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.
You get can get crunked in the club, or so I've heard the tune goes. Am I dating myself by calling that hiphop jam a tune? Never mind the term du jour, in my jour it might've been quaaaysted.
These days you can get Crunky at a Japanese candy store or vending machine. I snagged one at a Japanese grocery in my native stamping grounds of Queens. My homegirl Sarah tells me that the oddly named snack is also available in Cali.
In addition to its namesake "Crunky" and several lines of Japanese the package bore the words "Walking Bar." This legend soon planted me in a sugary quandary. Had I copped a Red Bull in bar form, Japan's answer to the granola bar, or worse yet a PowerBar?
Much to my relief Crunky was neither a gummy protein-rich slab nor a caffeine-spiked snack. I tore open the wrapper and took a bite into a milk chocolate bar laden with crunchy bits of rice. Japanese confectioner Lotte has created a steroidal Nestle Crunch bar.
Despite the typo on the Nutrition Facts label I wasn't cranky at all after consuming the serving size. Truth be told, I wasn't crunky either.
I was just reading some beverage trade magazines and was amazed at the numbers in the energy drinks category. I hadn't realized they were that big, and so many people were chugging them down in the morning to wake up, in the afternoon to keep focused, and at night to stay awake or mixed with spirits for a buzz bomb. I started asking friends if they used them and several said yes, and in a big way. A few said they drink 2, 3, 4, or even more in one day. I was flabbergasted, I guess because I am so sensitive to caffeine that even the lower levels of the very tasty Inkos White Tea Energy made my hair stand straight up and I ran around in circles for hours.
The energy drink figures looked at the calender year from Oct 2005 to Oct 2006 (excluding Wal-Mart Sales) and of course the top seller is Red Bull with around $262 million, out of about $600 million in sales for the top ten. Red Bull is so far ahead of the rest in sales that the next seven combined barely add up to the same amount. The rest of the list in order by approximate dollar amount of sales are: Monster $81 million, Rockstar $67 Million, Full Throttle $40 million, Sobe No Fear $32 million, Amp $23 million, Sobe Adrenaline Rush $19 million, Tab Energy $11 million, Monster XXL $5 million, and private labels at $5 million.
For his science experiment this year, a middle school student from Boca Raton, Florida decided that he would test the effects of energy drinks on blood sugar. He came up with the idea because the drinks are hugely popular with his friends who feel that the drinks give them a "boost" and was already familiar with blood sugar and testing it because his cousin is a diabetic. Lucas Peel's hypothesis was that the drinks with the greatest amount of sugar and caffeine would produce the greatest increase in blood sugar, giving the drinker a burst of energy.
Over the course of about a week, Lucas drank Red Bull, Rock Star, Amp and water, testing his blood sugar levels twice after each of the three times he tried each drink. He found that, contrary to his original theory, it was "the energy drinks with the least sugar [that] increased blood sugar level." Red Bull boosted blood sugar more than any of the other drinks.
Lucas says that he avoids energy drinks and hopes that his project will help some of his fellow students to realize that they are not a good replacement for a real breakfast.
This isn't the first time that a middle-school student has conducted a science project that attracts a far-ranging interest. Earlier this year, for example, a student in Tampa, FL tested samples of water from the toilets at fast food restaurants and compared it to the ice from the soda machines, only to discover that there were more bacteria in the soda machine than the toilet.
Man, I can't believe I let a whole decade of ambivalence separate me from what is now proving to be both my savior and my downfall, the nitrous fuel for the racecar that is myself... red bull. They're small, they're expensive, but if I drink more than two of them in the same afternoon, I'll be up for the next 24 hours.
A careful examination of the labels will show you that Red Bull and most of its contemporaries, such as Monster and Rock Star, operate on the same ingredients: Taurine, b complex vitamins, caffeine. But unlike, say, Rock Star, Red Bull packs a little miracle worker called Glucuronolactone, this is the stuff that should be in the tap water instead of flouride, if ya ask me. It's supposed to give you a feeling of well-being. Brother, you had me at hello.
Pounding that six-pack of Diet Coke do nothing but bloat you? Does it feel like someone replaced your usual brew with decaf? You could try any number of energy drinks out there, but those don't seem to do much except make your stomach turn over. You need more! More caffeine! More energy! More attitude!
More of a drug-like effect?
Apparently, the latest energy drink to hit the fast and furious market already filled with the likes of Monster, Red Bull, and Rockstar boasts the ultimate high -- one that feels like a cocaine high. Cocaine Energy Drink doesn't contain any cocaine, but with 280 mg of caffeine, it promises the "highest energy content of ANY energy drink on the market today! 350 percent greater than The Bull!"
