Made by Anaiya Patel

Ring ring ring … ring ring ri- the time is 6:35 and you just woke up, jolted awake by 10 alarms set the night before. and by the 8th one you think to yourself that today is the day that you either make it or break it. You have studied all night long basically pulling an all nighter in hopes that heimler and luck will save you for your ap world history ap exam. You chant to yourself champa rice, industrial revolution, mughal empire, genghias khan until it finally clicks. You thought you would have more time but May is already here and by the time the exam rolls around you are rushing to absorb as much information as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time. If it has worked for you before why won’t it work again but then a wave of exhaustion suddenly hits you. It’s not just physical exhaustion but mental too and it’s too late to go back to sleep. Besides, even if you did, you can’t escape the strain your body has endured over the last 24 hours. So you decide to get out of bed, get ready, and scrounge up any last notes you can get your hands on to flood your mind with any last minute details. Before you leave your house though you are left with two options of desperately needed sources of caffeine. An energy drink or coffee, which one do you choose? DUN DUN DUN!

When it comes down to which beverage is better overall there are two main categories we must first analyze. 

1. Taste
2. Caffeine intake 

Taste is purely subjective, however, each drink has a unique flavor profile to it. To add, coffee has a baseline bitter taste to it whereas energy drinks are sweetened with a variety of flavours. Grace Lu (11th) says, “I choose coffee over energy drinks sometimes when I feel like I don’t want anything too sweet. Energy drinks are more of a when I’m hanging out with my friends and coffee feels more serious.” Although coffee is naturally bitter, additives such as creamer and sugar allow it to offset the bitterness. It all depends on preference but for now we are simply going to compare the standard cup of coffee to U.S top selling drink: redbull-(according to mashed.com)

Coffee is often paired with foods while energy drinks aren’t necessarily consumed with anything. According to dailynebraskan.com it states, “The bitter taste of coffee primarily pairs well with and enhances the flavors of breakfast foods, making it the ideal beverage choice to start the morning. Since coffee has such a rich history, popular food items such as croissants, pastries and even hearty omelettes have been designed to pair with coffee, not the other way around.” Coffee is versatile in its taste outside of additives. Coffee is also heavily associated with cultures. It is specifically deeply rooted in European culture where coffee is not just a drink but rather an experience. The main variable here is time, now whether or not highschools students have the time to sit down and leisurely enjoy their coffee let alone their breakfast is a whole another story but for now coffee culture further enriches the taste.

For energy drinks, the flavor profile is far more complicated to pinpoint. Grace adds, “I prefer energy drinks over coffee as they are typically cheaper and sweeter with a wider variety of flavors.” While Redbull offers a wide range of flavours the basic foundation at heart is the original Redbull according to redbull.com. Redbull can be described as a cross between citrus and a sour candy. This presents a stark contrast to coffee’s bitter flavour. Suhani Lavania (10th) says, “I don’t like the taste of coffee, as it’s too bitter.” Moreover, an aspect of red bull that influences taste is carbonization. Carbonization isn’t just a fancy gimmick. Instead, it contributes to the balance and intensity of a drink’s flavors, producing the crisp and inviting taste that sets energy drinks apart from coffee.

Here is what rockymountainsoda.com has found:

Next up, is the caffeine. Since this evaluation doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all answer  we will be narrowing down the selection of both drinks to a single average cup of joe and one can of redbull. According to driftaway.coffee it states, “Coffee has more caffeine than Red Bull, although both drinks are well below the Mayo Clinic’s recommended maximum of 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. An 8-ounce cup of coffee contains between 80 and 200 milligrams of caffeine, depending on the varietal and brew method. An 8.4-ounce Red Bull can has 80 milligrams of caffeine.” Now while coffee technically has a higher caffeine amount it doesn’t necessarily mean that it will automatically make you feel energized. According to my.clevelandclinic.org, “Caffeine sensitivity is how quickly (or slowly) you feel the stimulating effects of caffeine or how much it affects you. Levels of caffeine sensitivity vary widely. Some people don’t feel anything after having a shot of espresso. Others are wide awake after eating a small piece of chocolate.” This suggests that caffeine may not be enough. This is why some may receive an extra boost when drinking energy drinks as mentioned in driftaway.coffee black coffee has no sugar unlike a single 8.4-ounce can of Red Bull which contains a total of 27 grams of sugar. Suhani adds, “ I feel a lot more awake when drinking an energy drink than compared to coffee.” At the end of the day, energy drinks and coffee depend on the users preferences whether it be a steaming cup of coffee to kickstart the morning with an equally warm breakfast or a refreshing cold and crispy drink on the go to help push through strenuous days.