Red Bull vs. Alcohol

I’ve taken to drinking Red Bull & Vodka’s lately – usually on those evenings when I’m a bit tired, and yet want to keep up with my drunken friends. I’ve even introduced the phrase “make it a double and bring me the can” into the local lexicon.

The Red Bull wakes you up, and the vodka makes you drunk. Thus the conflict -- the stimulants of Red Bull mix fighting the depressant effects of the alcohol in the Vodka’s alcohol. My body was host to this battle last Wednesday night.

Let’s cover the quantitative information first. I consumed approximately eight drinks. Judging from the size of the drinks I’d guess it was eight shots of vodka and six cans of Red Bull.

Now on to bodily battleground. When I got home (I didn’t drive) I was drunk enough to fall asleep nearly immediately. However, it turns out that my body can process alcohol much faster than it can process caffeine. Thus three hours after falling asleep I wake up in the full “wide-awake-and-wired” mode.

I get up and head downstairs and flip on the TV. Jules hears me, and wakes up as well. Now it’s 4:30 am and we’re both awake. “I, Robot” is just starting. We watch the movie, the sun rise, and each have a bowl of cereal before we start our day.