Four Loko hysteria

[OscarV]

On Wednesday Nov 3 Chuck Cowdery posted in his blog about the recent Four Loko hysteria, link is below.

http://chuckcowdery.blogspot.com/201...ter.html#links

Now Michigan has banned Four Loko and similar beverages, link to story is below.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot...-ban-four-loko

Monday we started selling a Four Loko knock-off to compete, it is an extension of A-B's Tilt brand. They are so nasty that they didn't even give names by flavors, they are named for the color of the cans, Red, Blue, Green and Purple.
They also come in 24oz cans.
We have 30 days to get rid of them.

[Josh]

We have 30 days to get rid of them.

Party at Oscar's!

[cowdery]

It's very hard to say that any given action of government is the height of stupidity since governments do so many stupid things, but this is right up there. By banning this product they are fostering the myth that some alcoholic beverages are inherently more dangerous than others, thereby making those 'more dangerous' products significantly more desirable to a certain segment of the market, thus encouraging the exact behavior they are trying to prevent.

It's what always happens when you try to help people by lying to them.

[MissinER101]

The law of Unintended Consequences, now there will lucrative out of state runs made by college students bringing the stuff back in to an even bigger demand. Stores on the border will triple their inventory to accommodate the runs and add a few cents to the price.

Just like my home state of Indiana. Before we had a lottery a guy at the coffee shop made weekly runs to Illinois to buy tickets, I think it was $5 per head unlimited tickets. He made a nice little profit per run.

[ODaniel]

Yea it's here too. So many people are obsessed with these stupid drinks. The liquor store has carried Joose which is basically the same thing, but everyone wants Loko for the name and refuses to get Joose when I hesitatingly tell them. Luckily we have Loko now... Another stupid fad and stupid people drinking them. "This drink is dangerous!" Well so is whiskey if you drink enough. Stupid kids don't understand moderation, no matter what it is. I can't wait until this drink dies out. I'll stick to good beer and good whiskey, thanks. Keep your Loko crap.

[ErichPryde]

To a point, I can understand the concern. If this was simply another high gravity type beer with a high alcohol content, it would be one thing. However, four loko contains caffeine and taurine. It's an energy drink with a high alcohol content. One can of four loko is like 5 or 6 oz of bourbon combined with 2 or 3 red bulls. When you put it that way, it's a wonder anyone can drink more than one of the things.

[ODaniel]

Yea I understand that alcohol and stimulants are not a good mix, however, it's going to happen anyway (Jager bombs anyone?!). At the same time, I do hope they get rid of these. I drink multiple 12% abv beers some nights no problem. One thing I don't do is chug an energy drink with it.

[pepcycle]

In the interest of science, I once again sacrificed my own liver and brain cells to conduct and experiment, uncontrolled and unreliable as most of my experiments.

A group of adults, all over 30, experienced drinkers were asked to consume Joose, one of the alleged dangerous energy, alcohol combos in 24oz cans.

All easily consumed one full can in about 15 minutes and commented on the super sweet taste and lack of sensation of alcohol presence.

All decided to attempt a second and one made it to a third.

Two puked, all admittedly were intoxicated and by there own admission would not drive afterwards and turned over the keys.

The guy who drank three seemed fine and is routinely the hardest partier.

All were over 200 lbs.

A brief attempt at field sobriety tests almost resulted in a fight. (abusive language, egos busting and some strutting upon semi-completion)

My overall impression was that one will not satisfy and two is way too many.

(BTW: What size did Boone's Farm come in? And why is this any different?)

I think a packaging rethink might be in order.

[Special Reserve]

In the interest of science, I once again sacrificed my own liver and brain cells to conduct and experiment, uncontrolled and unreliable as most of my experiments.

A group of adults, all over 30, experienced drinkers were asked to consume Joose, one of the alleged dangerous energy, alcohol combos in 24oz cans.

All easily consumed one full can in about 15 minutes and commented on the super sweet taste and lack of sensation of alcohol presence.

All decided to attempt a second and one made it to a third.

Two puked, all admittedly were intoxicated and by there own admission would not drive afterwards and turned over the keys.

The guy who drank three seemed fine and is routinely the hardest partier.

All were over 200 lbs.

A brief attempt at field sobriety tests almost resulted in a fight. (abusive language, egos busting and some strutting upon semi-completion)

My overall impression was that one will not satisfy and two is way too many.

(BTW: What size did Boone's Farm come in? And why is this any different?)

I think a packaging rethink might be in order.

Interesting report. I'm glad I wasn't a participant.

If I recall correctly, now more than 40 years ago, Boone's Farm was in the standard 4/5 quart wine bottle size available for about one dollar sometimes a little less. No way was is prudent to drink a whole bottle by yourself at one sitting.

[MarkEdwards]

If I recall correctly, now more than 40 years ago, Boone's Farm was in the standard 4/5 quart wine bottle size available for about one dollar sometimes a little less. No way was is prudent to drink a whole bottle by yourself at one sitting.

Yep. That, and Annie Green Springs (AGS) were available for about 69 cents, but we're talking the mid 70's when a oaf of bread was about a quarter.

I had bought three bottles of AGS and put them on ice in a triple-paper-bag. My girlfriend at the time (eventually my first wife) and her niece and I each had some, but the niece got completely messed up by drinking over two bottles by herself. We won't talk about legal drinking ages...

Long story short, the niece threw up on my 67 Ford Galaxy. The paint job was already of indeterminate color, so it didn't much matter. I wasn't much of a drinker even then, but it seems like it was a cheap drunk.