26 July 2026

Unflavoured Creatine: Why Plain Is the Smart Choice (UK Guide)

Unflavoured creatine is creatine monohydrate and nothing else: no sweeteners, no flavourings, no acids, no colour. If what you actually want is the ingredient rather than the drink built around it, plain is the smarter buy. It costs less per gram of real creatine, it goes into coffee, porridge, a smoothie or plain water without changing what you are drinking, and the ingredients list is short enough to read in one breath. This guide covers what "unflavoured" means on a UK label, how plain differs from a flavoured tub, the six things worth checking before you buy, and where pre-measured stick packs fit.

What "unflavoured" actually means on a UK label

A genuinely unflavoured product has a one-line ingredients list. Bulk's Creatine Monohydrate Powder, for example, is sold in an unflavoured version alongside several flavoured ones, and the unflavoured label declares creatine monohydrate at 99.9% purity and nothing more.

One detail catches people out. Creatine monohydrate is creatine bound to a molecule of water, so it is roughly 88% creatine by weight. That is why Bulk's label reads 5g of creatine monohydrate "of which 4.4g creatine", and why Myprotein's Creapure sachets hold 5.7g of powder to deliver a full 5g of creatine. Neither is a trick. It just means "5g" on the front of a tub can mean two slightly different things, and it is worth knowing which.

You will also see "micronised", which means the powder has been milled to a smaller particle size. It mixes and settles better. It is not a different or stronger ingredient: a 2022 review in Nutrients reported no evidence that micronised creatine monohydrate is more bioavailable than standard mesh sizes. Buy it for the texture, not for the absorption.

Why plain wins for most people

One ingredient, nothing to work around. A flavoured creatine is a small drink mix with creatine in it. Optimum Nutrition's flavoured micronised creatine powder, for instance, lists creatine monohydrate alongside citric and malic acid, flavourings, beetroot concentrate, sucralose and acesulfame K. To be fair about it, those sweeteners are authorised food additives in Great Britain and have been reviewed by regulators: EFSA's re-evaluation of acesulfame K raised its acceptable daily intake to 15mg per kg of body weight and found no safety concern at estimated exposures. The case for plain is not that flavoured is dangerous. It is that if you already drink coffee, tea, a shake or squash, you are paying for a second flavour system you did not need, and stacking it on top of the one you have.

It goes into anything. Unflavoured powder disappears into a flat white, a mug of tea, overnight oats, yoghurt, a berry smoothie or a glass of water. Flavoured tropical creatine does not. This matters more than it sounds, because the easiest habit is the one you attach to something you already do every morning. If you take yours with coffee, our note on creatine and caffeine covers what the research actually says about combining them.

No flavour fatigue. Nobody tires of nothing. Sweet supplements have a way of becoming a chore around week six, and creatine is taken as a daily habit rather than a one-off. See when to take creatine for why consistency beats timing.

It is usually cheaper per gram. A 500g unflavoured tub at around £13 to £20 at the time of writing works out at roughly 13p to 20p for a 5g serving. You are not paying for flavourings, colours or the extra shipping weight.

Unflavoured vs flavoured vs sticks: the honest comparison

A word on gummies, because they are everywhere right now. Creatine is very stable as a dry powder, but in water it slowly cyclises into inactive creatinine, and gummies are made with water and heat. In 2024 NOW Foods published results from its testing programme covering 12 creatine gummy products and reported that five were severely understrength, with creatinine detected in the products that missed their label claim. Plain powder simply does not have this failure mode.

Six things to check before you buy

1. The form. You want creatine monohydrate. It is the form behind the overwhelming majority of the research, including the International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand, which calls it the most extensively studied and clinically effective form for use in nutritional supplements. Novel forms cost more and are not better supported.
2. The dose, in creatine terms. Check whether the number on the front is monohydrate or creatine. Optimum Nutrition's unflavoured micronised creatine powder uses a 3.4g scoop, which delivers 3g of creatine rather than 3.4g. Common questions and misconceptions about creatine (2021) puts typical daily intakes at 3g to 5g.
3. A purity statement. "99.9% pure" or a named raw material such as Creapure, which AlzChem makes at a dedicated facility in Germany and subjects to internal and external quality controls.
4. Micronised, if grit bothers you. Texture only.
5. Batch testing, if you compete. Informed Sport tests every batch against a broad range of substances banned in sport, and its certification also includes a review of the procedures in place at the relevant manufacturing facilities. Worth paying for if you are tested, unnecessary otherwise.
6. How you will measure it. A scoop in a 1kg tub is cheapest. A pre-weighed sachet is the only format where the dose is not up to you.

