in a beverage, the Naturals drinks did not fit in with their needs.

The decision couldn't have been seen as that surprising since the health of Gatorade products has long been questioned. The company currently sells Gatorade Fit, a line that's supposed to be healthier than the regular sports drink. It too has been doubted for being as healthy as it purports. Gatorade also sells various plant-based protein products and supplements on its website, including several offerings from Muscle Milk and Evolve, and it has its own line of protein powder and bars. We'll let you be the judge on the health status of Gatorade products.

Gatorade has been in business for decades, so it's naturally created dozens of new products during its tenure. In 1993, it introduced iced tea coolers. The flavor was lemony and many people found it to be refreshing. One Twitter user gave the Gatorade team feedback that they'd like it to return. The Gatorade social media team did as they do and replied that they'd share the message with the appropriate people. However, that message was sent in late 2020, and we have yet to see Gatorade iced tea coolers make a return.

Many other users have shown love for the drink, commenting about how much they miss it. One user was particularly helpful and shared their hack for recreating the iced tea cooler at home, mixing almost equal parts lemon-lime Gatorade and Lipton Brisk iced tea and shaking it till it foams. While we can't confirm whether it replicates the taste of Gatorade iced tea cooler or not, we'd say it's worth a shot if that was your favorite flavor. Or you could just wait and see if Gatorade brings it back.

Sometimes it's easy to see why a product is discontinued. Gatorade once sold the flavor Alpine Snow as part of its Frost line, and the feedback on the particular drink was horrendous. In 1997, Chicago Tribune conducted a test of its own to see which Gatorade flavors local children preferred, using regular ones and some from the Frost line. The kids narrowly chose regular Gatorade as the winner, but they unanimously decided that Alpine Snow was a terrible flavor. 

Other internet users seem to agree with the children. "I never could figure out what I was tasting, it was just a water-colored bitter-tasting atrocity," another consumer noted of the Alpine Snow flavor. While there had to have been some people who liked it, the negative feedback was enough for Gatorade to rid shelves across America of all Frost Alpine Snow.

Gatorade Frost, though, is a largely successful line of products. To this day, there are a variety of flavors that can be found online and in stores, like Riptide Rush, Summit Storm, Arctic Blitz, and Glacier Freeze. We can't even begin to guess whether these flavors will be discontinued or not, but for now, customers can still enjoy those frosty delights.

Any time a flavor is discontinued, there are going to be some people who are upset. We suspect the group of children the Chicago Tribune gathered to taste test Gatorade flavors in 1997 might've been upset when the sports drink brand discontinued its Frost Whitewater Splash, as it received some votes for best Frost flavor among the participants. The group was only three strong, whereas Glacier Freeze garnered 10 votes. We further suspect that it may have had a larger body of consumers, hence Whitewater Splash's discontinuation.

Looking back, Whitewater Splash was unique for being one of the last flavors to be sold in a glass bottle. Now Gatorade is exclusively sold in plastic bottles, but at the turn of the century, plenty of customers were drinking the beverage out of glass. And some consumers want it back. One person opined on Twitter that the drink tastes better from a glass bottle, a debate that's long plagued soda companies, too. The Gatorade social media team hinted that the glass bottles could potentially make a comeback, but we have yet to see that come to fruition.

It's hard to keep up with which products have been discontinued and which are still in circulation. We're not sure how Gatorade employees keep up with it either, and considering how often the company's social media team has to field complaints and questions from customers missing a particular flavor, we wouldn't be surprised to learn that tracking the flavor list and replying to said comments is a full-time job for multiple people. 

Lemon Ice's discontinuation had Gatorade's social media team on its toes. Fans were disappointed, forcing the company to comment several times on the status of the product. One Facebook post notified a user that the citrusy flavor was a limited-time-only product, but it hinted that a return wasn't out of the realm of possibilities.

Gatorade also noted on Twitter that lemon Ice had been discontinued, but this time it noted which flavors the company had manufactured in replacement. However, that tweet was posted in 2017, and since Gatorade seems to change flavors like most people change clothes, those flavor suggestions have also been discontinued. We're learning it's best not to get too attached.

Here's a flavor that might unlock a memory that's been hidden deep in the recesses of your mind since the 1990s: Gatorade Midnight Thunder. The blackberry-flavored sports drink was another limited-edition offering, and it made quite a splash with some users during its time on the shelves. One nostalgic customer noted that the "flavor was quite addicting and I had as much of it as I could until it went extinct." 

Midnight Thunder was marketed with a decidedly '90s commercial that did far more to intrigue you to simply try it than actually explain what it tasted like. It also encouraged you to "give your thirst the heebie-jeebies," so do with that what you will.

While we can't bring back Midnight Thunder and we haven't found Gatorade employees on social media suggesting it will return, we can celebrate this bygone flavor in another way. Gatorade created merchandise to accompany the drink, and there are still some shirts for sale online. Sure, it's a high price for a t-shirt that's about 30 years old, but it's a rarity and the next best thing if you were a Midnight Thunder fan.

There are dozens of potential reasons a flavor might go extinct. It could be poor marketing or bad taste. We also theorized that a flavor's name could contribute to its staying power, but after Starfruit Gatorade was discontinued, our theory was debunked. Even though customers knew exactly what flavor they were purchasing, it wasn't enough to keep Starfruit alive. 