As you would expect, drug experts, nutritionists, and parents are alarmed. However, James Kirby, the inventor of the drink, says that it does not glamorize nor promote drugs. He said, "Maybe this can help by making parents and kids not afraid to talk about drugs."
Uh, excuse me, Mr. Kirby? He must have been on something when he said something as stupid as that.
At first, it used to be easy to pick an energy drink alternative because there was only one: Red Bull. But in the last few years, the market has exploded, and befittingly so, since people of all ages are gulping them down in shots to stay energized. It's hard to keep those predominantly tall, narrow cans plastered with exclamation points straight, so Maxine Kaplan, a college student with a caffeine addiction, taste tests five popular drinks on the market now: Arizona Green Tea Energy,Monster,Red Bull,Rock Star, and Tab Energy. She judged how they tasted, and let others test the energy. Tab seems to have come out the overall winner.
Naturally, water gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to hydration (unless you're spending a lot of bucks on fancy bottled waters), but what about the rest of the beverages out there?
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has just published Healthy Beverage Guidelines, and while they urge 20 to 50 ounces of water per day, the rest of the guidelines are limitations, so that we're not drinking too much. Tea and coffee? Not more than 40 oz of tea and 32 oz coffee because the caffeine dehydrates you. Lowfat and soy milks are good for hydration, but make sure that you're not relying solely on them for calcium. The guidelines say that up to 32 oz of sugar-free drinks are acceptable, and that juice and sports drinks are next, limited to 8 oz a day. Last on the list? Starbucks Frappuccino and Red Bull. Really now, no one should be depending on those for hydration.
I mentioned Zygo Energy Vodka a few weeks ago, when it first came to my attention. Recently, I had a chance to taste it and experiment with a few drinks. The vodka has all the appealing energy-boosters that are in drinks like Red Bull, such as guarana, taurine and yerba matte in the form of a 70-proof spirit, which sounds like the perfect drink for party-goers.
Zygo isn't quite as smooth as 44°North was, but it is very, very close and certainly more so than many vodkas. It smells and tastes like peaches, and underneath the peach, there is a hint of vanilla and orange that really rounds the flavor. It tastes great on its own. Really great. In fact, I think that Zygo is an excellent choice just to sip chilled or over ice. I can't say that I felt a big rush of energy from the drink, and I'm fairly certain that what I did feel was from the alcohol, but I won't deny that the feeling was a good one, wherever it came from.
With peach, orange and vanilla, there are a plethora of mixers that would do well with Zygo if you're not inclined to sip it straight, so if and when you have a chance to pick up a bottle, don't hesitate to experiment. I decided to use the peach flavor to its full advantage by keeping the other ingredients to a minimum.
Peachy Sunrise 5oz orange juice 2 oz Zygo splash grenadine
Combine all orange juice and Zygo in a tall glass over ice. Stir together, then top with a splash of grenadine.
Teen consumption of energy drinks is way up and the reason for their popularity is primarily their caffeine content. A Red Bull has 9.64mg of caffeine per ounce, while a Coke only has 2.83 mg per ounce (Pepsi has 3.17mg). The extra caffeine can help to keep the chronically sleep-deprived awake, but more interesting to the students this time of year is the fact that caffeine can potentially help them concentrate slightly better in class or on exams by making them more alert. Columnists at the Mercury News - judged to be amateur, moderate or pro caffeine consumers - tested three popular drinks: Red Bull, Rockstar (9.38mg/oz.) and Monster (8.75mg/oz.). They rated them on taste and how long it took the boost to kick in. Not completely scientific, perhaps, but an interesting look at the drinks and certainly a good start for anyone looking to get through finals.
After lamenting the sweetness of the energy drink + vodka combination over drinks at a Los Angeles bar in 2004, David Mandell wondered whether he could caffeinate vodka itself. It turns out that you can caffeinate it, as Mandell has just introduced p.i.n.k., a plain vodka infused with caffeine and guarana. The trick in developing it was not just to mask the flavor of the guarana and eliminate its color, but to remove all flavor from the vodka. The end product is intended to produce the same energizing affect as a drink like Vodka Red Bull without any of the extra sugars. One drink of p.i.n.k. contains the same amount of caffeine as a 3/4 full cup of coffee, or about 80 mg. By way of comparison, one can of Red Bull contains that much caffeine as well, so it is easy to see how much more concentrated p.i.n.k. is.
The vodka, which sells at a $40 per bottle price that puts it in the same range as ultra-premium vodkas like Grey Goose, has been available in New York State for several months, but Mandell is hoping to a national release soon.
