@kuoh Dr Pepper was named for the fact that it gave you some “pep”. The original formulas used cane sugar, of course. (It remains a source of great sadness among many down here that the Dublin, TX Dr Pepper folks were finally “persuaded” to sell back their license, and had to stop producing the real, original formula. And then the brand owner discovered that they’d made a mistake, and tried to spackle over the damage by producing a boutique product of their own which they claimed was the original formula. It met with … disdain.) (For a brief while, Dublin Soda produced a “black cherry” soda which bore an amazing resemblance to That Which They Were Not Allowed To Make, but I haven’t seen a bottle of it in at least a decade at this point.)
@JT954 Prime really shocked me. They’re all great… and their distribution happened really fast (+superbowl commercial). The blue razz is my favorite. The Lemon Lime is extremely Mountain-Dewish
@JT954@troy One swiftly-silenced wag at a certain mammoth beverage empire based in Atlanta noted that the typical manufacturing-level profit from a single can of “energy beverage” exceeded that of a six-pack of their flagship products, and some of their more popular formulations were ones that had never been expected to make it past initial consumer taste testing. Apparently, things like Monster have a large following in the same kind of consumer that adores double IPAs and single-malt peat-aged whiskies. They presumably think that nastier flavors mean stronger effects, or something.
@werehatrack lol! I love IPA’s but hate peaty whiskies. I do enjoy a good Old Fashioned though, and while I dislike the first Energy drinks like the original monster & red bull flavors (I mean, I’ll still drink them), I think all the flavors they’ve come out with since then are far tastier.
Prime is really on another level as far as taste, though. It’s really the best tasting energy stuff I’ve ever had. Well, except for Celsius Sparkling Cola; that’s my all-time fave.
@troy@werehatrack I love double IPAs and peated single malts, but my only energy drink is coffee. Very occasionally a coffee-based energy drink, but it’s almost always a poor decision. Anyway, @werehatrack, that’s an awfully broad brush you’re wielding.
@Kyeh FWIW, if you ever pass through suburban Cincinnati OH, Jungle Jim’s grocery usually has at least one brand of guarana in stock. Not the cheapest soda out there, but better than prices (and shipping costs!) online.
Also, been a couple years since i’ve been there, but pretty sure there’s also a small brazilian grocery on the NE side of Columbus that also has it. Otherwise, check your local hispanic grocery. Sometimes you get lucky.
By the time I have devolved to an energy drink past caffeine. It’s time to pull over before you die making it. You’re probably also slapping yourself to make it
@Kyeh when I would need an energy drink. Something beyond caffeine pills/coffee it would be because I was driving somewhere. Usually between two back to back jobs a few hours apart. Or trying to make it home. And honestly just the sharp citrus or gross taste sipping on an energy drink can help focus. Because driving is boring.
So can windows down. Cold air. Blasting the radio. And occasionally slapping your leg etc if you realize you are starting to zone out. But by the time you are implementing those you had better be right there or pulling over to pass out at the next exit.
Not saying I made the best choices/didn’t push the last mile sometimes.
@Kyeh@unksol Over the years, I’ve gotten much better at spotting the onset of Too Tired For Safety early, and have become much more diligent about taking short rest breaks as I travel. I still make 14 to 16 hour runs too regularly, though they take 16 to 18 hours to complete because I make damn sure I’m good to go. My record was a run from Houston to San Francisco completed in 36 hours. (On the way back, that trip got Exciting because I was literally running ahead of thousand-year-severity flooding through parts of Arizona, and the road got closed due to a washout in progress seconds after I cleared past the point where it was about to go away. Good times. Driving over a bridge spanning a chasm that I knew to be 300+ feet deep while water was nearly up to the deck was just a bit nerve-wracking.)
@Kyeh@werehatrack I was working at home with overtime in college then driving back to my apartment to move. “Blinked” and suddenly I was way off in the grass. Missed everything thankfully
one summer I was working nights back to back with day shifts on another job. I was braking cause stoplight/truck in front of me and I “blinked” and rear ended him. Thankfully I had already been slowing down and his bumper cleared mine so I just got broken headlights/bent hood/grill I could pull out. Car made it another 11 years…
But yea when you are that tired it only takes a split second. I learned better.
Red bull or Rockstar when I’m feeling absolutely drained.
I stopped drinking them during my first pregnancy though, and haven’t really had them much since then. Just once in a while, not even monthly. I usually stick with coffee and soda now.
I will occasionally have a Red Bull and vodka if I’m out seeing a band late at night, but I don’t think that counts. Other than that, I stick with espresso.
My boyfriend drinks these Celsius all the time so I tried one, It gave me the worst gitters of my life. It was like I took a whole bottle of of adderal on an empty stomach and drank a couple pots of coffee. Never again will I drink one of those. But I really don’t drink caffeine either. Maybe a pop a month and a cup or two of coffee a month. I just drink a lot of water.
Besides coffee, I only drink energy drinks sparingly. My favourite brand is Celsius, actually. If I didn’t have a whole case in my house right now, today’s offering would have been a lot more tempting.
