I happened to chance an eye pleasing blue can of Red Bull, more to quench a building curiosity rather than thirst itself. The local store offered a chilled can, moist with condensed water vapour, the bluish glint almost resembled a matte finishing, the packaging was slim but firm enough. The bill was paid for the entire cart of items so I paid little heed to its individual cost.
The back of the can read "Not recommended to children" and other particulars owing to the "caffeine" content. But reasons more dreadful waited to be tread upon. Finally (I know the set up is getting dramatic, but it is just as much required, trust me this once) I opened the can with reckless discourtesy and the bubbling liquid almost surfaced as it sensed an escape after months of confinement.
The colour was "caramel" (as the can itself proclaimed). It was’nt close to a memorable olfactory experience as the smell was almost pharmaceutical. But then, I gulped my hesitation, intuition and a mouthful of the frothy liquid, all at once. It quite literally tasted like carbonated cough syrup. (Truthfully, an ominous picture of a chrome bottle of crimson liquid, you see too often at times of infection by the flu, surfaced in my mind). Having bought it, I finished the can with a hope that it may taste better towards the end, but no prizes for guessing what I got.
Also, this was the can which I squeezed, bent and deformed most mercilessly till date (If memory serves). I had long since wanted to taste it seeing the brilliantly doodled advert on the t.v, but it came as a shock. Without a heartbeat of hesitation, I redeemed the other two cans of the joke-of-a-drink I had mistaked to buy, for a pack of nutty chocolates and a nescafe mocha can. The fact that an individual can of 250 ml of this dead-bull thingie costs a dizzying 75 bucks double underlined the mental note i’d made of "never TOUCHING a can of any color bull ever again".(Red bull tastes of something abstracted from, say, a dead bull, to give you a clear picture).
If you need energy, go for good old parle-G and a glass of glucose water, because RB can see you off to a lot of puking and nausea, leave alone an "energy boost". This is one thing I warn you against. Red-Bull is a bolt from the blue of the beverage industry.(What the HELL are they playing at) PS: If you somehow get my point, dont risk this product. I would be glad if you left your comments and/or ratings.