In an ideal world my children would drink just water instead of reaching for a Red Bull, a Coke or a Gatorade. I am not too militant about what my children drink but I do encourage them to drink water, and for the most part they comply. Recently I saw a product called The Switch. Unlike many popular drinks on the market, this one is 100% fruit juice with a splash of carbonation added, not the other way around. The company focuses on creating a wide variety of flavors that are healthy and fun to drink. Switch drinks contain no added sugar, that means absolutely no high fructose corn syrup, there are no preservatives added, and no artificial colors. Fruit juice does contain sugar but when consumed in moderation this is not necessarily a bad thing.
I have not yet seen this product on the grocery shelves, but when I do I think I'll give it a try.
Last week we heard about a man who stole 27,000 pounds of steak. But after
uncovering some more food thievery, it seems that some people will steal just about anything that isn't nailed down.
And that means that even roots aren't secure enough:
Thieves stole 150 plum trees from an orchard in
Hungary. They were uprooted and removed from the site during the off-season. The trees were valued at approximately
$9,500.
In Tennessee, a 53-foot trailer containing 2,880 cases of Red Bull was stolen by thieves
who really must have taken to hear the message that "red bull gives you wings."
In a possibly related theft, a trailer containing $100,000 of Kraft sauces was stolen in the same city in
Tennessee. The trailer was later recovered, but the sauce was gone. We'll have to wait and see whether anyone reports a
truck of stolen chicken wings, which might explain the disappearance of the sauce.
A new study from researchers at the University of
Iowa School of Dentistry found that Gatorade eroded tooth enamel faster than Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Red Bull or apple
juice. Researchers took extracted teeth and coated all but a few spots of each with nail polish. The teeth were then
soaked in the sugary drinks for 25 hours, with the liquid being changed every five hours. In the end, Gatorade was the
most corrosive on the spots without nail polish. A dental expert cited in a recent WebMD article says that so far, no data
shows that sports drinks are actually any worse than sodas on teeth. He added that sipping sodas or other sugary drinks
all day is far worse than having one with a meal, as the other foods in the mouth buffer the effects of the drinks.
Another expert, quoted in a Forbes article, says that
the acidity of these beverages is also to blame. Others critiqued the study, saying that a 25-hour period of exposure
to sugary drinks had little to do with real-world situations.
You get can get 
I was just reading some beverage trade magazines and was amazed at the numbers in the energy drinks category. I hadn't realized they were that big, and so many people were chugging them down in the morning to wake up, in the afternoon to keep focused, and at night to stay awake or mixed with spirits for a buzz bomb. I started asking friends if they used them and several said yes, and in a big way. A few said they drink 2, 3, 4, or even more in one day. I was flabbergasted, I guess because I am so sensitive to caffeine that even the lower levels of the very tasty 
For his science experiment this year, a middle school student from Boca Raton, Florida decided that he would test 
Man, I can't believe I let a whole decade of ambivalence separate me from what is now proving to be both my savior and my downfall, the nitrous fuel for the racecar that is myself... red bull. They're small, they're expensive, but if I drink more than two of them in the same afternoon, I'll be up for the next 24 hours.
Pounding that six-pack of Diet Coke do nothing but bloat you? Does it feel like someone replaced your usual brew with decaf? You could 
At first, it used to be easy to pick an energy drink alternative because there was only one: 
Naturally, water gives you the most bang for your buck when it comes to hydration (unless you're spending a lot of bucks on fancy bottled waters), but 
I mentioned 
Teen consumption of energy drinks is way up and the reason for their popularity is primarily their caffeine content. A Red Bull has 9.64mg of caffeine per ounce, while a Coke only has 2.83 mg per ounce (Pepsi has 3.17mg). The extra caffeine can help to keep the chronically sleep-deprived awake, but more interesting to the students this time of year is the fact that caffeine can potentially help them concentrate slightly better in class or on exams by making them more alert. Columnists at 
In an ideal world my children would drink just water instead of reaching for a Red Bull, a Coke or a Gatorade. I am not too militant about what my children drink but I do encourage them to drink water, and for the most part they comply. Recently I saw a product called 
Last week we heard about a man who stole 
A new study from researchers at the University of
Iowa School of Dentistry found that Gatorade eroded tooth enamel faster than Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Red Bull or apple
juice. Researchers took extracted teeth and coated all but a few spots of each with nail polish. The teeth were then
soaked in the sugary drinks for 25 hours, with the liquid being changed every five hours. In the end, Gatorade was the
most corrosive on the spots without nail polish. A dental expert cited in a recent 
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