While the brand still sells loads of different fruity flavors, none are quite as unique as the bygone tropical taste. Fans of the flavor have noted on social media that they'd like to see its return, but the Gatorade group hasn't said anything aside from its standard response that it'll relay the message to the right people.

Although this flavor wasn't powerful enough to stay in Gatorade's lineup, it still made a major impact on some customers. "It inspired me to try actual starfruit," one patron said, adding "but unfortunately actual starfruit is horrible." Whether you agree with their opinion or not, it's remarkable that Gatorade could prompt someone to take such action. We'd love to see Gatorade come out with a line of fruits that are lesser-known to Americans as it might spark others to try new fruits as well.

Gatorade Frost was introduced to the world in 1997. Still available today, Frost was created to appeal to Gatorade fans who aren't exerting physical activity. Of the first three flavors in the Frost line, the only one that still exists is Glacier Freeze. Gatorade has added several new flavors to the collection since its inception, but it's taken quite a few away, too, like High Tide. It was fruity and had a bluish hue, and one fan even described it as having a similar taste to Gatorade Starfruit (which is perhaps why it didn't last long).

Other fans miss the flavor, even taking to Twitter to urge Gatorade to bring it back. While the team fields lots of feedback from users via social media, it's open to notes from any drinker whether they're active on these platforms or not. If you have a suggestion for a flavor or an advertisement, would like to cash in on a promotional deal, have a comment or complaint, or are just looking for general information, the company welcomes feedback via its online contact form. We'll definitely be utilizing the form to campaign for the return of several flavors on this list.

If there's a brand that's gone through more product line names than Gatorade, we'd like to know. The sports drink company has had collections including Rain, Frost, Prime, Recover, Bring It, Shine On, No Excuses, and many, many more. Not all have stood the test of time, including the Ice drinks. After existing for a few years, Gatorade Ice was rebranded, and eventually, the product was rebranded yet again. The point is, flavors like strawberry Ice got lost in the shuffle, never to be purchased by American consumers again.

While we sympathize with fans of strawberry Ice for their loss, Gatorade rarely eliminates a flavor without replacing it with something similar or reminding customers that there's an existing flavor with a similar profile. In the case of strawberry Ice, there has almost always been a strawberry flavor available, and there's no shortage of strawberry flavors now. Currently, Gatorade sells over a dozen products — drinks, energy chews, and protein powder — that include strawberry in the flavor, like Fast Twitch strawberry lemonade, Thirst Quencher strawberry kiwi, and for the strawberry purists, Gatorade Fierce strawberry. There's no shortage of this red berry flavor in the Gatorade collection.

Gatorade and ESPN have a rich history of collaboration. The sports network has long advertised the sports drink, and in honor of ESPN's 25th anniversary in 2004, Gatorade released a special edition of its drink, ESPN the Flavor. Yes, it was a little confusing because obviously, ESPN is not a flavor. The label mentioned that it tasted like berries, so consumers weren't totally confused. ESPN the Flavor was a limited edition, and aside from its existence, it wasn't particularly noteworthy.

ESPN and Gatorade are still quite close on the business front. Though there hasn't been another special ESPN drink, the network did celebrate Gatorade's 50th anniversary with a round-up of little-known facts about the company. Furthermore, the 2022 ESPY award show was sponsored by Gatorade (via Next TV). Gatorade also has significant professional relationships with other sports businesses like the National Football League and the National Basketball Association.

If there's a flavor that every drink brand in existence has tried out, it might be tropical punch. The fruity flavor includes notes of fruits from tropical climates, often pineapple, orange, and, for whatever reason, cherry. Its ubiquity is likely the reason many brands try it out, but it could also precisely be the reason it failed for Gatorade. Why sell the exact same flavor as everybody else? Whatever the reason for it landing on the chopping block, Gatorade tropical punch is no more, which would be profoundly sadder if it weren't available from the thousands of other brands.

Still, some customers have tried to sway Gatorade into bringing it back, seemingly preferring its tropical punch to everyone else's. Via an exchange on Twitter, Gatorade's social media team took the feedback, although it didn't hint at a return as it has for so many others. It did, however, note that Gatorade still has plenty of tropical flavors such as tropical mango, which comes in three different varieties. Fans can also purchase Thirst Quencher tropical cooler if tropical mango doesn't suffice.

In 1996, Gatorade announced it was adding two new flavors to its lineup: cherry Rush and strawberry kiwi (via Supermarket News). Only one of those two flavors is still available, and it isn't cherry Rush. Sadly, it went to Gatorade heaven along with the other flavors on this list, while strawberry kiwi soared in popularity and is available in multiple Gatorade collections, even garnering a spot in the new Gatorlyte Zero line. Don't feel too bad for cherry Rush, though. Per Gatorade's social media team, someone at Gatorade knows at least one fan wants it to return, though that's no guarantee the flavor will be seen on shelves again in the future.

If you're a cherry Gatorade fanatic, you still have plenty of options to make up for the loss of cherry Rush. Gatorade offers multiple Glacier cherry drinks, and it has some combo flavors including blue cherry (whatever that is) and cherry lime (we're clear on that one).