Wednesday, July 28, 2004 | 8:15 a.m.
They have names such as Monster. Red Bull. Venom. And Whoopass.
And with more than twice as much caffeine as a can of Coca-Cola Classic, these and other energy drinks are becoming the beverage du jour for anyone looking for a quick pick-me-up.
"Everybody wants energy, we have hectic lives today," said Rodney Sacks, chairman and chief executive officer of Hansen Natural Corp., makers of the Monster and Hansen's line of energy drinks.
"Today younger kids drink these drinks for sporting events; moms in the afternoon who are tired from taking their kids all around; truck drivers; guys who come home from work and want to go out ... it gives them an extra boost," he said.
"Everybody from every walk in life at some time today really could use some extra energy."
There's also no sign of the energy-drink craze slowing down.
Last year sales of the power drinks increased by more than 42 percent.
The market is even lucrative enough that PepsiCo is getting in on the act with its PepsiX energy drink, which is currently sold overseas.
"I think the energy drink trend is going to grow," Sacks said. "I see a lot of growth in this category."
The drinks are especially popular in younger haunts such as the Hard Rock Hotel. In fact, the hotel introduced Red Bull the most popular energy drink in the nation, with a 50 percent market share to Las Vegas in 1998.
Now with a contract to sell Red Bull exclusively, Hard Rock remains one of the drink's top buyers in the U.S.
"We are certainly one of their top customers," said MJ Maynard, director of food and beverage for the Hard Rock Hotel. "We go through more than a thousand cases a month."
The drinks are popular enough that the hotel offers portable Red Bull bars by the pool and in the hotel. And plans are to include the carbonated energy drink in mini bars in the hotel rooms.
"I think it fits in with our 24-hour, high-energy crowd," Maynard said. "The crowd at the Hard Rock starts early and wants to last all night.
"If it's not helping them stay up and party it's waking them up in the morning."
But not everyone is convinced of the benefits of these energy drinks.
Colleen Corey, a registered dietician in Las Vegas, calls the power drinks "a new-age Jolt," in honor of the caffeine- and sugar-juiced soft drink popular in the '80s and early '90s.
"They try and dress it up by adding these different things to it, like amino acids and vitamin C and ... some different herbal supplements that haven't really been proven effective," Corey said. "Are they the energy drinks they claim to be? Well, a lot of them are caffeine and caffeine derivatives, but they're not necessarily energy drinks."
She also rejects the notion that these drinks are beneficial to athletes.
"There's been a lot of research done with caffeine and exercise performance which show that some caffeine can boost your performance," Corey said. "But they're saying that some have of these energy drinks have too much caffeine, which can actually hurt the performance.
"Plus, it's stimulating the heart rate, (which) could be a dangerous thing during an athletic event."
Corey is also concerned that there's no age limit on buying the drinks.
Patrice Radden, spokeswoman for Red Bull, said that while the energy drink is not suitable for children or those who are sensitive to caffeine, for everyone else, Red Bull is perfectly healthy.
"We are confident in the safety of our product," Radden said via e-mail. "Red Bull has been on the market for 17 years and is now sold in 100 countries. Last year more than 1.5 billion cans were safely consumed."
Radden also said that all of Red Bull's claims -- including improved performance and reaction speed as well as increased endurance and concentration -- have been verified.
"Since its introduction in 1987, scientific studies have been performed by doctors and scientists renowned in their fields to understand the physiological significance of Red Bull Energy Drink," she said. "The studies support the claims on the can."
Sacks added that significant high-tech research goes into making these drinks, "including the different types of sugars and the energy they give."
"Each of these products out there now have different combinations," he said. "Some have different effects than others."
One energy drink combination that is proving increasingly popular, however, involves using the potent stimulant as a mixture in alcohol, which is a depressant.
This upper-downer combination is particularly worrisome to some health experts.
"It is scary to think that these energy drinks are being used as a mixer with vodka and whiskey. You are just overloading the body with heavy stimulants and heavy depressants," said David Pearson, a researcher in the Human Performance Laboratory at Ball State University, in a report published by Science Daily magazine.
"I think we are going down the same road as when people drink alcohol and ingest ecstasy and other types of designer drugs. Some people physically cannot take the combination."
Corey also expressed concerns over the mixture of energy drinks and alcohol, especially with its end result: "a wide-awake drunk."
Still, there have been no documented cases of a death resulting from the mixture of energy drinks and liquor.
"In the 2 1/2 years that I have been serving or offering an energy drink, I have never encountered any problems with guests combining the two products," said Ramon Mata, House of Blues music hall operations manager.
While many energy drink companies do not condone the mixture, they maintain it's healthy as well, as long as everyone is aware of the effects.
"There is no reason why Red Bull should not, like any other drink, be mixed with alcohol as long as people do not underestimate that alcohol consumption might impair their mental and physical activities," Radden said. "Red Bull is not designed to counteract this.
"Everyone knows that the excessive and irresponsible consumption of alcohol can have adverse effects on human health and behavior, but it should be clear that this is due to the alcoholic drink, not the mixer, be it cola, orange juice, tonic or whatever else is mixed with alcohol."
Regardless of the health risk or not, sales of the cocktail mix remain brisk and show no signs of slowing down, much like the popularity of the energy drinks themselves.
"The mixture of choice is Red Bull followed by cranberry juice," Maynard said. "It's amazing, the demand for Red Bull and vodka.
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