What planet do we live on?

[Martian]

Tonight I tuned in to the hip sports talk radio station in Dallas. The question of the evening was what is the number one drink in sports bars right now? The answer was............................................... ....................
Red Bull and vodka. I almost fell out of my chair. What has happened to the martini, Bloody Mary, margarita, bourbon and 7, bourbon neat, scotch on the rocks, Manhattan? Are we getting old? What planet do we live on? It's no wonder the New World Order is in total control of this country.

[Gillman]

Kind of sad. Even had they concluded Budweiser, I'd have felt there was hope for the future (Bud's formulation has been tweaked recently to bring it closer to what it was 30 years ago - I had one at Spirit Garden and it was darn good).

Can someone tell me, please, what exactly is Red Bull? When did it first appear? What was the idea behind it? What were its progenitors, if any?

Gary

[ILLfarmboy]

What planet do we live on?

Apparently one where bad taste is the norm.

What is Red Bull?

The short answer would be: Sugar and caffeine, lots of caffeine.

Red bull is what is called an 'energy drink' hence the sugar and caffeine. It also contains added nutrients. From the lable: carbonated water, sucrose, glucose, sodium citrate, taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, inositol, niacinamide, calcium-pantothenate, pyridoxine HCI, vitamin B12, natural and artificial flavors, colors.

How do I know this? My wife uses it in some fruity concoction with gin, cheri-beri Pucker and God knows what else.

I've never tasted red bull but I imagine it tastes like cherry soda pop.

[mozilla]

I think it is important to note that Dallas is one of the most superficial places on the planet. Also, I have listened to some of the sports talk on 103.3....and it is not quite up to standards, especialy the morning show. As far as poor choices in liquor....kids make the worst ones, can you say Jaegermeister.

[ILLfarmboy]

....kids make the worst ones, can you say Jaegermeister.

My wife's nephew brought a bottle of that to the house once. I said: "Good lord are you down to drinking cough syrup? You know you are welcome to something from my stash!".

[cowdery]

One of my law school friends, who is pushing forty, drinks Jager bombs, which is a shot of Jager dropped into a glass of Red Bull. I tried to tell him he's too old for that sort of thing, but he had already passed out.

[robbyvirus]

I've never tasted red bull but I imagine it tastes like cherry soda pop.

No, not even close. It has a weird metallic taste, that I find singularly unpleasant. I remember tasting this cough medicine as a kid called Dimetane. It tastes like that. Weird and horrible, and I can only imagine that vodka addition does not help.

And as for Jaegermester, it's a traditional German digestif...meant to be sipped in small amounts after a meal to aid in digestion. Germans would be horrified to know how American college students drink it.

[Whiskey Willie]

Wow, a sign of the times I guess...Middle-age guys like me who drink beer and whiskey do not hang out at sports bars anymore. The young bucks are not "shot and beer" guys. They drink, well . . .

[Gillman]

Interesting, thanks. But usually something similar comes before. I think the Mike's hard lemonade-type drink was preceded by the Boone's and other pop wines from 30 years ago.

But what came before Red Bull? Was it invented out of whole cloth? Did the ginseng-flavoured drinks provide a model, or did they come after?

Gary

[Vange]

Ill add my 2 cents on red bull and vodka. I have never had red bull on its own, but I can say with vodka it probably is minimally better. So, whats the allure of RB and vodka? I have had a handful of nights where I abused this concoction.
You might ask after one abusive night, why would I go back to it? Well, it's an entirely different type of "drunk". The overdose of caffeine after about 5-6 of these drinks and the alcohol depressant really play games with your mind. You get drunk, but in a weird way you are more alert and you actually feel sober. You actually THINK you are sober. Dos this sound silly, YES, but I am just adding my experience here. I have stopped drinking ANY type of energy drink years ago , but this is just my experience with the cocktail.