The Ultimate Guide To Four Loko

We've all been there. You have a little too much fun at a party, and the next thing you know, you wake up with a pounding headache, you're a few dollars lighter, and friends now have a stash of stories to embarrass you with for the rest of your life — though you might be hard-pressed to remember them. There is, perhaps, no beverage with more potential to spur on some chaotic evenings than the infamous Four Loko. 

In a Reddit thread about Four Loko, user br33tease recalled an evening they drank two cans of the stuff. They later woke up in a closet to the sounds of police officers breaking up the party and escorting their friends away in handcuffs. Likewise, user Fajita Ray drank only one and a half cans — and while they woke up the next morning feeling fine, a review of their bank statement revealed otherwise. The Reddit user had seemingly attended six different bars miles away from their home, despite the fact that they didn't have a car. Similarly, studious poster JR5 guzzled three Four Lokos in less than an hour and only regained consciousness the next morning in a college class — sans one shoe, staring down at a page full of nonsensical notes. 

Suffice it to say, Four Loko has been around for over a decade, and the drink's history is rife with controversy given stories like these. However, there's more to Four Loko than you might realize.

Given the proclivity many college students have toward drinking alcohol, it makes sense that Four Loko originated on a university campus. The creators of the beverage, Jeff Wright, Jaisen Freeman, and Christopher Hunter, met during their time at Ohio State University. They were inspired in part by the widespread appeal of vodka-Red Bull cocktails.

The trio's road to success was a long and difficult one. In an interview with BroBible, Freeman explained that their first two attempts at selling alcoholic drinks, which came in the form of a pair of products called Four and Four Max, were failures. "Our first flavor was strawberry. It tasted like Robitussin," Wright recalled. Additionally, the group had to take on considerable financial risks in order to get the business off the ground, including taking out loans, remortgaging their homes, and borrowing up to the maximum limit on their credit cards.

Though the founders of Four Loko decided to spell it with a "k," in Spanish, the world "loco" means "crazy" — so you might assume that the drink got its moniker from the wild nights those who imbibe it are likely to have. In fact, the four main ingredients in the drink — taurine, guarana, caffeine, and alcohol –- are what inspired its name.

Taurine and guarana are frequently included in beverages to increase energy levels in consumers. However, just how effective these additions are is up for debate. Taurine is an amino acid that occurs naturally in the human body at a rate of almost 1 gram per kilogram of weight. Despite the chemical's importance to certain bodily functions, there is not enough evidence yet to prove that taurine has any impact on energy, according to a review published in the Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine.

Guarana, on the other hand, is derived from a South American fruit that has around double the caffeine found in coffee beans. As such, when you see guarana listed alongside caffeine in an ingredients list, you can generally assume that your drink will give you a little extra buzz.

Caffeine is one of the main ingredients that gave Four Loko its name, but it was ultimately its inclusion, in conjunction with alcohol, that inspired most of the controversy surrounding the brand. Generally speaking, alcohol and caffeine are like vinegar and baking soda: They should be mixed with caution. While caffeine may be a daily fixture for many, it's still considered a drug. On its own, caffeine sparks activity in the nervous system, which leads to a whole host of effects, including increases in alertness, energy, and heart rate.

However, the newfound energy you might get from caffeine is exactly what makes it so dangerous when combined with alcohol. Caffeine is a stimulant, and alcohol is a depressant. When you drink a caffeinated alcoholic beverage, the opposing effects of these two drugs cancel one another out, which might make it more likely for you to drink more than you would have otherwise. Even though it might make you feel more clear-headed while drinking, caffeine has no actual impact on blood alcohol levels.

Now that you understand the risks associated with mixing alcohol and caffeine, it will likely come as little surprise that Four Loko's original recipe resulted in more than its fair share of medical emergencies. During a four-month period in 2019, 11 people were admitted to the Bellevue Hospital Center after overindulging on Four Loko. Almost all of them were underage. The very same year, Four Loko was blamed for the hospitalization of nine college students at Central Washington University. Washington state's attorney general at the time, Rob McKenna, felt that a combination of marketing and flavor was responsible for the incident. "They're marketed to kids by using fruit flavors that mask the taste of alcohol, and they have such high levels of stimulants that people have no idea how inebriated they really are," McKenna stated (via NBC News).

The problems associated with Four Loko, unfortunately, go beyond hospitalized college students. After drinking only two cans, a 21-year-old Maryland woman crashed her truck into a telephone pole and died on impact in 2010. In September of that year, after drinking several cans of Four Loko, a Florida State sophomore shot himself with his friend's .22 pistol, and there were questions as to whether his death was a suicide or an accident.

During the late 2000s, Four Loko became known as "blackout in a can." This moniker was well-earned; there were numerous reports of people who blacked out after drinking Four Loko. Many of these events were ultimately harmless, but, in some cases, the beverage's effects had dire consequences, with Four Loko being implicated in drunk driving accidents and even a case of gang-related torture.

While such incidents are associated with all types of alcohol, Four Loko had a particular ability to affect people due to the aforementioned combination of alcohol and stimulants it contained. As 779th Medical Group ADAPT Program Manager Sue Scheddel explained to the Air Force District of Washington: "[People] tend to drink it too fast and are not aware how it will affect them ... when mixed with alcohol, caffeine causes people to misjudge the impact that the alcohol is having on them."

