I always get questions about this site, so I started up a F.A.Q., you can add your own questions in the comments and I will answer them. Here are some of the most common questions I hear. You can also email your questions to me at:
energy (at) bandddesigns (d0t) com or use the Contact Form.

How/why did you start this site?

I always liked red bull, but didn't like spending two bucks a can, so I started trying every other drink out there on the market. My friends started always asking me which were good, and which were bad. I figured I might as well start to post all my thoughts and my reviews online.

How does the rating system work?

I rate everything on three categories taste, energy, and mixability. I then give a overall score that takes into account all three categories. In each review I try to describe the flavor and how the drink tastes over all. I give my opinions on the categories, so if you happen to like something I don't like you can still give the drink a chance. I leave comments on so you can hear other people's opinions.

Why aren't your reviews in alphabetical order?

My software doesn't allow me to put all the posts in alphabetical order. It isn't all open source so I can't just go changing it. So please stop asking for this feature all the time. Just realize there is a search box on the top right of each page and you can easily find anything you want using that. You can also use ctrl F and type in the drink your searching for. It really isn't very difficult.

Can I suggest a drink for you to review?

Yes, I love it when my readers point out a drink I haven't found yet. Sometimes I am aware of the drink, but can't find it yet, and other times I have never heard of it. If you do a search and I haven't reviewed and energy drink that you have tried, send me an email at DanMayer (at) Gmail (d0t) com or use the Contact Form

Why is there all this annoying spam protection

I have no idea why spamming blogs still helps search results, but I guess it does. If I turned off my spam protect which is really annoying, I get hit with about 100 spammed messages a day. That makes the site full of crap and really hard to maintain. So I am sorry I have to force users to deal with that when making comments, but I guess until that problem is solved it is just a part of using the Internet.

I'm from Company "X" can I send you a sample of my product to review?

Yes, I will try any new energy drink and give it a review. Just send me a email and I will send you my address to ship to. Contact Form
----If i send you free product will you give it a good review?
If the product is good you will get a good review, I won't give you a better review just because you shipped me some samples.
----What if i pay you?
If you want you can pay me and I will run some ads for your product, but I will not give you a better rating. I also don't like to run ads for products that suck, so if I give your product a bad review I wouldn't contact me to run any ads.
----Sleep with you?
If you are really really hot and a wonderfully amazing woman and you give me your product to review I might think about it. I might be able to give you a bonus .25, but I am thinking you have to be pretty amazing, and I want some personality, not just a hottie.

Why are there so many grammar and spelling mistakes?

Me fail English, that is unimpossible. Yeah I am working on actually using spell check on all the new posts, and I ran spell check on all of the older posts. I never thought this site would be so big, so I never cared much about spelling and grammar. I suck at grammar, but I will try to pay more attention. If you find errors feel free to email me and I will correct the spelling or grammar mistakes. Contact Form

I hate you, why don't you just die?

That is fine not everyone likes everything, and anyways I hate you to. I hate you so much that it makes me want to eat at Arby's, and trust me no one should eat at Arby's.

Hello there Dan,
My names becky m*****.. and im training to be a communitty development officer..!!

I was wondering if you had a list of the dangers of red bull and how it can affect you if alot is drunk.. most of the children using it are between 6 - 14 ...! this would be a great help.. and the children would benefit alot
Thankyou
Becky

Thanks for writing Becky...

I am not sure I am the best person to ask, many people writing articles have come to me for all of the horrible things they believe about energy drinks. Trying to write fear filled articles about kids dying and how bad these drinks are, but adults have been drinking most of the primary ingredients for thousands of years, and search for people having problems with energy drinks you can't really find verification on any of the stories, most are just urban legends. Plenty of things give you energy, but really caffeine has been used for thousands of years and really is pretty safe. So I really don't have much to say how it is dangerous there is almost no research that supports that caffeine does anything really harmful. So the big question is when is it OK to start using caffeine (which really is the main ingredient in energy drinks, they just have a little more caffeine than a cup of coffee). So I don't really know the answer, for me I am far more concerned with how much sugar is in these drinks. I mean at 35 grams of sugar per serving in some of them it seems if kids drink a bunch of them and get hooked they are set to become over weight and a good target for diabetes. So really that is what I would worry most about, after that if they are athletes they need fluids and more energy drinks are carbonated, and caffeine is a diuretic, so it will dehydrate them which would hurt their athletic performance.

