Red Bull claims
to "improve concentration and increase reaction speed."
The Ohm sells
a lot of the pep drink to the rave crowd on Friday and Saturday
nights.
Ohm bartender
Brian McCulloch is concocting various Red Bull cocktails
for next month's Red Bull-sponsored bartender's competition.
www.red-bull.com
Pure Sugar:
Mix
equal parts champagne and Red Bull
Ohm
31 NW 1st
Ave.,
223-9919
I lay wide awake last night staring at the ceiling until
I heard the heavy-footed stand-up comic who lives in the
apartment above me return home from his gig at Harvey's
Comedy Club--around 2:30 in the morning.
I heard him do the usual: take a shower, do the dishes and
stumble into bed. I wondered--as I always do when I hear
him in the middle of the night--if he's very funny.
Then I wondered what the hell was in those Red Bull cocktails
I'd been drinking earlier. I was down at the Old Town club
The Ohm for its Smashin' Jazz event to have a look-see
at whether the club really sells as much of the stuff as
local Red Bull pushers Dave Hicks and Sasha Laman say it
does.
Ohm bartenders Daniel and Brian confirmed that they do
indeed mix a lot of Red Bull drinks, both with and without
alcohol. "Whiskey, Jägermeister, whatever. But mostly
vodka," Brian said. Daniel added that they use pure Red
Bull to sober up the drunks who inevitably hit the after-hours
club once area bars have closed. "These guys don't leave
until four or so in the morning, so this gives them a few
hours to wake up."
The energy drink, which can be found at Thriftway and some
convenience stores, comes in a techno silver and blue can
with a clean graphic style. It's been gaining in popularity
among young clubhoppers, many of whom prefer Red Bull's
euphoric sweetness and clarity to alcohol's sometimes messy
blur. Somewhat insiderish, Red Bull is in fact a German
stimulation drink made in Austria but first advertised in
British pop magazine The Face. Many say the club
kids like to drink Red Bull because it enhances the effects
of Ecstasy and helps to keep them tripping the light fantastic
into the early morning hours.
One rumor about Red Bull is that its magic ingredient comes
straight from the almighty bull testicle. The aforementioned
cagey representatives from Red Bull would neither confirm
nor deny this intriguing club-urban legend. Red Bull does
indeed boast an ingredient called Taurine, which is a synthetic
version of a metabolic transmitter naturally found in cows.
Perhaps because cows are not famously swift of foot or mind,
to this key ingredient has been added a hefty pantload of
caffeine and sugar.
Indeed, drink enough of the stuff and you could develop
a real fondness for it. There's something about Red Bull's
cotton-candy Kool-Aid smell: One little whiff and I begin
to feel revived. Or at least alive with the hope of future
productivity.
As I lay awake in bed I recalled the fizzy little kick
in the stomach and the sense of well-being that followed,
thinking about all the stuff I was going to accomplish the
next day, if I could only get some sleep.
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 12,
2000
|
