My homemade energy drink: Watch out Red Bull!

The energy drink market has always fascinated me. The gas station down the street from our office has two industrial-sized fridges dedicated entirely to carbonated caffeine. I just walked down the street to take a count -- they have 14 varieties. How the hell can so many companies selling the exact same product survive? They all have an almost-verbatim list of ingredients and more importantly, the active ingredient is the same in each one -- caffeine. The same caffeine you get from coffee, chocolate, or my favorite, green tea.

I actually hate the taste of green tea, but the way I see it, if you want caffeine, green tea is the healthiest way to go. It gives you a pre-workout energy boost and I'm sure it'll pay off somewhere down the road when I don't contract skin cancer after all the hours I spend in the SoCal sun (pounding on wood). Now, many of my fellow employees think that I have serious issues, because a cup of my green tea packs a little more punch than most. I use four bags and steep them for about 10 minutes. While that may seem a bit insane, it still only yields about 150 mg of caffeine, which is less the half the "caff" of a venti cup of startbucks. I find that the "buzz" is rather mild, perfect for a run, and it's more sustainable than the rush delivered by a quadruple-shot espresso. If you've got the stomach for it, I suggest you give it a try. Otherwise, you could head to your local gas station and pay $3.50 for some crazy energy drink with a skull and chainsaw on the can -- it's up to you. My "energy drink" costs me about 12 cents a serving.