Drunk and awake

By By Erika Bentson

Thursday, January 25, 2007

After a week spending hours staring at a computer screen, Krista Suter, Shawnee junior, stumbles around like a zombie with bloodshot eyes and a throbbing headache. Suter, an illustration major, has been working on projects all week. She’s tried to keep stress at bay and can’t believe she finally made it to Friday.

Suter really wants to go out and give her liver a workout, but she needs something to keep her from passing out. Luckily, she can drink a beverage that will wake her up and get her drunk.

Where to get these creative cocktails

Jensen’s

630 W. Ninth St.

Cork and Barrel

901 Mississippi St.

2000 W. 23rd St.

Mass Beverage

3131 Nieder Road

Without caffeine and alcohol, the lifestyle of a college student wouldn’t be the same. So mixing the two was inevitable. There have been Red Bull-and-vodka concoctions and Jäger bombs for years, but now companies like Miller and Anheuser-Busch have released malt beverages with the caffeine already mixed in. These beverages, like Bud Extra and Sparks, are what Chris McKinney, assistant manager at Mass Beverage, 3131 Neider Road, calls hybrid drinks, blending alcohol, caffeine, ginseng and taurine.

Anheuser-Busch introduced Bud Extra in Feb. 2006, second to its cousins, Tilt and Tilt Green, which were introduced in 2005.

The market is booming, says Mike Bourneuf, team leader at O’Malley Beverage, 2050 Packer Ct. Sales from last year have risen 70 percent.

The drinks are intended for a younger crowd, especially those who want to party all day, Bourneuf says. It’s a good alternative when you’re going to be drinking for a long time, like on St. Patrick’s Day and during Mardi Gras, and you need something to break the monotonous cycle of beer after beer, he says.

In case you were worried that mixing alcohol, a depressant, and caffeine, a stimulant, will create opposite effects on your body, relax. Unless you have a serious medical condition, drinking these things shouldn’t hurt you, says Terry Riordan, a physician at Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 346 Maine St. He added that some may think that, by drinking caffeine along with alcohol, they will be able to stay alert and do things they wouldn’t normally do when drinking, like drive. The alcohol will still dull your brain, even along with the caffeine, Riordan says.

The next time you’re feeling sluggish and need something to help you to the bar, try a drink that has the best of both worlds. And if you’re working to slim down, Sparks and Tilt come in reduced calorie formulas. But as always, never drink and drive.

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