The Trail

Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: A&E

From the giggly rush of a Mountain Dew to the straight-up burst of a Full Throttle, energy drinks have become a staple of twenty-first century college life. And anyone with a semi-decent background in university culture would have no difficulty figuring out why. Suddenly remember at 8 p.m. at the end of a party-filled weekend that your teacher moved the midterm to Monday? Pop open a Rockstar, and your eyes will be wide open until 8 p.m. the following evening. Promised your roommate you would go watch his symphony concert, even though you know an evening of Bach is sure to put you straight to sleep? With one can of Monster, your head will be nodding to the music instead of nodding off.

Like most young adults, I am a lover, user and diehard fan of caffeine. However, up until recently, I never saw much need to go down the energy drink route for my beloved legal high.

Having lived almost all of my life either in or near the Pacific Northwest, (a.k.a. Starbucks Country,) I suppose it is not surprising that I tended to stick to my trusted mochas and chai teas for that much-needed one a.m. boost. Regardless, I am always up for an adventure, and a caffeinated adventure seemed too good an offer to pass up. This spring break, I traded in my tea for a Tab and embarked on an amateur's journey of energy drink discovery.

My first energy drink experience took place one of the first nights I spent back home in the dusty town of Kennewick, Wash. At 10 p.m. at night after a long day of catching up with my family, my old friend Erik called me up and asked me if I wanted to hang out. My sluggish brain automatically warned me that such an encounter would probably require a good sized caffeine wallop. I agreed to meet Erik in fifteen minutes, and on my way to his house I picked up a Red Bull from the 7-11 down the street. After purchasing the oversized can of liquid energy, I returned to my car to savor my first foray into the energy drink world.

I had never really thought about what an energy drink would taste like, but one sip was enough to let me know that any hopes I may have had for a nice yummy experience were sorely mistaken. Red Bull tasted like a mixture of elementary school carnival-issue cotton candy and that last roll of Sweet Tarts from your Trick or Treating bag that you accidentally left until February to eat. Add to this the fact that the carbonation is about twice as heavy as it is in your average soda, and there was no question that it was pretty tough to get down. After a few initial gags, I managed to gulp up the whole thing in about five minutes, and proceeded to my friend's house.

Continued...

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