Rating: 0 (and all I have had is a few sips of this drink)

This energy drink, I have had a can of in my fridge for months. I have yet to crack the top of the can because I see the same warning labels and ingredients on the can as I have seen before. This is a drink that is trying to be a more mass market version of Redline. This drink is possibly trying to one up everything Redline packed in a can, which was far to much. These drinks scare me, they aren't just a bunch of sugar and caffeine which can give you quite a buzz, no these drinks contain powerful diet chemicals like Evodiamine, N-acetyle-L-tryptophan, 5-htp, Vinpocetine, and Yohimbine HCL. These drinks mix the world of energy drinks with the world of diet drugs, both of which speed up your metabolism, but when combine can really push it past many peoples comfort levels, and possibly safety levels. I almost went to the hospital myself after drinking a Redline and seeing how bad it made me feel. I wanted to puke, pass out, and run a marathon all at the same time. My heart was beating a mile a minute, of course. Some energy drinks at the very beginning of this craze contained, Ephedrine, which was banned because it wasn't safe in many cases. These new energy drinks mixing diet drugs and very high caffeine content are going to ruin the energy drink market. They are not energy drinks, they are legal DRUGS in a can.

Someone will get hurt or die, and then parents will be pulling everything off the shelf from safe drinks like Redbull, Go Fast, and Monster which have about the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee. These stimulant drinks aren't the same, hell even very strong energy drinks that have 3 times as much caffeine as a cup of coffee doesn't really hurt anyone of make them freak out, but these chemically packed drinks are a whole different monster (haha a pun). Sending kids to the hospital, and having the company react as if it isn't marketing to kids is bullshit, they know as well as I do the 15 - 22 year old males are the number one consumer of these drinks. Warning labels won't stop kids. I don't think there should be laws on selling energy drinks to minors, but if company's start putting unsafe mixes of drinks on the market laws will eventually come (as they will have to if there is a real safety concern) and ruin it for everyone. I do think all companies should stop hiding the quantity of caffeine (and other ingredients that are stimulants) in a drink, the only responsible and safe way to consume caffeine or any drug like it is to know approximately how much your consuming (Coca-Cola to include caffeine content on cans Kudos!). 50mg of caffeine might be fine at night, but 300mg which some energy drinks contain sure as hell isn't an evening beverage.

I don't want to see laws and regulations so start labeling your products, stop hiding the quantity thinking it is your secret formula, it isn't all the caffeine levels can easily be figured out and eventually they are so don't waste our time. The secret formula part is the taste and flavor not the drugs in the drink. Don't mix diet drugs into the energy drink market, and don't pretend your not marketing to kids because we know you are. These diet drugs mixed with energy drinks are sending people to the hospital, don't believe it read some of the comments left on my site for Redline, about people going to the hospital.

I don't endorse these kinds of drinks!

UPDATE: I am aware they now print the caffeine content on the can, they did not used to, the cans I had when I reviewed it did not have it printed. I think it is a good step that they are printing this.

peace,
Dan "energy" Man

There have been some amusing energy drink announcements recently. I heard about a Jimmy Hendrix energy drink that is to be launched that is offending some of his fans, while being praised by others. Still hearing that Hooters is to release an energy drink brought a little smile to my face.

Hooters is such a bizarre company trying everything from groceries to airlines. So hopefully they aren't just lending their name to a cheap knock off drink, I hope they are bringing something really good to the table, I like their wings and hot sauces so perhaps when it comes to food and beverage they know what they are doing. I actually had a good friend that worked in a hooters for awhile she was a self described ass girl hired for her ass not her breasts. Anyways, I have never really decided if this place should be considered bad or demeaning to women, but I guess if they choose to work there and make money there it is just another empowering thing as it gives them choice. Let me tell you, you never want to tell a woman what she can and can not do... hehe This photo of a woman protesting at hooters as the workers come up to offer free coffee, always cracks me up.

So I found out about this from the great slashfood site,
Hooters releases energy drink.

It seems while the small players might have a harder time releasing a drink. Every bar and restaurant will make their own brand and release it, I expect this to be a theme over 2007. I mean the bar sales and savings alone would make it worth releasing their own branded energy drink.