Peter Lyle
Guardian

Friday June 11, 1999

The typical specimen comes in a can decorated with hi-energy graphics, stinks of bubblegum and leaves an unpleasant taste of cheap coffee. Yet the energy drink is enjoying a renaissance. While Tomb Raider Lara Croft has been drafted in to re-establish the adrenaline kick image of Lucozade, which first went on sale in 1927, a glut of newcomers have arrived: Virgin-branded Hi-NRG; Red Devil, being promoted as a kind of chiller-cabinet Viagra; Solstis, here in time for the festival season. Then there's Red Bull, reinvented as a vodka mixer for a generation of pubgoers raised on rave logic, the idea being that the pinky liquid will perk you up for a long night out, while the vodka gets you sozzled. So why the energy drink glut? We like our sensations on tap these days and crave instant gratification: sugar rushes, caffeine hits, acid attacks, herbal highs. These concoctions flatter our obsession with our own busy lives. And after a decade of pills, powders and soda-pop club culture, their logic suits us. These are explanations, mind you, not excuses. Black coffee still tastes nicer.