Fine, then you can suck my Bawls
 

Energy drinks. A computer guy's best friend. Actually, I hear they're good friends to a few other demographics as well, but I can speak for certain about the geek population.

Bawls, Jolt, Red Bull, Amp, Monster, and a slew of lesser-known ones, some indigenous to certain areas, they all offer that familiar kick in the ass (and hellacious crash soon thereafter), and with a variety of different tastes as well.

Which ones are your favourite? Why? And are there any mixtures or concoctions that you or your friends know how to make?

Personally, I'm a fan of Bawls (when I have the insane amount of cash needed to indulge) and Amp. Most of the others have a "chemical" taste that I can't get past, particularly Red Bull and Monster.

A few summers ago when I hosted my first LAN party, we got 3 cases of Bawls (24 bottles to a case, and beating back the natives to keep it safe till the LAN was a full-time job). Since my friend and my brother pitched in to help buy them, we had a couple bottles to ourselves first, and tried mixing it with various other sodas or juices. I honestly can't recall what went best with it, but I get the impression it wouldn't taste half bad with some Mountain Dew or Dr. Pepper. Orange juice would be interesting too. Like a caffeine screwdriver.

I haven't had Bawls, but every energy drink I've had has that nasty aftertaste. I actually allowed myself to get used to the taste of Red Bull, though.
I just usually stick to coffee nowadays.

Has anyone had that "Vault" drink from Coke? Worst. Shit. Evar.

Bawls is one of the better energy drinks I've tried of the few at the LANs I attend. Most of the time I just stick to drinking copious amounts of Mountain Dew or a few Rockstar energy drinks to keep the buzz alive. My cousin and his circle of friends can consume a two liter of Dew one to a person and still want more. I think they have some hundreds of empty bottles stored away at their church for boasting rights.

What surprises me how much people depend on those drinks when the party goes on after midnight. Either they get tired way too fast when gaming or I'm just an insomniac.

Caffeine is the drug of choice for many of us :). Green tea used to have a kick until the last few months. Totally unaffected by it now, which isn't such a great thing. NOW I NEED MORE ALTERNATIVES...

Caffine doesn't seem to affect me at all, in any form. But I like the taste of Red Bull.

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Best Energy Drink Ever. If you dont like it then you are a terrorist.

Going to have to go with Power Trip. Its a little un-known but a good friend of mine is sponsored by them for inline skating so he has cases of the stuff and I get as much as I want for free which is nice. The taste is pretty good too, not too strong, not too weak and none of the gross aftertastes.

Amp is by far my favorite! Tastes so awesome, red bull is good too, but I find the taste rather unsatisfying. My dad works for pepsi, and amp is a pepsi product, so maybe that contributes.:guitarist:

For me, Rockstar does the trick. I don't mind the taste (it's almost exactly like Red Bull), and it really helps me focus. But only if I need it desparately; I would hate to get 'used' to the caffeine and require even more.

I can't stand Bawls...it didn't do shit for me. I might as well have drank a regular soda, for all the energy boost it gave me. Maybe I'm weird...

I used to have to drink like 4 or 5 cups of coffee in the morning just to open my eyes in the morning. Then I had to basically detox from that shit for about 2 years and have recently started drinking coffee again. I usually buy a cup of coffee in the morning, but that's usually all I need for the rest of the day.

Make no mistake, people. Caffeine is a drug. You get addicted to it and pretty soon you come to depend on it for dear life. :\

I love the taste and colour of Red Bull. I remember we had bought a case of it for a school trip, so we could stay up for a few days. We did manage to, but it was hell. On the third day we crashed so badly, and I'm pretty sure one of my friends OD'd on the SOBE energy drink. He was pretty messed up.

At the moment I'm going on 8 months without the almighty bean :(.
The other day I was fantasizing about how wonderful it will be to be able to drink coffee again...although it would be supreme irony if I drank it only to discover that I didn't like the taste anymore.

At the moment Green Tea with Yerba Mate seems to be a good booster from day to day. I still put cream and sweetener in it, like coffee, except it turns a pretty shade of green instead of hazel.

I had to cut the caffeine after my last flare up, so its been quite a while since I've even had a cup of joe let alone an energy drink.

Even so, I was never big on the Red Bull/Amp/Adrenaline Rush stuff. Except for Pimp Juice. Mostly I stick with energy mints, specifically Jo Mints. Four of those mints gives quite a kick. Eat the whole container in 30 minutes and get ramped.

Oh my god... That shit keeps you WIRED! My friend Eddie and I drink that shit at UCSB when we go down to do our nights of drinking. Fuck cocaine! Mate won't kill you and can keep you twice as wired. :p

My cousin used to work at Whole Foods and made some straight Mate for my mom and I...we kinda thought it tasted nasty, but mixed with green tea, it just works wonders.

In fact, I do believe I'll be having some in about 10 hours, with my every-Thursday breakfast crew :).

I've tried a lot of these, but never really came to enjoy drinking any of them. I guess the one I enjoyed most would probably be Monster Energy Drink, though. It tastes exactly like Red Bull, and is twice the size for the same price.

