Coffee, Red Bull, Monster, now Cocaine?

My energy drink of choice is coffee.  I’ve been hooked on the world’s most popular drug since my days at Augsburg College.  I love everything about it.  I love the smell of it in the container on the way home from the shop. Sometimes I purposely forget the coffee beans in my car overnight for an olfactory treat when I hop in the next day. I love the ritual of grinding beans, heating water, and plunging my press pot.  The savory first sip soothes my soul every morning.

I am one of the few who drink coffee in the pool rooms during tournaments.  I believe a pool room isn’t a pool room if it doesn’t offer coffee to its customers.  It’s the only time I partake after midday.

Energy drinks seem like they’re the new Mountain Dew of pool players.  I don’t object to them, I’ve tasted a sip or two just to see what the buzz was all about. People can drink what they like. I just choose to drink soda less than one per month. I digg coffee.

I was in high school when Jolt Cola was launched.  It was and is what most energy drinks are now, soft drinks with added caffeine or other stimulating substance.  I’m surprised to learn that Jolt Cola is still around, now renamed Jolt Energy Drink.

JOLT was created in 1985 as a refreshing alternative to coffee, a.k.a. The Espresso of Colas. JOLT really was the original “energized” beverage in both name and product. Included on every can and bottle was the memorable slogan “All the Sugar and Twice the Caffeine.” JOLT became an instant hit and fueled a generation of college students, software developers and anyone needing a quick pick me up.

Red Bull was introduced in 1987 and I don’t know when it was first used as a mixer with alcoholic beverages.  It seems to me that mixing a stimulant with a depressant is a bad idea.  The caffeine content of current energy drinks and energy shots can range from that of coffee to more than five times that of coffee.  High schools are beginning to ban these energy drinks.  It could be due to the arms race of product names.  Now there’s a drink named “Cocaine.”  No kidding.

I’ll stick with my college sweetheart. Don’t mess with my cup of joe.

Mike Fieldhammer