Drug info - New "absinthe" like Energy Drink Available

[rollerzcoasterz]

Four by four

We take this new alcohol-energy drink for a test drive


My friends and I are past our Jager bomb primes. But when I heard about Four, a new cherry-berry malted energy drink created by Phusion Projects--a company founded by twentysomething friends, including Lincoln Park's Chris Hunter, 27--I was intrigued.

Hunter calls Four the "original body buzz beverage," thanks to one of its four key ingredients: wormwood, which some of you international travelers may recognize as a component of absinthe. (Four's other active ingredients: caffeine, taurine and guarana.)

After working hard on a Friday, I rounded up three gal pals* to party hard as a foursome. Around 7:30 p.m., we started popping 16-ounce cans of this 6 percent alcohol by volume energy drink. Here's what happened.

Friend No. 1: Drinkin' Doll, 26
Let's just say I drink 20-plus cocktails a week. The truth would be scary. Caffeine? A can of pop a day or the occasional latte.
Taste: Like what I used to toast New Year's with before I found the liquor cabinet: similar to sparkling cider. But I was a tad disturbed by the persistent foam that clung to the rim of my glass. FYI: After adding a splash of vodka, it went away.
Energy: Soon I was no longer grumpy and congested from an allergy attack; I was totally perky and happy. Two hours later, I was shouting, "F@#$ yeah, let's party!" By 10 p.m. my heart was racing. We hit the club and danced for three hours straight.
Buzz: It was hard to separate the caffeine jolt from an alcohol buzz.
Horny factor: Does touching your own boobs count? Not like that! I was rearranging cleavage for our night out. I did, however, have the most vivid sexual dreams that night; I was surprised to wake up alone.
Morning after: Zero hangover; that's a first! I felt great, not dehydrated, and even played a softball game that morning. The downside: I woke up at 5:30 a.m. after only two hours of sleep, then kept waking up every hour on the hour.
Bottom line: When I'm looking for a night out without any regard for time, sure, I'll pick up a can. The no-hangover factor's a big draw. But as a regular addition to my personal menu of party drinks? Probably not.

Friend No. 2: Buzzin' Busybody, 32
I work and play hard, so I have around 20 energy drinks, 20 cocktails and who knows how many cups of coffee a week.
Taste: Light and effervescent, but very sweet. In fact, too sweet and syrupy for me; it tasted like liquid cotton candy. Kinda gross, so I couldn't drink it all night.
Energy: I wonder what it meant that I was dancing around my house and having serious Nutella cravings at 10 p.m. In fact, I was licking the jar.
Buzz: Minimal, compared to a night of classic cocktailing.
Horny factor: Didn't feel anything more than the usual. I wanted my boyfriend, but that had nothing to do with Four.
Morning after: I slept with some interruptions-but not due to Four (wink, wink)! No hangover. I felt great in the morning.
Bottom line: I plan to stick to my Red Bull and Rockstar.

Friend No. 3: Pop Idol, 27
Every day I have at least two cans of Diet Coke and only about four alcoholic beverages a week.
Taste: Looked like Jell-O, tasted like Jell-O. The foam that collected on the sides of my glass was scary. It was very sweet. Almost like a Bartles & Jaymes.
Energy: More than an hour after drinking, my headache went away and I just wanted to bust a move. In fact, though I had planned on bailing early, I stayed out 'til 2 a.m. and danced myself into sweaty oblivion.
Buzz: At 9:15 p.m., my Jewish flush kicked in: I was red-faced, warm and wide-awake.
Horny factor: Um, does naughty-texting one of your crushes while gyrating on the dance floor count? I noticed people gravitating towards my cleavage and I didn't mind. I mean, the girls did look damn good that night.
Morning after: No hangover, no need to make a greasy food run. It was easy to get up, but I also woke up repeatedly.
Bottom line: It's a little too sweet for me, but for those occasions when I feel like partying hard, hangover-free, I'd pick up some Four.

Friend No. 4: Caff-fiend, 26
I can't do without my morning macchiato or latte, and pop during lunch. Plus, I have the occasional energy drink.
Taste: Like candy. It wasn't flat but not super-bubbly either; I think that's a good thing. No taste of alcohol at all; I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.
Energy: At 10 p.m. I was feeling restless. I started dancing before we even got to the club. Then, after shaking it to Shakira nonstop for hours, all I could say was, "My hips don't lie!"
Buzz: One hour later, I didn't even feel drunk. If I drank as many cocktails as Fours, it might have been a different story.
Horny factor: If you measure horniness by the number of men I was scoping out, then sure, I was horny. There was no follow-through, though. But I did have a very vivid sex dream involving a man I've never actually slept with.
Morning after: After going to bed around 3 a.m., I woke up at 5:58 a.m., and then every hour until about 9:58 a.m. Exactly one hour would pass between wakeups, no alarm clock involved. Weird. And I didn't have a lick of a hangover! That's unlike me.
Bottom line: It's so sweet you can only drink so much of it before you start to feel a bit sick, but the partying effects are pretty impressive. You get brazenly energized and confident, but without the fogginess of being drunk.

Please include references in news articles:
Source: www.tribune.com
written by: Karen Budell

Reputation Comments on this post:

	great review!
	WOW INTRESSTING

[smoggy32]

well it sounds good )

[Micklemouse]

Info-mercials. Gotta love 'em! Re-reading it, there is going to have to be an outrageous amount of sugar in this concoction to cover up the bitterness of the wormwood. The next generation of alco-pops - be afraid...

[Alfa]

Sugar is not going to cover up that taste. Most energy drinks are mostly sugar anyway, so there would be nothing new with that IMO. I can not find any pics of the product yet. It is said to be out in July. I would not expect to much from it. There are many new absinthe liquors around in the EU, to meet the legal standard and the hype. Nothing special: just alcohol with absinthe taste(anice). Practicly no tujone.

[IHrtHalucingens]

I would be willing to bet that here in America it will enjoy some decent success, as absinth has a certain mystical and amazing reputation among most young people that arent particularly knowledgeable on the subject.