Wojo - :'D

I have only honestly tried Monster. I drank about half the can then poored the rest out the window (I was in a car when this happened).

My bf says he likes RedBull + Coke but, meh...

I prefer green tea or coffee for my caffine^^

My college recently put in a refridgerator dedicated solely to energy drinks. I drink mostly Monsters', Lost Planets', and Bawls'. I'm really grateful they did this.

I've only had 2 or 3 kinds of energy drinks due to the fact that most of the energy drinks out there taste like moose piss mixed with Skyy Vodka.

Bawls - Ahh, yes, the energy drink of the Gods. This baby kept me up til the ass-crack of dawn at many LAN parties as well as gave me energy for DDR tournaments. This shit's gonna come in handy next week at Showdown, assuming I can get some. Basically, Bawls is my favorite energy drink.

Amp - Amp to me is a spiced up Mountain Dew, but it sure as hell is awesome. This also kept me goin for DDR tournaments and regular days of training. When Bawls is out of stock at the coffee shop, Amp is the next best thing.

I'm under the impression that MDX is an energy drink, though it just tastes like slightly-less-spiked Mountain Dew. Someone who first sold it to me said it "Quenches your thirst and gives you energy", so I took it for an energy drink, but it's probably not.

Redbull and vodka or gin is always a favourite. This christmas I tried an 'absolut shambles' as described by shin a while back. Vodka (Absolut Vodka, hence the name) Champaign and Redbull. It was pretty nice really, made a nice lunch time drink anyway.

[V] is always nice too, but I doubt you yanks would have seen it. I think it's an Australian (and New Zealand perhaps?) only drink.

I'm going to be the village idiot here and ask, what is Yerba Mate?

I'm a caffeine junkie, although I have a heart condition so I really shouldn't drink it at all, and I steer totally clear of energy drinks because I'm afraid they might kill me. I do drink a couple of cups of coffee in the morning and I love green tea and a soft drink they sell in my area called Sun Drop. It's basically a yellow soda (with a stronger lemony taste than other yellow sodas) with more caffeine than Mountain Dew or Mello Yello.

Most energy drinks I've come across contain no more caffeen than the average cup of coffee. So you should be pretty right Alice.

Yerba (meaning herb) mate is a really good tea leaf that's dried and ground to a powder, except you don't pour it in your tea and drink it. You usually have to prepare it in a little clay gourd and drink it with a silver or stainless steel straw commonly known as a "bombilla". The straw is flared on one end and sports holes so that you can use it as a stirrer, sieve and straw at the same time.

The gourd is filled about 3/4 of the way with ground mate tea leaves and packed rather tightly. Hot water is poured into the gourd with the ground leaves and then shaken well. The leaves then take on this slightly expanded form that packs them rather tightly into the gourd and hence the silver or steel straw is necessary to be able to penetrate the thick mass of leaves. You then drink the water as it's poured in. All you have to do is have some hot water readily available so that when you want to take another sip of mate, all you have to do is pour the water in, let it seep through the leaves and once it's at the bottom you can enjoy it. The flared end with the holes will prevent any of the leaves coming up with the tea fluid.

Some people mis the mate with green tea because it's really quite bitter. It was originally grown in Argentina, but it is still mainly only grown in South America.

I think Bawls is terrible. I also think that all energy drinks are terrible.

Anyone ever heard of VPX Redline? Marketed as a 'fat incinerator', its proprietary blend incorporates multiple forms of caffeine, yerba mate, as well as a compound that stimulates the body's own shiver mechanism. Its sold in two forms: a highly potent syrup whose dosage is measured in milligrams, and a pre-diluted 8 oz. energy drink.

I've not seen the stuff sold anywhere except vitamin and nutrition shops round here, but I've heard that you can find it some 7-elevens in other states.

Reports vary; some people love the stuff and the huge kick that they get. Others are finding that they black out after 30 minutes of a bad uncontrollable rush.

I personally know of a trainer/body builder who takes the stuff every day, and he strongly warns people about it. Its not for the feint or those sensitive to caffeine in any way.

I drank 180's alot of the time, then I moved onto another one called KroniK. Its pretty good, has a sort of fresca taste but not a horrible after taste either.

I had a small addiction to amp for awhile, but Ive tried to stay away from alot of caffeine (sp? fuck it). Its amazing the head aches you get from quitting caffeine.

Anyone ever tried "Go Girl"? I was at the store with my roommate a few weeks ago when he was looking to buy some stuff to keep him awake, and on a whim we both picked up a can of Go Girl. The tall slim can adorned in all shades of pink and red wasn't really too masculine, but it was late and we figured "what the heck" so we got it. Verdict: Taste is so-so, but I don't think it helped me stay up at all.

I want to try Bawls sometime just because it's so "popular", but I've never seen it sold anywhere. :(

Bawls is a bitch to find, even here in the Chicago suburbs. I've heard rumours of some convenience stores stocking it. This has proven true for the 7-11 on the Illinois Tech campus, but I've seen it nowhere else.

CompUSA sells it by the case, of course I don't always want to drive 30 minutes to get it. For LAN parties and such I'll go and get a few cases at once to maximixe trip efficiency, but the easiest places (internet cafes) I had to find it are either closed or not selling it anymore.

