This is a sad day for people who like waking up at 4 a.m. in flop sweat with their hearts going 200 miles-per-hour.
Twelve buzz-kill state attorney generals who brought claims that Sparks -- the caffeinated alcoholic energy drink -- was being marketed to underage drinkers and have reached an agreement with booze giant SABMiller to reformulate the recipe so as not to include caffeine or taurine or any energy-drink ingredients.
As an of-age Sparks drinker whose enjoyed it on bike rides, at Christmas parties and before job interviews and hospital visits, this is terrible news.
How to describe Sparks to people who've never had it.
It tastes like Sweet Tarts mixed with chemically doused oranges and Windex. Hey, that's what most
energy drinks taste like and Sparks had enough taurine and caffeine to
hide its 6 percent alcohol content. (Or in the case of
Sparks Plus, 7 percent.)
The best part was that for
the price -- a 16-ounce can was only $2.50 (and could
be had on sale for under $2). For that, you got the equivalent of
nearly two beers and two cans of Red Bull. For $5 you could be set for the night.... and the following morning.
With its herbs and vitamins and chemicals, Sparks could deliver
a drunk-high like no other drink (including blasé Jägermeister and Red
Bull) but when bedtime came, Sparks showed its dark side.
Sleep
may come for a while, but nearly everyone who drank Sparks in massive
quantities (more than one) could rely on
waking up in the middle of the night in a panic, with the old heart
a-racing. Trying to go back to sleep is nearly impossible. Eventually, I learned to only drink it on
special occasions like all-night pool parties.
If teenagers are truly gravitating towards Sparks, then it's a serious alcohol they've been
messing with. But just because it provides a little kick and scares the
living shit out of you is no reason to make
it illegal. -- Owen Morris
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I will also miss me some Sparks. The runts/beer/cough syrup flavor lingered on the tongue like a sugary sweet blanket of faux oranges. I might even shed a tear for the bastard cousin of Sparks, Tilt. Its a sad sad day...
It isn't bad to have this taste in a drink.But for me a little more work to make it as the best energy drink.
The effects remind me of trucker speed (mini-thins, ephedrine). But I got way too old to tolerate those hangovers.
I was living in Chicago the first and only time I imbibed in this foul-ass beverage. They were giving away cans of it at my corner liquor store (free booze promos, one more reason to love Illinois).
I never drank it again, but several of my law-school buddies became addicted. For the poster who wants to try it, I know they're selling it at the CVS on Main, by the plaza library. Get it before it's gone.
This review actually made me a little sad to have never enjoyed this gem. Although it makes me think that the next blogger tasting should be for the 5 great bum wines before they are eliminated.
What occasion would be cause for drinking two? Riding your bike to a job interview at Christmas time?
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