It was going to be abhorrent that I have started to drink sugarfree Red Bull on a daily basis at work until I realised that it was an Austrian product, and not another capitalistic US takeover. It is my choice, yes, to drink such concoctions, but when the choice in Bulgaria is limited to four or so brands of energy drinks, and only one regularly available in the sugarfree version, there really is not that much choice.

It is also curious, because I would never pay three leva for any other type of drink, every day at that.

In the States, there were numerous brands, and for much less money, and they did not use aspartame, so they were three times better than what we have here: 1) sucralose instead of acesulfame-k or aspartame; 2) cheaper; 3) more variety. There, I would occasionally splurge and drink something named (appallingly) Rockstar. But it had a good taste.

They do not really give me energy, save for making it impossible to fall asleep before 1.30am even when dead tired, or an occasional desire to embrace the world, but the flavour is nice and the bubbles are of a good quality and they do not give me stomach rot or headaches, like diet colas and coffee do. Plus, the cans just look so chic.
So, it was time to experiment with more.  The best selection, it seems, is at petrol stations.

This is probably because thirsty and/or tired drivers and/or passengers get bored, and want something to tickle their taste buds, and a different beverage is welcome, particularly as the beers sold at filling stations are not the best option for someone behind the wheel.

The next best selection comes from the mini markets that dot every neighbourhood, probably because they are at whim to pick and choose whatever can design they like best, disregarding the executive command and distributor contracts that control the orders of supermarket chains.

So we start with Red Bull. No, in fact, we start with Pink Up, which I started drinking in Macedonia (or should that be Skopje? After all this is about a beverage, not a name dispute between FYROM and Greece...), though it be a Serbian creation. I was amused to find that it is marketed as an energy drink specifically for women, as if the contents would differ from some better-known brand – if it’s sugarfree, that’s what matters to me. Like the name would suggest, it came in a fuschia-coloured can, and the liquid was of the same shade, though clear.

We then move to Cocaine, bought at a petrol station in Bansko, the only place where sugarfree energy drinks were sold in the town, save the supermarket on the outskirts. Cocaine (sugarfree) came in a white can with dark strawberry jello-coloured writing. Pretty, though I did not like the ragged font itself, or the name. It just seems dumb. I mean, I’ve never tried cocaine or anything, so there is no way to compare, but it comes across as an effort to be too hip, like a more reasonable name would not be as cool. I chose it because it was not Red Bull. It was ok, though the bubbles were of not as fine a quality as with Pink Up. And the taste was a bit artificial (you can laugh now). And – why add dyes to a liquid that never sees daylight, unless you mix it with alcohol?

We’re back to Sofia. Choice has been reduced to Red Bull. Why would I never choose Red Bull, without ever having tried it? Because it is the largest name. Though, I would choose Red Bull before any omnipresent cola-branded/-produced energy drink.

My first time to see Red Bull was in Austria – at the train station Baden-Baden – in the summer of 2000. I was shocked; I did not realise what it was, and thought that 14-year-old boys were drinking beer. (That’s another topic, for later, legal drinking age and the United States’ need to lower it.)

So it was Sofia and Red Bull; I can understand why it wins out, still: because the can does not look dumb, and the name is not that of a poseur. And it has the best bubbles.

On Monday, it’s time for sugarfree Shark. Grrr.