- For coffee-averse humans
looking for a chemical pick-me-up,
energy drinks are just what the doctor ordered,
if your doctor is the type of person
who hangs out in gas station parking lots.
From the narcotic-laced cola we glugged a century ago,
to the sparkling rocket fuel of our modern bodega shelves,
the energy drink industry has come a long way.
This is how a Thai pharmacist, a former monk,
and cocaine helped turn energy drinks
into an estimated $3.7 billion global industry.
1886.
In an attempt to create a nausea and heartburn tonic,
Atlanta-based chemist Dr. John Pemberton
develops the original Coca-Cola formula
using caffeine rich kola nuts,
and an energy delivering extract
derived from fresh coca leaves.
Uh, cocaine..
it's, it's made with cocaine.
Naturally, it's a real lally-cooler,
and keeps Americans off-puttingly confident
and kind of jittery until..
1929.
Feeling pressure from the U.S. government,
(coughs) narcs! (coughs)
Coca-Cola gradually modifies its recipe to be cocaine-free.
Hooked Americans just have to wait until the 80s
for blow to come back in style.
Anyway, in 1949, Tri-City Beverage releases Dr. Enuf.
marketed as the original energy booster.
Dr. Enuf is not a hit,
but it's still available at some Cracker Barrels.
Yee-haw!
In the late 1950s,
in Japan laws are passed to curb the amphetamine use
occurring throughout the country.
So in 1962,
to fill the need for speed with something legal,
the Taisho company creates Lipovitan,
an herbal, energizing tonic in a fun-sized bottle.
Lipovitan looks, smells, and tastes like cough syrup,
but it's pretty much the first modern energy drink.
Their recipe includes taurine,
a sulfur-containing amino acid with antioxidant properties,
which becomes a key ingredient in most energy drinks.
And despite what you might have heard,
it's not made from bull sperm or pee.
1976.
In Thailand, pharmacist Chaleo Yoovidhya uses taurine
to make a new stamina-boosting drink called
Krating Daeng
which translates to Red Guar,
or Red Bull.
In 1984, after downing a bottle of Krating Daeng
on a business trip,
Austrian Marketing Executive
Dietrich Mateschitz is surprised to find his jet lag
is miraculously gone!
He tracks down Chaleo and they team up to make a new version
of the drink that caters to Europeans.
They add more sugar, even more caffeine, and switch
from bottles to cans.
1985.
The interest around a coffee alternative in America is
growing faster than the interest in parachute pants.
Jolt Cola is introduced,
promising all the sugar and twice the caffeine.
Coke starts advertising itself as a morning drink,
and Pepsi releases the short-lived Pepsi A.M.
1987.
The new Red Bull formula is released in Austria,
and spreads throughout the continent like the
Bubonic Plague.
1997.
Following its massive success overseas,
Red Bull arrives in America!
It's particularly well-received by college students,
who find it's a procrastinator's dream
and it mixes very well with vodka.
Red Bull sidesteps
mainstream advertising in favor of authenticity.
They make grassroots efforts to spread the good word of
their product organically by sponsoring extreme sports
events and rowdy parties.
Alongside those iconic simple commercials,
Red Bull becomes a household name and when Chaleo passes
away in the 2010s,
he's the third richest person in Thailand.
The 2000's.
we enter the golden age of jumpy juice. Companies hop on the
Red Bull bandwagon,
flooding the market with hundreds of new energy drinks.
Let's burn through them! 2001!
Rockstar is the first to come in a tallboy can!
2002! Monster Energy, putting the speed in speedway!
2003! Pimp Juice by Nelly,
Not to be confused with Crunk Juice invented by
Lil Jon around the same time.
2004! Rip it!
Actually, there's a good chance
you've never heard of this one.
And that's because it's really only popular among
US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan,
where it's stocked in military commissaries.
OK, let's move out!
Also in 2004, in India,
a former monk sees potential for a new iteration of energy
drinks designed with monk-like efficiency.
He concentrates all of the ingredients into a compact little
shot with 215 milligrams of caffeine designed to fit in your
pocket. Thus 5-Hour Energy is born.
It becomes a massive hit with truckers who don't want to
consume a lot of liquid,
but also need to stay awake all night.
Let's hear from one now.
- Mmm, good stuff.
- 2005.
Three Ohio State University graduates who love drinking
Vodka Red Bull and the booze-infused Sparks
see a wide open market for alcoholic energy drinks.
They make a caffeinated malt beverage in the basement of
their frat house.
They call it Four, and soon at a very apt Loko.
2006.
Cocaine! Does not contain any actual cocaine.
2010.
The highly affordable and incredibly potent Four Loko picks
up steam at college campuses across the country.
Every millennial worth their taurine
has a crazy loko story.
Even if the details are a little fuzzy.
By the end of the year,
Four Loko is banned in several states and, well,
if you want the full story, we made a video about it,
but they don't really make alcoholic energy drinks anymore.
So, in 2020, the wellness movement is booming,
and NFL Hall of Famer
Jerry Rice creates a new Health-oriented energy drink called
G.O.A.T. Fuel made with natural caffeine and
cordyceps mushrooms,
a favorite among actual goats in the Himalayas.
But even though clean eating is in Vogue,
it hasn't stifled energy drinks, sales at all.
Collectively, energy drink companies rake in billions of
dollars every year with no signs of slowing down. From blow
to shrooms and everything in between, energy drinks have
flowed through our veins when we needed it most.
So we salute you energy drinks for giving us that extra pep
in our step and boost in our caboose.
May your sweet nectar sustain us like an iPhone charger
in the back of an Uber, and allow us to stay up until dawn
without drugs, even though I guess caffeine is a drug?
Hmm.
I never really thought about that.