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Energy Drinks (Red Bull, Etc.): ULs & Folklore

_Lizard23_ said:
I didn't find any particular ill-effects from drinking Chang, SangSom or any of the miriad Red Bull-alikes in Thailand. Nor from eating fried bugs, if it comes to that.
I actually quite liked Chang beer, much nicer than the lagers in India.

The 'Bangkok-tail' we invented (one part vodka, one part 'Brown Mixture' - main ingredient 'opium tincture' - three parts some evil looking Red Bull type product), however, always led to me waking up at strange hours of the night with a thirst unlike any I have ever known.

A friend and I invented a similar cocktail in Taiwan. We called it the 'Bangkok Catheter'. It could be turned into a 'Phlegmball' with the addition of a peeled lychee. I beleive the evil red bull component over there was called Wisbe, or something similar; a frighteningly syrupy concoction sold in 75cl bottles for less than a quid with a list of 'health giving' ingredients as long as your arm and coveted by betel nut chewing labourers. The opium tincture was bought in a pharmacy.

I think the whole changover thing is still rife among 'travellers'. If you ask me, it's more to do with having the opportunity to drink more than you've ever done in your life than sinister additives.
 
Has anyone tried the Red Bull Cola - all the fun of normal Red Bull with added sugar. I'm ok with normal Red Bull but that suff gave me palpitations :shock:
 
I recently had contact with a large soft-drinks manufacturer who sell a myriad of energy drinks all over the world. Asia is a huge market for this stuff but the US and the UK is slowing down. People are getting sick of them.

There is however a lesser known energy drink called Cocaine which has 3.5x as much caffeine as Red Bull and is seriously bad stuff. Here's what Wiki has to say
 
hmmm the energy drinks here in the Phillipines are pretty crappy, most do not have the fizzle and are syruppy... I used to drink some stuff called Red Rain back home in Canada that was pretty decent like desiel fuel
 
This Snopes article examines claims that Red Bull is dangerous and can cause medical problems including brain tumors.

Red Bull Is Dangerous?
Does Red Bull contain a dangerous stimulant linked to the formation of brain tumors?

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bull-marketed/
 
In 2014 Snopes debunked a rumor that Red Bull had lost a lawsuit and had to pay millions of dollars to plaintiffs who'd drunk their product but failed to grow wings.
Red Bull Does (Not) Give You Wings

Did consumers win a $13 million lawsuit against Red Bull because they didn't grow wings?

FALSE

Did someone sue Red Bull and win, receiving $13M because he did not grow wings?

Origins: In August 2014, Red Bull agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a false advertising lawsuit. While the lawsuit made reference to the company’s slogan, “Red Bull Gives You Wings,” plaintiff Benjamin Careathers did not sue Red Bull because he remained wingless after consuming the energy drink. Rather, Careathers sued the company for false advertising, claiming they made false promises about Red Bull’s ability to boost energy. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/red-bulls-wings/
 
In 2019 Snopes largely debunked a Facebook rumor that energy drinks trigger false positives for a variety of illegal drugs.
Do Energy Drinks Show Up as Various Illicit Substances in Drug Tests?
A viral Facebook post proved misleading and confusing rather than informative.

Claim
Red Bull and Bang energy drinks test positive for various illicit or prescription drugs in substance or urine tests

Rating
Mostly False

What's True

The meme may have alluded (knowingly or unknowingly) to the theoretical possibility that the energy drinks in question could, like other innocuous substances, produce false positives for the drugs listed in the meme.

What's False
We found no evidence of a pattern of Red Bull, Bang, or other energy drinks producing false positives for methamphetamine, ecstasy, or the other drugs listed in the meme. The photograph included in the meme did not constitute evidence that supported its claims, which were expressed in misleading and confusing terms. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/red-bull-bang-drug-tests-meth/
 
Drinking a rare can of Red Bull is one of my infinitesimally-small number of minor vices.

It can only be the small 250mm size, it must not be the sugar-free variety, and it must be very close to freezing. I normally detest sweet things, but there is something about the bitter-sweet flavour of Red Bull that is outwith that yuk-threshold. To me, it's an infinitely more-refined drink than Irn Bru, which for reasons of racial stereotype I only drink at New Year as a sobriety-pacer alongside my usual whisky&water (nb alongside NOT mixed with).

The main reason why I like it (I think?...and I mean Red Bull) is that it somehow does a weird nasopharyngeal flavour:scent thing that mainlines my memory back to a 1970s era of joss-sticks, Cresta and Creamola Foam. I'm not substance-dependant (never have been, never will be) but I might be inescapably & unsurprisingly keyed-up a gear by caffine. Most of us have been, for almost as long as we got up onto two legs (I do mean both as a species and as individuals).