Getting it to mix properly

Plain creatine is not very soluble in cold water. That 2022 Nutrients review puts it at about 6g per litre at 4°C, 14g per litre at 20°C, and 34g per litre at 50°C. So 5g in a small glass of cold water is close to or past saturation, which is exactly why people report grit at the bottom.

Three fixes. Use more liquid, at least 300ml. Use something warm, because a hot coffee or tea dissolves it easily and the few minutes it takes to drink are not long enough for meaningful degradation. And do not leave it standing for days in something acidic: the same review reports around 4% breakdown over three days at pH 5.5, rising to 12% at pH 4.5 and 21% at pH 3.5. Mix it, drink it, done. There is no need to complicate this with a loading protocol either, though creatine loading explains the trade-off if you are curious, and is creatine safe covers the safety literature.

For the record, the only authorised Great Britain health claim for the ingredient is this: creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise. The claim applies to a daily intake of 3g of creatine, and you can check the wording yourself on the GB nutrition and health claims register or in the underlying EFSA opinion. Anything beyond that is research discussion, not a promise.

Where stick packs fit

A stick pack is unflavoured creatine with the guesswork removed. No scoop, no tub on the worktop, no wondering whether you levelled it off. Myprotein's Creapure sachets are the obvious UK reference point at 20 sticks of 5.7g for around £19.49 at the time of writing, which is close to £1 a serving against roughly 15p from a tub. You are paying for precision and portability, and for some people that is a fair trade, particularly if a big tub has previously ended up unopened.

Sticks are also the format that makes sense when creatine is not the only thing in the sachet. That is the shape perco takes: one unflavoured stick a morning with 5g of creatine monohydrate and 300mg of citicoline, dissolving clear into whatever you already drink, made in the UK and caffeine-free. Citicoline has no authorised UK health claims, so we will not tell you what it does. It is a choline donor that has been studied in its own right, including a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in The Journal of Nutrition that gave 500mg a day for 12 weeks to adults aged 50 to 85, and if you want the neutral background we have written up citicoline dosage and why we pair the two ingredients. perco is not on sale yet. There is a waitlist at percocreatine.com, and the first 100 founding members lock the founding price permanently.

UK options by category

Prices move constantly, so treat every figure here as a snapshot rather than a quote.

FAQ

Does unflavoured creatine taste of anything? Very slightly. Most people describe plain creatine monohydrate as faintly chalky or mildly bitter rather than genuinely unpleasant, and in coffee, a shake or a flavoured drink it is undetectable. Any strong taste is usually undissolved powder rather than flavour, so more liquid and a warmer drink tends to solve it.

Can I put unflavoured creatine in hot coffee or tea? Yes, and it dissolves better than in cold water. Creatine does gradually convert to creatinine in solution, faster when warm and faster when acidic, but the few minutes it takes to drink a hot drink are not a meaningful loss. What you should avoid is making it up and leaving it in the fridge for a week.

Is unflavoured creatine better than flavoured? Both contain the same active ingredient, so neither is more effective. Unflavoured gives you more creatine per gram of powder, a shorter label, a lower price per serving and the freedom to mix it into anything. Flavoured makes sense only if you always mix with plain water and would otherwise skip it.

Is unflavoured cheaper? Usually, yes. You are buying creatine rather than creatine plus flavourings, sweeteners and acids, and the difference shows up most clearly when you work out the cost per 5g serving rather than the price on the tub.

How much unflavoured creatine should I take a day? Published guidance generally lands on 3g to 5g of creatine daily for maintenance, taken consistently rather than on training days only. Check whether your label counts monohydrate or creatine, and if you have a health condition or take medication, speak to your GP or pharmacist first.