Back in late 2010 I began hearing about a new kind of alcoholic drink. It was very controversial--supposedly many young folks who drank it were being hospitalized, or even killed. Well, I'm human. Sometimes I'm susceptible to rumors and challenges, so I wanted to see for myself what the fuss was about. In talking to my friends and fellow archaeologists (most of whom were much younger than I was), I learned that the name of this "demon drink" was Four Loko. I was told that the secret of its potency was that it had a significant amount of alcohol paired with significant amounts of stimulants such as caffeine and taurine. The stimulants kept you awake and alert longer, so you didn't realize how drunk you were. So I bought a can and gave it a go. I wasn't completely irresponsible though--I drank it in a safe, boring, middle-aged way--I imbibed it in my hotel room, while watching "State of Play" on cable television. Then I hung out with my friends a bit later. Long story short, I didn't notice a huge difference between this product and other alcoholic beverages. There was no need for a hospital visit, or any other hazardous effects. So, after my "macho" experiment I kind of forgot about Four Loko and moved on. But flash forward to late 2022. While in the liquor store buying beer I had a blast from the past. There on the counter were a couple of new Four Loko offerings. They were called "Pregame," and came in smaller, 6.8 ounce (or 200 mL) plastic bottles. I couldn't resist this impulse buy, and snapped up two of them--the Sour Blue Razz kind, and a Lemonade one.
Some of the historical details about Four Loko come from its official website, and others from alternate online sources. So I'll use qualifying words where necessary. Anyway, Four Loko was birthed by three Ohio State University frat brothers--Jaisen Freeman, Jeff Wright, and Chris Hunter. Supposedly they enjoyed coming up with new alcoholic drinks at their fraternity, especially those that were mixed with stimulants such as caffeine. In 2005 they began marketing a new concoction called "Four Loko"--the "Four" from the four key ingredients, and the "loko" as an alternative spelling for the Spanish word for "crazy." By 2008 and 2009 the drink was becoming quite popular. Especially amongst college students, who found it had quite the "bang for its buck," as a $2 can had the same amount of alcohol as 3 beers, and the same amount of caffeine as 3 cups of coffee. Alas, there was a downside to this. Some consumers overindulged, and ended up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. Enough so that many colleges started to ban Four Loko on campus, as did several states, including Washington and Michigan. The negative PR started to swirl around Four Loko, as well as other stimulant-infused alcoholic drinks like Tilt, Sparks, and Joose. Finally in November of 2010 the U.S. banned this type of alcohol. Some of these brands were discontinued, while Four Loko and Joose removed the caffeine, taurine, and guarana from their products.
This modified version of Four Loko continued on. Four Loko has its Core series, its Sour line, its Innovation series, and the Pregame line. Their flavors are usually some of kind of fruit, and sour versions are very common, obviously. The alcohol content ranges from a low of 8% to a high of 14%. Four Loko products are sold in over 40 countries, on 5 continents. Its biggest market seems to be much of North, Central, and South America, along with pockets in Europe, China, and Southeast Asia. It is not sold in one unidentified U.S. state, which I'm going to guess is probably Utah. Clearly Four Loko is still sensitive about the 2010 hubbub--their Questions and Answers section on their website had several questions dealing with its alleged bad health effects. For the record, they correctly note that there are no stimulants in Four Loko now, and thus it's as dangerous as any other alcoholic beverage--i.e. if enjoyed responsibly, it's alright. Some folks clearly pine for its dangerous days though, as cans from the pre-2010 ingredient change are something of a collector's item. As far as drier business details go, Four Loko is a brand of Phusion Products, LLC out of Wisconsin. Phusion also owns several other liquor brands, such as Mamitas Tequila Seltzer, Basico Tequila, Basic Vodka, Moksato Life, and Earthquake. The technical brewer of Four Loko is Minhas Craft Brewery. Finally, since I haven't yet mentioned this important bit of info, Four Loko is a flavored malt beverage.
Four Loko, orange flavor: This is the one I had back in 2010. It was right on the cusp of the changeover to having no stimulants in it. My memory is that it did have the caffeine, taurine, etc., but it was over a decade ago, so I'm not 100% sure. Anyway, I recall it tasted orange-y, but definitely boozy, too. Okay, but not great. Not really something to savor, but really a vehicle for inebriation, as I'd heard. Don't know for sure, but its alcohol content was probably about 14%.
Four Loko Pregame, lemonade flavor, 13.9% alcohol: This had a yellow color, not shockingly, and looked like lemonade. Not much of a discernable smell, though. And it tasted like slightly boozy lemonade. Okay. Kind of similar to the orange kind as I recall. Alright for a cheap liquor, but hardly great or anything. For those who don't get the name for it, "pregaming" is drinking alcoholic drinks before you go out to the bars, festival, sporting event, etc., usually to save some money on said drinks. That's what this is presumably best for.
Four Loko Pregame, sour blue razz flavor, 13.9% alcohol: Clearly, this one was blue, but its odor was more lemonade-y. (Somewhat ironically, since the actual lemonade flavor one didn't smell like lemonade really.) Its flavor was like raspberry. A bit artificial, but not bad overall. Again, rather similar to the previous. I doubt that many people drink this for the taste--it's just for the alcohol. There are definitely worse ways to get this.
Therefore, all in all the ones I tried did what they set out to do, but not much more. A decent choice for college students on a budget, I suppose. (And yes, disclaimer, please drink responsibly, don't drink and drive, follow all of those common sense safety rules.)
Also, if you're curious, "State of Play" was a pretty good political thriller, whether one is under the influence, or stone cold sober.
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