The Science of Sipping: How the Right Drink Can Enhance Your Mental Performance in Strategy Games

Back
17th March 2025
This post was written in collaboration with Acceleron Media

Jump to

In strategy games, lightning-fast reflexes aren’t everything. Instead, players must maintain their focus, make decisions quickly, and avoid getting distracted. Whether it's the middle of a chess match, navigating through some intricate RPG, or playing high-stakes card games, mental focus is a key factor determining how well you will fare. Surprisingly, the right drink can give you an advantage, helping you to maintain your concentration, and stay calm and in control.

The Brain and Beverages: A Powerful Connection

The two go together like a railway engine and coal. Your brain is a high-performance machine—and thus requires “high-performance fuel.” Hydration is a key factor in cognitive function, but certain drinks beyond just water can provide the brain with an extra boost. Some enable people to think faster, while others can increase short-term memory retention and even improve motor skills.

For instance, caffeine is well known for boosting alertness and sharpening reaction times. By using a mixture of caffeine and L-theanine, green tea can provide people with a boost to their energy levels for hours at a time. This makes it perfect for long gaming sessions. Electrolyte-rich drinks also help many players, and prevent weariness from occurring in long games.

Mental Agility and the Right Drink Choice

For players of strategic card games like blackjack or poker, staying clear-headed is a must. You’ve got to be totally focused on the cards in front of you, the cards that might still be in the deck, and the cards the other players (or the dealer) might have. All of these things require a good degree of mental energy. Imagine that your goal is to win at blackjack online and you’re only half paying attention because your mind keeps wandering… it’s not going to go well!

So instead, you choose drinks that will improve your ability to pay attention to those cards and implement card counting strategies. This is the best way to increase your chances of obtaining a win at Australian blackjack online. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water to stay hydrated, but also consider drinking slow energy release drinks if you’re competing in a tournament and need to stay focused for long periods. Save the caffeine and sugar hits for those high-intensity moments when you really need a quick boost and are willing to accept an energy crash later, as long as it happens at a less intense moment - say between rounds of blackjack.

Balancing all of this might seem daunting, but get it right and you’ll see your play improving. You’ll make better judgments about the cards, you’ll remember what’s already come up, and you’ll be better equipped to keep your emotions in check - all critical when you’re playing blackjack online!

So, balancing hydration with mental stimulation is very important indeed. Herbal infusions, such as ginseng tea, may offer improved mental clarity, although we need to do more research into this. Meanwhile, beverages with antioxidants—think berry smoothies or even dark chocolate drinks— support better brain function in the long term so that players remain sharp throughout a lengthy session.

The Role of Mood and Relaxation

Strategy games often require patience in addition to talent. While the high-intensity energy drinks might give a short burst of focus, relying heavily on these can cause you to crash, which will hamper your decision. However, drinks that promote a calm and collected but also an aware state of mind may just be what you need in order to maintain constant concentration while keeping stress levels at bay. Consider going for a soothing chamomile tea with a touch of honey, or a matcha latte if this is what you are looking to achieve.

And if you want to get more creative… well, AI in mixology sounds rather futuristic to most of us, but you can learn more about how it is already shaping drink customization here. Sure, you might not decide you’re going to have a computer determine what goes into your glass before a game of blackjack, but it’s certainly an interesting idea that merits exploration!

The Casino Connection: Drinks and Decision-Making

For many people, drinking something tasty (whether alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages) is a key aspect of relaxation, and that means it’s a key aspect of settling in to play casino games, both electronically and offline. Whether it's a crafted cocktail in one of their gaming lounges or just some black coffee while playing a round of online blackjack, drinks in casinos are more than just a refresher—they can really affect performance, staying power, and focus.

Many experienced players like to drink beverages that help them stay alert. As we mentioned further up, coffee and green tea are popular selections to keep a steady focus that supports strategic thinking, but for lengthy game sessions, you might also want to consider other low-sugar options with natural stimulants, like yerba mate or coconut water.

Choosing the Perfect Gaming Beverage

So, if drinks are so important… what should you pick? Well, we’ve put together a simple table of options for specific situations, meaning you can have the right drink every time:

Drink Type

Cognitive Benefit

Best For

Green Tea

Sustained focus, calm energy

Long strategy sessions

Black Coffee

Sharp alertness, fast reflexes

Quick decision-making

Berry Smoothie

Antioxidants for brain health

Prolonged play

Chamomile Tea

Stress reduction, relaxation

Patience-heavy games

Coconut Water

Hydration, steady energy

Endurance-based play

With all that in mind, don’t forget to fill your glass before you settle down to play blackjack, or any other strategy-focused casino game. Whatever drink you pick, being hydrated will unquestionably help you thrive!

Pardon the interruption

Did you know that you can become a member for free, taking your cocktail making skills up to level 11. You can save your My Bar ingredients, make tasting notes, have personalised Tried and Want to try lists and more.

Filed with tags

More to explore

How to Make the Perfect San Francisco Cocktail at Home

The San Francisco Cocktail is a delightful mix of flavors that brings the spirit of the city to your...

Best Beach Cocktail Bars

What comes to mind when you picture the ultimate, relaxing getaway? Chances are you dream of white,...

Would you like ice with that?

We get it. It’s November, and it’s freezing (where we are, at least!) When you want to enjoy your fa...

Tag cloud

Explore more with our randomised tag cloud.

Bartender's top tip

Make a show of it! Part of the fun of cocktails is the preparation. So prepare cocktails in front of guests and friends to share and enjoy the whole experience.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Get tips straight into your inbox.

Upgrade your mixology

Become a member for free taking your cocktail making skills up to level 11. Or become a premium member to rise to cocktail greatness.

  • Save your bar forever
  • Access to our Cocktail Creator, allowing you to create your own wonderful concoctions.
  • Create personalised cocktail menus for all your events, bars or parties
  • Save cocktails to personalised 'Tried' and 'Want to try' lists
  • Create and record tasting notes on cocktails
  • Create lists of cocktails to share with friends and family
  • A personalised MyBar URL, allowing you to share everything you can make with friends
  • And much more ... (what to buy next, measurement choices, search personalisation...)

Have you tried our Wordpress Plugin?

Download our plugin and embed cocktail recipes directly onto your own site or blog.

Choose from our whole recipe database, or choose a specific cocktail made with a certain ingredient, and let us place a beautiful recipe on your own site.

Find out more