It doesn't give me that much of a kick, but it tastes good and goes down easy, so what the hell.

Vault is Surge repackaged and re-sold as an energy 'soda'. It has no energy drink-like ingrediants whatsoever besides caffiene. I know this because I work at a convenience store now. And because I foolishly thought Surge was kinda ok when I was in middle school and it first came out. Coca-Cola should be shot for these atrocities.

I too subscribe to the theory that energy drinks are psycosomatic since caffiene and energy drinks on the whole do not seem to affect me.

I like Bawls (these jokes will never get old), because it's the closest I've ever seen an American drink get to the taste of Ramune.

That said, it really doesn't do anything for me energy-wise.

Never had Bawls, but Monster is pretty good tasting for an energy drink and it will keep me up for hours.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Monser. I try not to drink it too often, because well, your heart will explode. But I honestly do like the taste (especially when it's ice cold) and it certainly helps me stay awake on those crazy weekends with friends.

I hate to bump a dead thread, but does anybody know the levels of caffeine in Monster compared to say Red Bull or Bawls? I haven't been able to find any info online.

Second question, do you find that one particular energy drink keeps you awake longer than the others? I had a Monster Khaos the other day and it really didn't help much - but maybe that's just the mono kicking in...

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unf.

I've got about 5 bawls in my closet right now. They're o.k. Redline is some powerful shit, though, it tastes like robotussin.

I guess I would go with Rockstar. You get more for the same price as Red Bull and I think it gives you more energy.

Mountain Dew MDX is the worst though. My boyfriend drank them before work when he had to be there in the morning. He said it only worked for an hour and then he would crash.

Quoted for the truth.

All I need is a 12 pack of Jones soda and I'm pretty well happy and alert.

OK you'll need a case of Bawls to come down off of this one.. but buy 10 packages of bawls caffine mints, Some tux mints, Crush them up in a fine powder.. now here is the tricky part.. add some oil based liquid pour the powder in .. and yes you guessed it.. MAINLINE it... now I know what your thinking.. uhhh needles are for drug addicts slash where am I really going to find a syringe.. I have the answer for you. Go on a hobo killing rampage!! By the 40th one you'll have found a dozen needles and at least one pair of shoes you might want to wear. Plus you'll be doing your town slash city a favor by cleaning up the inhuman leeches of our society.. I also heard that they spread the AIDS. on a complete random note. I do not condone anything I have to say..

...Wow.

If it's all the same to you guys...I'm going to just stick to the corner 7-11.

Anyone tried "Rip it?" Supposedly it blows the other drinks out of the water. I just hope it doesn't have that signature chalk/chemical taste that so many others do.

What??? I like my energy drinks.
And Rip It is in the mini cans correct?

I think so. It's in the SoBe/Amp size cans, if memory serves correctly.

Just the other day at my first job, I saw someone with the most ungodly huge can of Monster on their desk. And she looked about 27-30, too. Secretary/help center, cubicle baby, 9-to-5er.

What the fuck do they have their people doing in that office that necessitates a secretary getting that kind of stimulant intake?

I've still yet to try most of the energy drinks out there today. But I have tried RedBull, AMP, Sobe Adrenaline Rush, and some other brand that simply calls their drink ENERGY.

Amp sucks. It tastes bad and a member of the Mountain Dew family of products.

Adrenaline Rush is actually pretty good, for my tastes anyway. I've actually drank alot more of these than any of the other energy drinks I've tried.

RedBull is so-so. At least it's better than AMP.

The budwiser energy beer isn't that bad... Megatokyo should make one called B33R

I thought that all 7-11s across the US stocked Bawls, making it fairly accessable. Since I go to a college in the middle of nowhere, I had to order my case off thinkgeek.com.

Bawls is good. Really good. I've tried other guarana drinks and have come to the conclusion that the fruit is just damn tasty. To me, Bawls is what soda should taste like. Coke and like products are just too... syrupy.

I had to drink some energy drinks at school because of the all-nighters and whatnot. I enjoyed Bawls the most, but Red Bull has its own charm--the unique taste grows on you. Unfortunately, though, the dorm vending machines forced one option on me in dire situations: Vault. Vault is gross. It's just sugar (like most other sodas, I guess).

Despite its good taste, I stay away from Bawls when I don't need the energy. It's no fun having to rely on a chemical for normal functions.

Believe it or not, I've found Bawls at Albertsons here...here being oregon

I'm so weaksauce. I drink packaged green tea and it keeps me up for hours.

I fucking hate finals.

I used some Jolt Gum a few weeks ago when I had to stay up all night to do a lab report that was due by 5:00 PM the next day. The stuff worked pretty well (each piece is supposed to be equivalent to half a cup of coffee) and half of a pack lasted me through the night, just had to chew one piece an hour. It's a good alternative for me since I tend to chug drinks and the gum tasted just like normal gum.

Albertsons now has their own generic energy drink that tastes, smells and works just like Red Bull (and many think it's made for Albertsons by RB) -- but it's like, .99 a can. I don't remember the name, but it has a cheetah on it.