— By Jane Parton |
In the midst of all this Four Loko banning (then caffeine-removing) business, I found myself thinking again and again that Four Loko would never have existed and none of this would be happening if two years ago they'd just let us keep our original-recipe Sparks. I don't know if you all remember this as it was kind of a while ago, but in the wake of the Sparks formula change back in I think January of 2008 two girls made their own “bathtub Sparks” out of Red Bull, King Cobra and Pez candies. To recap, they blind taste-tested it in front of Pops and out of three taste testers, two thought the homebrew was real Sparks.
Well, history has repeated itself once again, and some dude went & made what he's calling homebrewed Four Loko. Here's the recipe:
Yeah, it's a few more steps than the Bathtub Sparks was, but the yield appears to be at least 3 servings so maybe it's worth it?
Also, on an only somewhat related sidenote, a friend of mine told me the other day that the European equivalent of Four Loko is this stuff,
Desperado Red: a delicious, wholesome mixture of beer, tequila, cachaça and guarana, all in an oh-so-classy glass bottle (which definitely would have spelled disaster had I been drinking this stuff this summer.) If the news of the Four Loko reformulation has reached France (where this stuff originates) already, they must think we Americans are colossal party rookies. Dudes, we cannot allow France of all places to believe we're party rookies. NOT OKAY.
Comments (11)
Seems like you can buy pre-made cocktails in grocery stores everywhere but in the US. Here we have to suffer with these vile malt liquor drinks like Four Loko, Smirnoff Ice, etc.
The major problem here is the same problem with Sparks–low alcohol content. Four loko is 12% alcohol, which is at least 50% higher than Sparks and far more than this DIY swill, when taking into account that St. Ides is 8% undiluted.
The only way Four Loko could be improved would be if they made a version that didn’t have 666 calories per can.
putting tequila and cachaca in the same drink? WTF? That’s just asking for a) a shit ton of booze and b) being numb in places you thought you could not be numb.
I’m not saying that’s “bad” or whatever, just sayin’.
Since it seems no one around here has ever been to the Northwest, may I remind folks of what is known as a “loaded Corona?” that’s when you drop a shot of vodka into your, ahem, Corona.
And now people are selling Corona Familiar….drop in a red pill and you’re all set!
I like my Corona with a shot of Clamato and a squeeze of lime. It’s a Mexican-style bloody mary.
No way, Jose. It’s all about a splash of Maggi and Valentina.
did you see SNL’s weekend update last sat? good little fake segment w Jason Sudeikis as Chris Hunter of FourLoko.
I’m from France. The desperados actually isn’t that strong. It basically has the same effect that a strong beer has on you; hardly as effective as a Four Loko. Just saying…
The way I would do it (as a party drink)
16 16-oz cans of Monster or equivalent
30 200 mg caffeine pills
Fruit flavored drink mix to make 5 gallons - sugar as recommended on the drink (or sugar free)
A fifth of grain alcohol or handle of vodka
A case of beer or 8 40’s of malt liquor
Mix the first three ingredients in a 5 gallon bucket and let mellow , stirring occasionally, until everything is dissolved - you’ll lose some carbonation from the Monster but the beer will restore it. Pack the bucket in a washtub of ice, and add grain alc, then beer. Mix. Serves 10 (wasted, be careful) to 20 (pleasantly buzzed). It’s not quite Four Loko (in flavor) but it’s close. Good Luck.
bitches sparks the shit lol jk but if you replace the sprite with tequila and double the caffine pills its awesome
Didn’t the original 4 Loko have wormwood oil in it as well? How can you replicate that?
Try Scotland’s equivalent. Brewed by Catholic monks in rural England it contains more caffeine drop for drop than red bull and a solid 15% in 750ml bottle.
Mentioned in over 6000 police reports in 3 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckfast_Tonic_Wine