I drink all sorts of caffeine sources, including energy drinks (Monster, Bang, Rockstar, pretty much any), I just make sure to stay within safe parameters for daily intake, and I avoid sugar in all drinks.
Coffee, tea, energy drinks, and other caffeine sources are typically safe in moderation and not automatically “bad for you” - yes, they do differ in ingredients- most of which are safe for most people. Yes, if you have conditions that make you sensitive to caffeine, it is up to you to be vigilant about what you are putting in your body at any given time. For instance, I have to avoid anything energy/pre-workout related that contains the ingredient Yohimbine, however this ingredient is relatively rare in standard energy drinks.
Yes, high amounts of sugar are unhealthy, going over reasonable amounts of caffeine is unhealthy, and so forth, but I don’t understand the generalized stigma energy drinks have for being dangerous when there really isn’t evidence in that regard- the majority of stories of problems with these drinks always comes down to customers that abuse or misuse them - most often leading to overdoses or interactions with medical conditions. Stay safe, but enjoy yourself
4C Energy Rush. Those who can’t or don’t do sucralose should avoid it. For the rest of us, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get a little caffeine outside of a cup of tea.
Does coffee count as an energy drink?
@hchavers yes
Café Bustelo, black, hot
If coffee /tea is an “energy drink”. Then, yes, yes I do.
@Chronicle It counts, depending on the strength of the brew. I like my tea a bit less aggressive than that.
I only drink watered down, flavored carbonated high fructose corn syrup, just as Dr Pepper and Mr Pibb intended.
KuoH
@kuoh Dr Pepper was named for the fact that it gave you some “pep”. The original formulas used cane sugar, of course. (It remains a source of great sadness among many down here that the Dublin, TX Dr Pepper folks were finally “persuaded” to sell back their license, and had to stop producing the real, original formula. And then the brand owner discovered that they’d made a mistake, and tried to spackle over the damage by producing a boutique product of their own which they claimed was the original formula. It met with … disdain.) (For a brief while, Dublin Soda produced a “black cherry” soda which bore an amazing resemblance to That Which They Were Not Allowed To Make, but I haven’t seen a bottle of it in at least a decade at this point.)
Celsius and Bang are good, but lately I’ve been drinking Prime. Have yet to find a flavor I didn’t like.
@JT954 Prime really shocked me. They’re all great… and their distribution happened really fast (+superbowl commercial). The blue razz is my favorite. The Lemon Lime is extremely Mountain-Dewish
@JT954 @troy One swiftly-silenced wag at a certain mammoth beverage empire based in Atlanta noted that the typical manufacturing-level profit from a single can of “energy beverage” exceeded that of a six-pack of their flagship products, and some of their more popular formulations were ones that had never been expected to make it past initial consumer taste testing. Apparently, things like Monster have a large following in the same kind of consumer that adores double IPAs and single-malt peat-aged whiskies. They presumably think that nastier flavors mean stronger effects, or something.
Me, not so much.
@werehatrack lol! I love IPA’s but hate peaty whiskies. I do enjoy a good Old Fashioned though, and while I dislike the first Energy drinks like the original monster & red bull flavors (I mean, I’ll still drink them), I think all the flavors they’ve come out with since then are far tastier.
Prime is really on another level as far as taste, though. It’s really the best tasting energy stuff I’ve ever had. Well, except for Celsius Sparkling Cola; that’s my all-time fave.
@troy @werehatrack I love double IPAs and peated single malts, but my only energy drink is coffee. Very occasionally a coffee-based energy drink, but it’s almost always a poor decision. Anyway, @werehatrack, that’s an awfully broad brush you’re wielding.
@mschuette @troy Brush, hell. It’s a vehicle-sized dip tank.
I miss Jolt.
@kjady Jolt Cola had too much carbonation. The other flavours were pretty good. Grape was the best.
@kjady @yakkoTDI I could never find diet, caffeine free Jolt.
Nope. Never saw the need.
I would drink guarana soda if I could (easily) find it.
@Kyeh I bought some for a Christmas gift
amazon.com/Guarana-Antarctica-Guaraná-Flavoured-Rainforest/dp/B0083TLAEK
@katbyter
Thanks, I might have to get some!
@katbyter @Kyeh 36g of sugar…? Woah. That’s almost as much as coke.
@Kyeh FWIW, if you ever pass through suburban Cincinnati OH, Jungle Jim’s grocery usually has at least one brand of guarana in stock. Not the cheapest soda out there, but better than prices (and shipping costs!) online.
Also, been a couple years since i’ve been there, but pretty sure there’s also a small brazilian grocery on the NE side of Columbus that also has it. Otherwise, check your local hispanic grocery. Sometimes you get lucky.
@Turken Thanks, I’m pretty far from Ohio, but we do have hispanic groceries around here; I’ll try that!
@Chronicle @katbyter It’s definitely soda pop, not a “health drink.” I just like the way it tastes.
@Kyeh almost forgot… if you haven’t tried it, Bawls is also a good guarana-flavored soda. Sometimes can find it at MicroCenter stores.
@Kyeh Guano?