I hope this helps, you can read more about all of the ingredients at my site...

or read about caffeine's effects:
read about caffeine's effects

or more about Dehydration:
about Dehydration

Hola,
Read the article on you in the Westword today while inhaling a burrito at Illegal Petes and thought I would check out your website...good stuff. I consume a lot of energy drinks during the average work day to keep my head somewhat sharp while I sit behind my desk all day using my computer to look busy (#2 of Costanza's 10 commandments for working hard). So, I hate coffee...can't stand it. For a while I drank tea, but that still din't really do it for me - thusly energy drinks made sense. I used to drink up to five Cokes per day which seriously messed with my stomach after a while and now I have tried just about every energy drink available at the 7-11 on Colfax on my way to work. So, I am in the eternal search for an energy drink that is breakfast. I have no time to wake up early and actually cook something...much easier to grab an energy drink and wait until lunch to eat. I have yet to find the ideal energy drink that meets my requirements - these include; not too carbonated (like RockStar - too much on the stomach early in the morning); Lo-Carb or 0 Calories; agreeable taste - maybe something with a morning drink flavor; and lastly something I can drink every morning and not get sick of it. The best drink I have found so far is Full Throttle Sugar free but it is wearing on me. Is there a breakfast style energy drink out there yet? I'll buy you a round at the Uptown Tavern if one can be found! Cheers,
Nick N*****

Nick,

Yeah there are more and more energy drinks coming out that are better targeted towards morning energy seekers. For awhile if you needed a boast in the morning you had better like coffee or be willing to suffer through some gross Coke or Mountain Dews for breakfast. Also, I will just say if you were drinking 5 Cokes for awhile that is seriously almost 1000 calories, just something to be careful with. My favorite breakfast like energy drinks aren’t as much soda flavored, I really like the energy orange juices, Rockstar Juiced, Monster Khaos, and Rumba Energy Drink. I love orange juice, it is a normal and tasty breakfast drink so you probably wouldn’t burn out, and man these are tasty. I could also recommend trying the Yerba Mate drinks, while they taste a bit like tea they have a distinctive different feeling of energy they give you. Also, all of the FRS drinks are a pretty good morning drink almost like a morning smoothie so it would do well as an energy drink and breakfast replacement, my favorite was FRS Wild Berry. I would say that Full Throttle Fury isn’t a bad option, but it seems your getting burnt out on that stuff, a similar kind of 0 calorie replacement might be Xyience xenergy cran|razz. So that is the drinks that I would specifically recommend for drinking in the morning. If you really want a breakfast with a bit of energy I think the FRS drinks might be really worth giving a shot, they don’t pack quite the punch as others, but do well for the breakfast replacement. My favorite energy and taste would be Monster Khoas, and orange juice is a very good breakfast drink. If you just want no calories and something that will give you a big burst, you probably would want the Xyience drink the most as it does have a big energy boost for the buck.

peace,
Dan "Energy" Man

Is Amp safer than the other Energy Drinks. My son drinks them 2 times a week, which I am not happy about, but we have agreed only 2 times a week. -Suzzy

Amp and most other energy drinks really aren't that bad, I would say that drinking multiple cans a day is bad, but really having an amp is like drinking 1 1/2 mountain dews and some green tea... The biggest thing in energy drinks are caffeine and sugar. The caffeine in a can of amp is about the same as a cup of coffee, it does have much more sugar, but kids have been eating tons of sugar ever since candy was around. So I really wouldn't worry about it, just try to make sure your child isn't drinking multiple cans a day, and make sure they don't start trying to drink the more diet oriented drinks like red line which include some pretty powerful diet drugs that can make some people sick. Just look for the ingredients and if the drink is just caffeine, guarana (just another form of caffeine), vitamins, and perhaps Taurine you and your child should be fine. Thanks for your question.

Posted by Dan at January 8, 2003 05:43 PM