What's Happening
Applied Nutrition is growing its ABE Energy Drink collaboration with frozen-beverage icon ICEE, adding a new ICEE Cola flavor to the lineup. It's the first expansion of the partnership since the two brands teamed up earlier in 2026, and the cola is built to capture the classic frozen-cola taste ICEE has sold for decades.
The original collaboration launched with authentic ICEE Cherry and ICEE Blue Raspberry flavors, both of which debuted at the Arnold Sports Festival in March before rolling out to direct and retail channels. The new ICEE Cola joins those two on the canned ABE menu, carrying the same performance formula: a blend of beta-alanine, taurine, citrulline, choline, and theanine, plus 200mg of caffeine, with zero sugar. Applied Nutrition is expected to roll the ICEE Cola ABE Energy Drink out to retailers across the United States shortly.
Why It Matters
The expansion is a signal that the original ICEE collaboration worked. Brands don't extend a licensed partnership unless the first products moved, so adding a third flavor tells you the Cherry and Blue Raspberry cans performed well enough to justify more. For Applied Nutrition, a UK brand whose ABE pre-workout is a established seller back home, authentic ICEE flavors are a smart vehicle for building recognition with American consumers who know ICEE far better than they know ABE.
Cola is also a notable flavor choice. Energy drinks lean heavily on fruit, candy, and citrus profiles, so a cola entry stands out on a shelf full of blue raspberry and cherry. It taps a different kind of nostalgia, the fountain-cola experience, and gives the lineup a flavor that reads as more classic than the sugary-slush options around it.
Bigger Picture
ICEE has quietly become one of the most active licensors in the supplement and functional-drink world. Beyond ABE, the brand has lent its flavors to No Cap, Axe & Sledge, Sparta, and AminoLean, and earlier this year Instant Hydration launched official ICEE electrolyte sticks in Blue Raspberry and Cherry. That makes ICEE a recurring flavor partner across pre-workouts, energy drinks, and hydration powders alike, a sign of how valuable an instantly recognizable taste has become in a category where products often blur together.
The broader trend is the licensed-nostalgia arms race that now defines functional beverages. Brands increasingly compete on borrowed flavor identities rather than inventing their own, because a familiar name does the marketing work before a customer even takes a sip. Applied Nutrition adding a third ICEE flavor is a small but clear example of the same playbook driving collaborations across the industry, from Ghost's candy tie-ins to Red Bull's limited editions. When a partnership starts spawning line extensions, it confirms the formula is paying off.