is still hiding some confusion (in me, anyway.) Why say that it doesn't feel like quickly gathering energy?

Getting a nutrient feed via IV doesn't feel like sweetness, but does involve quickly getting energy.

What would feel like quickly gathering energy?

If you had a cognitive system that directly recognized any gain in energy, and credited it as good, for that reason, then you would have a quale that is best described as "feeling like gathering energy". But that requires a whole different architecture.