Red Bull gives your carbonated cocktails a jolt
When it comes to polarizing the public, few beverages do a more effective job than energy drinks. Typically, generational divides factor in big time. And that’s perfectly understandable. Loosely speaking, those 40 and older rely on pick-me-ups that have endured over the ages, major ones being coffee, chocolate, B12 vitamins, cigarettes, and giant piles of
Scarface- brand blow.
Strangely, those who’ll argue that God wouldn’t have put all those things on the planet Earth if she didn’t want us hoovering them are often the first to get on their high horses about energy drinks. For some reason older generations often see energy drinks as Lucifer’s liquid, Succubus’s soda, or Philatanus’s pop.
As for the rest of us, the reality is that energy drinks have become something to embrace. Consider them go-go juice for getting over the 3 p.m. hump during the Monday-to-Friday grind. And perfect for launching one’s own living-room party at 2 a.m., the shotgunning of three cans followed by pushing back the sofa and cranking up “Fuck ’Em All” by the Geto Boys.
Anyhow... Energy drinks. There are plenty of them out there. But for this Liquor Nerd,
there’s only one brand in the fridge: Red Bull.
And while those might sound like the words of someone who’s being paid to say that: wrong. Over the years Red Bull has been the go-to drink before pick-up ice hockey games, late-night writing sessions, and bring-on-the-sunset bangers.
But we’re supposed to be talking liquor here, so let’s bring things around to that. Popular opinion is that the ’ 70s marked the death of cocktail culture as it had existed for decades. Blame disco for a couple of reasons. When your great-great grandparents hit Studio 54 to spend the night ripping it up on the dancefloor, they wanted something to cool them down.
As for the bartenders of the era, given that the lineups for drinks stretched back to New Jersey, quick and efficient was key—which is to say that a rum and Coke or vodka and 7-Up was far easier to execute than a Ramos Gin Fizz or a Commonwealth Cocktail with Namibian prickly pear fruit, wild Scottish strawberries, and 69 other ingredients.
Like 7-Up, Coke, tonic water, and club soda, Red Bull is all about the carbonation. And that makes it an easy way to put a twist on your favourite cocktail. That Red Bull comes in a rainbow of flavours these days adds additional ammunition to your arsenal.
Red Bull and Vodka is the standard in clubs from Iowa to Ibiza. Looking for a slightly more summery way to celebrate? Go with a light Bacardi and Red Bull Peach-Nectarine or Watermelon.
A healthy splash of Appleton Estate with Red Bull Coconut Berry or Red Bull Tropical, meanwhile, is like being on the beaches of Jamaica, only without having to worry about getting sand in your crack or COVID-19 at the buffet table.
Why Red Bull and liquor? Well, unless you’re a U.K. soccer hooligan, alcohol can sometimes make you sleepy. Because it gives you wings—it must be the taurine (an amino sulfonic acid)—Red Bull gives you a bit of get-up-and-go when your energy has got up and gone. Kind of like a trip to Starbucks, only you don’t end up with downing three ounces of whipped cream because the barista was incapable of following simple goddamn instructions.
Here’s a drink that you can make with Red Bull. With roots in Saint Patrick’s day, it’s also perfect for embracing your inner soccer hooligan.
IRISH TRASH CAN
1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz light rum
1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz peach schnapps
1 can Red Bull classic
Pour all liquor into a glass full of ice. Slowly add full can of Red Bull so it seeps down the side. Position empty can at an angle in g the top of the glass.
Mike Usinger is not a professional bartender. He does, however, spend most of his waking hours sitting on barstools.