"EnergyDrink" news and stories

It isn't really fair to call this review a "taste test," because I have basically resigned to the fact that any energy drink, no matter who makes it, tastes horrible. Even Diet Coke, which could be considered an energy drink if you take into account the caffeine, is an energy drink, and the taste is starting to wear on me. A lot. That's what two to three cans of soda a day will do to you. It wears you down.

G Pure Energy comes from Norwegian Ole Sandberg, the maker of high end water, Voss. If you didnt' know that intellectually, you'd certainly be able to sense it from the bottle's design. The bottle, like Voss' bottle, is made of glass, and is topped with the signature large silver screw-on top. This bottle, however, has a curve, which could be interepreted and sexy and gorgeous, or maybe a little scary -- you know, like someone drank a little too much G Pure Energy and gripped the bottle too hard. (And that with the bottle's even being glass!)

Over the past few years, "Superfoods" such as select berries and other fruits, have been making headlines due to the high level of nutrients, antioxidants, and assorted other health benefits they reportedly deliver. Though it was difficult to source them from anywhere but health food stores or possibly your local smoothie / juice bar, they are readily becoming more available in mainstream North American products.

Anheuser-Busch has just added Goji, a small, red berry found in a remote area of Tibet, to their existing '180 Energy Drink' line. The berry is believed to increase energy and stimulate rejuvenation, and apparently contains one of the highest antioxidant levels of any fruit recorded. According to AB, "180 Red with Goji" contains carbonated water; sucrose; Goji berry juice; acerola juice; guarana for natural caffeine; vitamins B-6, B-12 and C; and lychee natural flavor.

Late last year, the company also released "180 Blue" which is made from the super-berry Açai, found in the Amazonian jungles of Brazil.

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A new energy drink called Liquid Experience, inspired by Jimi Hendrix, is being released this spring by Beverage Concepts. The drink, which is named after Hendrix's breakthrough album, "Are You Experienced?" is nonalcoholic and uses the guitarist's image as part of its promotional materials. While the Jimi Hendrix vodka didn't seem to excite much controversy, the energy drink is not going over too well with fans, who feel that "his image and the beautiful feelings it has created during my lifetime cheapened by base advertising." Hopefully, those somewhat disgruntled fans can take comfort in the fact that Beverage Concepts Chief Executive Josh Glass has promised to donated a portion of the royalties from the sale of the drink will go to educational causes, as many other products that have use Hendrix's image in the past have done. According to Glass, the company will probably choose a music education foundation.

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When reading about New Seasons Market in the New York Times, I came across a reference to Rockstar energy drinks and their highly conservative provenance. According to the Times, "Rockstar's chief executive is Russell Goldencloud Weiner, who developed the company with the help of his mother and his father, Michael Savage, the far-right talk radio host." Because of this, New Seasons won't sell the beverage.

I don't drink it because of the high fructose corn syrup, but now I'm considering changing my view to not drinking because of the politics. I did a little surfing and found several references to the "anti-immigrant, gaybashing, intolerant, hate-filled" rhetoric of Savage ("Facism Cola") and the connection between New Season's decision and that of my neighborhood co-op, People's, to stop carrying Oregon Rain water because Lars Larson was their pitchman ("Radio-Active Fallout").