Red Bull and Vodka Do Mix, Say Scientists

While Red Bull continues to get their fingers in every single sport ever (including the controversial takeover of the New York Metrostars), it is refreshing to be reminded that they are an energy drinks company. And one that does mix very well with alcohol, a proper study (not just a night out with mates) has shown.

A Sao Paulo university team plied 26 male volunteers* with booze, Red Bull or a mixture of both, and demonstrated what deranged clubbers already knew: mixing energy drinks with alcohol provokes "an increased sensation of pleasure and a reduction in sleepiness". Or, as team leader professor Maria Lucia Souza-Formigoni told the BBC: "The person is drunk but does not feel as drunk as he really is."

Souza-Formigoni explained: "In Brazil, as in other countries, people believe that Red Bull and other energy drinks avoid the sleepiness caused by alcoholic beverages and increase their capacity to dance all night." Her subjects fuelled with the Red Bull and alcohol mix did indeed report "less perception of headache, weakness, dry mouth and impairment of motor coordination".

And the danger? Thinking you're less legless than you really are and then taking the car for a spin. Souza-Formigoni's fellow researcher professor Roseli Boergnen de Lacerda, of the Federal University of Parana, duly warned: "The implications of these findings are that this association of alcohol and energy drinks is harmful rather than beneficial as believed by consumers."

Red Bull originates from an original Thai drink (Krating Daeng) that was used to keep the rickshaw drivers going throughout the day: with some medicinal purposes. It is prohibited for sale as a soft drink in France, Denmark and Norway. The Candadian version carries a warning label. The drinks' success is down to the feel that Dietrich Mateschitz has created by guessing that "some clubbers wanted to dance all night without taking illegal drugs, such as ecstasy, and skiers and snow-boarders would enjoy enhanced performance, while hot bars would become even hotter when drinkers woke up to Red Bull as a vodka mixer"

The company generally tends to distance themselves from alcohol: it was widely expected that one of their Formula One teams would use a Vodka sponsorship but was denied by Red Bull prior to their 2005 debut season and the new "b" team hasn't picked up any alcohol sponsorship either. However, Red Bull America have sued when customers being served cocktails were given an alternative but similar energy drink: like asking for Coke and getting Pepsi. In this case, they promote responsible drinking:

A Red Bull spokeswoman declared: "Red Bull strongly advocates the responsible use of alcohol at all times. The position of Red Bull, in line with responsible adults and driving organisations worldwide, is that it is absolutely wrong to drink alcohol and drive at any time, regardless of whether alcohol has been mixed or not."

And the case for Red Bull? The spokeswoman added: "Driving organisations, including the RAC, have endorsed the sole consumption of Red Bull or other caffeine-based drinks whilst driving to improve concentration and reaction time, and therefore safety."

Simple then: Red Bull and car good: Red Bull and alcohol and car bad. I'm pretty sure that all those double vodkas and Red Bulls I had for a pound in Leeds in my student days probably weren't Red Bull either. Hell, at that price, they probably weren't even vodka.

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