Also, as confessed here previously (ISTR?) I am worryingly-keen on Pepsi-Max Ginger, a beverage variety that I can only presume is being deliberately-withheld from sale to the public due to it being far too nice. I cannot find it ANYWHERE, which is probably for the best.
 
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Whilst I thank you for your considerate suggestions (I do concede that for reasons I'm not sure of, I'd never thought of trying to buy Pepsi Max Ginger online) my responses are as follows:

  • Ocado does not appear to deliver to the northernmost / vastly-better / not-England part of the island of Great Britain. I'm only peripherally-aware of their existence by virtue of hearing them being mentioned on the news (apparently they're unique, in that they offer online groceries for sale....? no, I couldn't understand that non-USP, either).

  • Amazon: now, here you DO have me at a disadvantage. I'm still a bit early-21st-century, when it comes to Amazon, in that, firstly, although I'd always be happy to buy books from where I'd buy my bacon, I'd never dream of trying to buy my bacon from where I'd buy my books (I am referencing the far-off pre-fictional olden days we all used to live in, not just before "The Bigger C", but back when Amazon online sold only books/magazines/periodicals and large stationery). I know that nowadays I could get a hooker, a hit-man, a baby or a Lear Jet, delivered via Amazon & a dodgy guy in a white van that'll stop two doors away from our house, but I never thought of them as a source of sugar-free ginger-enhanced fizz. So I MAY now try this, thanks, and hopefully they'll be able to feed my urge.

  • Co-op: in the words of my stand-up comedy coach, you cannot be serious. Yes, enter the words into their artificial website 'Pepsi Max Ginger', select a local store, press SEARCH and it CLAIMS it's in-stock. But it isn't. Ever. Because I have tried....and they only deliver on alternate weekdays if Derek's back from Tenerife.

For the record, neither Tesco nor Asda even pretend to stock it, online or in real life. Neither does Morrisons. Which considerably supports my affected paranoid ravings that if you do seek an international beverage conspiracy of breathtaking magistery and cynical cruelty, look no further than the curious case of Pepsi Max Ginger.
 
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...a beverage variety that I can only presume is being deliberately-withheld from sale to the public due to it being far too nice. I cannot find it ANYWHERE, which is probably for the best.
I am utterly convinced that shenanigans such as this are happening.
The powerful elites have huge cellars stuffed to the gunnels with all the good stuff they seek to deny the rest of us.
 
Drinking a rare can of Red Bull is one of my infinitesimally-small number of minor vices.

It can only be the small 250mm size, it must not be the sugar-free variety, and it must be very close to freezing. I normally detest sweet things, but there is something about the bitter-sweet flavour of Red Bull that is outwith that yuk-threshold. To me, it's an infinitely more-refined drink than Irn Bru, which for reasons of racial stereotype I only drink at New Year as a sobriety-pacer alongside my usual whisky&water (nb alongside NOT mixed with).

The main reason why I like it (I think?...and I mean Red Bull) is that it somehow does a weird nasopharyngeal flavour:scent thing that mainlines my memory back to a 1970s era of joss-sticks, Cresta and Creamola Foam. I'm not substance-dependant (never have been, never will be) but I might be inescapably & unsurprisingly keyed-up a gear by caffine. Most of us have been, for almost as long as we got up onto two legs (I do mean both as a species and as individuals).

Also, as confessed here previously (ISTR?) I am worryingly-keen on Pepsi-Max Ginger, a beverage variety that I can only presume is being deliberately-withheld from sale to the public due to it being far too nice. I cannot find it ANYWHERE, which is probably for the best.
Oh no. Pepsi ginger sounded interesting so I looked it up and 1. it was only sold in the UK and 2, Yes it was discontinued a while ago It's going on ebay for ridiculous prices if you're desperate,
 
Oh, you mean it's flavoured with ginger, @Ermintruder ?
Verily. It was so good. I cannot believe it's been discontinued!!! Next month we must storm the reichstag in protest, I am driven to it, due to deprivation.

I thought you were using the Scottish word for fizzy drinks!
That would be 'juice', for all fizzy drinks, pronounced as jooce.

In the west, people used to refer to skoosh (although I believe that was, strictly-speaking, clear lemonade or cream soda).

If you ask a Scot if they'd 'like some pop', they'll think you may be propositioning them (yes, that English/Canadian word for fizzy drinks does not work, north of Hadrian's Wall)
 
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That would be 'juice', for all fizzy drinks, pronounced as jooce.

In the west, people used to refer to skoosh (although I believe that was, strictly-speaking, clear lemonade or cream soda).

If you ask a Scot if they'd 'like some pop', they'll think you may be propositioning them (yes, that English/Canadian word for fizzy drinks does not work, north of Hadrian's Wall)

l’m going with brother @GNC here, Ermy: As a fan of Still Game - set in a fictional part of Glasgow - Jack, Victor & pals often refer to soft drinks generically as “gingies” (pron. “jinjeez”).

maximus otter
 
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