"EnergyDrinks" news and stories

Jolt Cola -- the evening study fuel of many a cramming student and the precursor to caffeine-packed energy drinks like Red Bull -- may soon be no more.

Jolt Co. Inc. filed for bankruptcy last year after racking up more than $5 million in debt to a Chicago can manufacturer. The company was optimistic about restructuring, but plans fell apart this week, putting the future of the double-caffeinated cola into jeopardy, a Jolt attorney told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.

"The name will show up someplace else, but just that," William I. Kohn of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff told the paper. "I don't see anybody buying the entire package."

Jolt founder Carl J. Rapp, who started the company in 1985, fought the restructuring of the company and blamed its current situation on an investment group that owns a large stake in the company, the paper reports.

Will you miss Jolt Cola? Spill it in the comments.

[Via Rochester Democrat & Chronicle]

I've gathered over time that France is extremely wary of letting in big name, globally available products. Apparently they don't like Coca Cola, and now the Ministry of Health is giving Red Bull a hard time.

It's only been recently that Red Bull was allowed to be sold in France at all. The energy drink maker had to remove taurine, because the health ministry claims that long term effects of the chemical are unknown. So now Red Bull is allowed in France, but it's still on pretty shaky ground. This article in Flexnews makes it pretty clear that French health officials are looking for any excuse to ban sales of Red Bull.

Apparently taurine, in and of itself isn't really a problem. However, there's a lot of questions that come up when it's combined with caffeine and/or alcohol. Are French officials right to try and get rid of the energy drink? That's a tough question. What's your take on this?

By now, you all know I have an odd fascination with energy drinks. Part of the reason is that my over-stressed, overworked and underslept body body need them -- I think I've had so much coffee in my life already that I've developed a tolerance to the effects of the caffeine in it. Part of the reason is that...nothing. I don't know why else I would want to drink a beverage that almost always tastes like over-sweetened Capri Sun with the bitter chemical aftertaste of say, nail polish remover.

Okay, so that's a little harsh.

It doesn't really taste like Capri Sun.

Now there is a new class of drinks that takes energy to the next level. These drinks claim not to be zero calories, but negative calories, because the chemical formulation actually causes you to, well, burn calories. Granted, energy drinks do the same, since technically, with all that increased "energy," you will run around like a chicken with her head cut off. If you recall, we posted about Enviga last year, which has the same marketing spiel - drink a can of Enviga, you potato del couch, and you will lose weight just sitting there eating Flamin' Hot Cheetos dipped in Blue Cheese Dressing! (I did not try this, but don't think I wouldn't). I tried Enviga. I didn't lose weight.

Celsius is a new energy drink in this category. I tried it. It was...interesting.

Bolivian coca growers are urging the Coca-Cola Co. to eliminate the word "Coca" from the name of its popular soft drink because of the leaf's importance in that Andean nation's culture.

A commission representing the coca industry passed a resolution earlier this week urging the Atlanta-based soft-drink giant to strike "coca" from its name and asking the U.N. to decriminalize coca leaf. The resolution demands "international companies that include in their commercial name the name of coca (example: Coca Cola) refrain from using the name of the sacred leaf in their products." Bolivia's coca farmers have yet to weigh in on the controversial energy drink Cocaine.

For its part, Coca-Cola said that its trademark is protected by Bolivian law. The company also repeated past denials that the soda has ever used cocaine as an ingredient.

Source

After an insane multi-week phase last month when I could not force myself to sleep for more than three hours a night, I am trying my hardest to rely on natural sources of energy. I have turned away as much as I can from things like energy drinks in favor of plain old water, pure personal adrenaline, and natural sugar energy from fruit. (I haven't given up coffee. What am I? Crazy?)

A new beverage from Steaz just might make me break because though it is marketed as an "energy drink," all of the energy sources are natural -- green tea, yerba mate, acai, and guarana. I realize that many of the ingredients in products like Red Bull and Monster could also be counted as "natural," but have you seen a glass of red bull in a darkened room? There is nothing natural about the fact that it literally glows.

Steaz Energy comes from the makers of Guayaki and Sambazon, so not only does their drink provides energy, but the natural and organic ingredients are sourced from sustainable, local producers. The Ceylon tea ingredient is Fair Trade Certified. An energy drink with a conscience!