@Turken Thanks - I’ve only seen it online, but I haven’t seriously searched, either.
@blaineg
No!
Beer
@rtjhnstn technically alcohol is a depressant. Although it can make the some short term stimulating stories.
@unksol Hold this, watch this.
@rtjhnstn @unksol I think you mean “Hey, watch this! here, hold my beer”— UAL pilot leaving Hawaii.
On a long day at work I’ll sometimes grab a Rockstar.
By the time I have devolved to an energy drink past caffeine. It’s time to pull over before you die making it. You’re probably also slapping yourself to make it
@unksol Whut?
@Kyeh when I would need an energy drink. Something beyond caffeine pills/coffee it would be because I was driving somewhere. Usually between two back to back jobs a few hours apart. Or trying to make it home. And honestly just the sharp citrus or gross taste sipping on an energy drink can help focus. Because driving is boring.
So can windows down. Cold air. Blasting the radio. And occasionally slapping your leg etc if you realize you are starting to zone out. But by the time you are implementing those you had better be right there or pulling over to pass out at the next exit.
Not saying I made the best choices/didn’t push the last mile sometimes.
@unksol Oh, I see. True…
@Kyeh @unksol Over the years, I’ve gotten much better at spotting the onset of Too Tired For Safety early, and have become much more diligent about taking short rest breaks as I travel. I still make 14 to 16 hour runs too regularly, though they take 16 to 18 hours to complete because I make damn sure I’m good to go. My record was a run from Houston to San Francisco completed in 36 hours. (On the way back, that trip got Exciting because I was literally running ahead of thousand-year-severity flooding through parts of Arizona, and the road got closed due to a washout in progress seconds after I cleared past the point where it was about to go away. Good times. Driving over a bridge spanning a chasm that I knew to be 300+ feet deep while water was nearly up to the deck was just a bit nerve-wracking.)
@Kyeh @werehatrack I was working at home with overtime in college then driving back to my apartment to move. “Blinked” and suddenly I was way off in the grass. Missed everything thankfully
one summer I was working nights back to back with day shifts on another job. I was braking cause stoplight/truck in front of me and I “blinked” and rear ended him. Thankfully I had already been slowing down and his bumper cleared mine so I just got broken headlights/bent hood/grill I could pull out. Car made it another 11 years…
But yea when you are that tired it only takes a split second. I learned better.
Red bull or Rockstar when I’m feeling absolutely drained.
I stopped drinking them during my first pregnancy though, and haven’t really had them much since then. Just once in a while, not even monthly. I usually stick with coffee and soda now.
@LaserEyes I stopped during my first pregnancy and now the tamest versions give me jitters, so I stick to a can of Coke.
I will occasionally have a Red Bull and vodka if I’m out seeing a band late at night, but I don’t think that counts. Other than that, I stick with espresso.
My boyfriend drinks these Celsius all the time so I tried one, It gave me the worst gitters of my life. It was like I took a whole bottle of of adderal on an empty stomach and drank a couple pots of coffee. Never again will I drink one of those. But I really don’t drink caffeine either. Maybe a pop a month and a cup or two of coffee a month. I just drink a lot of water.
@Star2236 I have a friend whose tolerance for caffeine is so close to zero that one swig of a caffeinated soda will have his scalp crawling for hours.
Red Bull Zero Sugar, it’s nice and tarty.
Besides coffee, I only drink energy drinks sparingly. My favourite brand is Celsius, actually. If I didn’t have a whole case in my house right now, today’s offering would have been a lot more tempting.
I drink all sorts of caffeine sources, including energy drinks (Monster, Bang, Rockstar, pretty much any), I just make sure to stay within safe parameters for daily intake, and I avoid sugar in all drinks.
Coffee, tea, energy drinks, and other caffeine sources are typically safe in moderation and not automatically “bad for you” - yes, they do differ in ingredients- most of which are safe for most people. Yes, if you have conditions that make you sensitive to caffeine, it is up to you to be vigilant about what you are putting in your body at any given time. For instance, I have to avoid anything energy/pre-workout related that contains the ingredient Yohimbine, however this ingredient is relatively rare in standard energy drinks.
Yes, high amounts of sugar are unhealthy, going over reasonable amounts of caffeine is unhealthy, and so forth, but I don’t understand the generalized stigma energy drinks have for being dangerous when there really isn’t evidence in that regard- the majority of stories of problems with these drinks always comes down to customers that abuse or misuse them - most often leading to overdoses or interactions with medical conditions. Stay safe, but enjoy yourself
Bang. Since it’s sugar free, good for people, like me, who for medical reasons have to limit our sugar intake.
4C Energy Rush. Those who can’t or don’t do sucralose should avoid it. For the rest of us, it’s one of the cheapest ways to get a little caffeine outside of a cup of tea.
@werehatrack The free coffee** at work is the cheapest.
**And it is actually good coffee.
Occasionally while driving on a long trip, Red Bull.
I don’t process B6 well so I avoid most standard energy drinks. I do drink double caffeine coffee in the morning.
no aspartame, but just as bad or worse sucralose