# Wow...Sparks..the energy drink **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 4, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833 "2005-03-04T00:59:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/1 "2005-03-04T00:59:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Sparks is an energy drink, a liquid rocket-launcher amped with taurine, caffeine, guarana, and Siberian ginseng. But the fizzy concoction is also six percent alcohol — making it stronger than your average beer. Consequently, Sparks is rapidly becoming all the rage — a lowbrow, hair-of-the-dog alternative to a Red Bull–and–vodka cocktail. At a recent party in Somerville, young women swigged Sparks while their male counterparts drained 40s; a Somerville liquor-store clerk, who had no clue what Sparks was, said cans of the stuff had been flying off his shelves. [http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/supplements/liquid\_04/documents/04203185.asp](http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/supplements/liquid_04/documents/04203185.asp) That’s all we need…Drunks with energy to spare. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/2 "2005-03-04T02:16:39Z")
What ARE you going on about? This isn’t new, **reeder**. Hell, I’ve been mixing red bull and vodka for years, this stuff is just the ready-mixed version. Hell, if you drink anything and coke, you’re getting a similar amount of caffeine. as two of those sparks things. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/3 "2005-03-04T02:36:58Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > That’s all we need…Drunks with energy to spare. How else do you expect them to fuck? ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/4 "2005-03-04T03:06:51Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > How else do you expect them to fuck? They could always masturbate like motherfucks. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/5 "2005-03-04T03:40:16Z")
“Don’t let it get me” “Don’t let it get me now” Sorry, that’s Sparks…the band. Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/6 "2005-03-04T03:57:41Z")
My little brother loves this stuff. “The can looks like a battery!” Yeah, no thanks. I’m not drinking anything that impersonates battery fluid! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/7 "2005-03-04T04:33:27Z")
Drew Carey proves prophetic. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/8 "2005-03-04T04:38:51Z")
Budweiser has an energy drink now too. I haven’t seen it in the stores yet but I’ve been seeing ads for it all over the place for months now. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/9 "2005-03-04T08:57:19Z")
Spark. Guaranteed to give you the energy you need to run to the toilet and vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/10 "2005-03-04T13:54:06Z")
…And, after shattering the world record in the 100m dash, track superstar Bill “Mad Dog” Jenkins of the Alpha Tau Omega Road Runners’ CLub was quoted as saying “Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! That Marion Jones is \*&% HOT! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!” before passing out in a heap. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/11 "2005-03-04T14:21:37Z")
I tried a can of that stuff a few months ago, tastes like stomach acid. I don’t know how these crazy kids drink that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/12 "2005-03-04T15:58:39Z")
So…it’s a wine cooler with herbs in. Do guarana and ginseng actually \* do \* anything besides make it taste funky? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/13 "2005-03-04T16:19:33Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > So…it’s a wine cooler with herbs in. Do guarana and ginseng actually \* do \* anything besides make it taste funky? I am well aware that this is purely anecdotal, but every once in a while I used to get really jittery and hyper after lunch–so much so that it kind of freaked me out and I wondered if there was something medically wrong with me. Just couldn’t sit still, shakey, the works. I finally figured out a pattern: I got jittery on the days that I’d selected SoBe Energy as my beverage. I don’t know if it’s the guarana, ginseng and taurine, if it just has a metric fuckton of caffeine, but I avoid that stuff like the plague. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/14 "2005-03-04T16:32:23Z")
B to the E (Bud’s new energy beer) tastes like sweetened\*\* _watered down_ \*\*Bud Light. Yuck. (No, I didn’t buy it, I tried it at a dinner Ardred’s boss threw. He owns a liquor store and has his employees try everything new once a month so they can recommend to customers). Ginseng in large enough quantities acts the same way as marijuana or sleep deprivation does in my system. Stay up for 72 hours and you’ll know what happens when I down an energy drink. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/15 "2005-03-04T16:41:12Z")
Poly: Sounds like the time I took a Stacker 2, and washed it down with a diet coke. I didn’t think about the oh my god my heart just escaped from my chest side effects. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/16 "2005-03-04T16:45:09Z")
Guarana also has a stimulant in it similar to caffeine. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/17 "2005-03-04T17:10:44Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > They could always masturbate like motherfucks. WOOHOO!!! ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/18 "2005-03-04T18:18:00Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > a metric fuckton Oooohhhh, I love that. _Figuring out how to make that work in everyday conversation…_🆒 ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/19 "2005-03-05T05:10:57Z")
The best thing about Sparks is that it sells for $1.99 around the corner. Now a can of regular energy drink is $2.50. Kind of makes me wish I was still a broke student that needs energy drinks for late night study sessions. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2005, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833/20 "2005-03-05T05:27:56Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > Poly: Sounds like the time I took a Stacker 2, and washed it down with a diet coke. I didn’t think about the oh my god my heart just escaped from my chest side effects. When I was working at a convenience store in 2002, I was sometimes called in to cover for shifts like two hours after I’d gone to bed so I would brew up a whole pot of coffee, stick it in the freezer to cool down rapidly, and then literally drink the entire pot down in four or five chugs along with two Stacker 2s. Talk about a rush. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wow-sparks-the-energy-drink/292833.md?page=2)