Out of curiosity I cracked open an energy drink – one of those narrow macho looking cans with Fast and Furious writing in neon colours. (Looking at the can it is, in fact, called Drive, #DRIVEM7ASPAR, whatever the latter means).
Good lord. What a foul thing. I took a single sip and poured it down the sink. I have since looked at the ingredients label and find in it caffeine, taurine (1/3 of the daily safe allowance), various vitamin Bs for health and the usual panoply of flavourings, food dyes and preservatives including that perennial favourite, Brilliant Blue, to hide the fact that one is drinking buffalo piss. The taste itself is the stuff of nightmares, that monstrosity designed to evoke ‘fruit’ rather like a mouthful of assorted Runts, with undercurrents of creeping death.
That single sip is still lingering at the back of my throat. I thought I had a strong stomach for the unwholesome, but this has put me in my place.
My Lahore trip suffered a hitch when the PIA website refused to accept my card, Expedia increased the price of a ticket ten fold and even Malindo is twice what I paid a few months ago. I’ll try going to PIA in person tomorrow and see what happens.
Update: Google magic tells me DRIVEM7ASPAR refers to a motorcycle team this company sponsors. So I suppose it’s not a dodgy no-name energy drink. One shudders at what the actual no-names are like.