Four Loko's sweet, easily drinkable nature belied its incredible strength. Each tallboy can boasted an ABV of 12% and 156 milligrams of caffeine. This made drinking one can of Four Loko akin to consuming several beers and a couple cups of coffee at once. Given that people would often consume multiple cans of Four Loko in short time periods, it's not hard to see why so many individuals experienced Four Loko-induced blackouts.

As 2010 went on, Four Loko was under immense pressure to remove the stimulants from its products. A number of colleges and even several states had banned the drink, and the pressure only intensified after New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz, who had proposed that his state ban Four Loko as well, drank two and a half cans while being filmed by NBC New York. Ortiz's heart rate skyrocketed, and he ended up vomiting. To make matters worse, the Federal Trade Commission sent an official warning letter to the producer of Four Loko, urging the business to discontinue the beverages for public health reasons. On November 17, Four Loko yielded to the pressure, announcing that all of the beverage's stimulants — caffeine, taurine, and guarana — would be removed from the formula.

Given the brand's huge popularity, a formula change was always going to spark backlash. Over 100,000 Americans joined Facebook groups that protested the change. Some even went as far as holding vigils for the brand. The most famous of these was held in New York's Union Square and involved nearly 100 people. Four Loko-themed chants and songs were recited by the group.

After Four Loko ceased to be an option for party-inclined college students, you might think that the drink immediately disappeared. Instead, in a manner seemingly similar to Prohibition-era bootlegging, a seedy underworld emerged as a result. Shortly after the formula change, a New York City news team found a 12-pack being sold for $80, which represented a more than 300% increase in the drink's price point. Several years later, in 2015, a trio of New Jersey women were busted attempting to hawk three cases of Four Loko on Craigslist for a whopping $355.

The enduring demand for original-formula Four Loko, and the vigils that were held to mark its "passing," suggest that there is a large group of people calling for the return of Four Loko's original formula. However, judging by a petition on Change.org, this isn't the case. Despite having been open since January 2021, "Get Biden to Bring Back Caffeinated Four Lokos" has fewer than 450 signatures, far from enough to inspire the brand to make U-turn.

By the time Four Loko had committed to changing its formula, many states had already banned sales of the beverage. Once the brand committed to the change, retailers only had a short window to legally sell the old Four Loko products. Despite their best efforts, many distributors and retailers were left with a lot of dead stock.

One of the few options these companies had was to send the cases of old Four Loko to MXI Environmental Services. MXI distilled the Four Loko into ethanol, which was then sold to produce fuel. At the time, Vice President of Operations Brian Potter said to NBC News, "We're equipped to process four truckloads a day, and we're at full capacity. There are about 30 different products involved, and we've only seen a couple of them at this point. It could go on for several months." The company also recycled Four Loko cans, packaging, and pallets.

Converting unwanted alcohol into other products is not a novel practice. In fact, many alcoholic drinks, including French wine, have been converted into various auto fuels in the past. This, however, did not stop a torrent of media articles from being published about Four Loko's transformation into fuel.

While its classic, caffeinated formula may be a thing of the past, consumers can still enjoy decaffeinated Four Loko in a variety of forms. The company has expanded to include products that go beyond the original drink. In recent years, it branched out into the increasingly popular world of hard seltzers. Four Loko seltzer has an ABV of 12%, which is comparable to the alcohol content of its parent product. This percentage is considerably higher than that of other hard seltzers, which generally clock in at around 4% to 6% ABV. As if the original Four Loko wasn't strong enough, the company now offers Pregame, which are individual shots that have an ABV of nearly 14%. 

If you find yourself nostalgic for the original recipe, or are curious as to what it may have been like, you're probably out of luck. You can, however, get yourself a decaffeinated can, but be warned: You might still be in for a crazy night.

While Four Loko was one of the most famous products to mix caffeine and alcohol, it was by no means the first. Buckfast, a caffeinated alcoholic drink made from unfermented grape juice and ethanol, has been produced since the 19th century. Similarly to Four Loko, Buckfast has been linked to anti-social behavior and extreme drunkenness; it has an ABV of 15%. Buckfast is predominantly sold in the United Kingdom, with Scotland being the most popular market. Coatbridge, a town in North Lanarkshire, accounts for 10% of global Buckfast consumption.

Buckfast has never been a huge player on the American market. However, there were still several caffeinated, alcoholic beverages that beat Four Loko to the punch. These included Sparks, a caffeinated alcopop that was released in 2002. This was the first so-called energy beer to reach the market. After bearing witness to its success, MillerCoors bought the brand in 2006 for $215 million. The company volunteered to remove all the stimulants from Sparks in December 2008, around two years before Four Loko did the same.

Over a similar time period, Anheuser-Busch, which owns a number of beer brands, produced Tilt, another stimulant-laden alcoholic beverage. Launched in 2005, Tilt sought to captivate a market that was becoming hooked on vodka Red Bulls and caffeinated drinks like Sparks. It was discontinued in 2008, just when Four Loko was gaining traction.

A can of Four Loko is almost as tall as the tales you will tell after drinking one. The standard can of Four Loko contains 23.5 ounces of liquid. A standard beer is 12 ounces, meaning that there is almost twice as much liquid in a can of Four Loko as there is in the average can of beer. While this will certainly necessitate more trips to the bathroom, it doesn't tell the whole story of just how potent Four Loko can be.

The real trouble lies in Four Loko's staggering ABV, or alcohol by volume. The average can of beer has around 5% ABV, while a bottle of wine will generally have an ABV of about 12%. The ABV of Four Loko products today varies, ranging from 8% to almost 14%. The standard-size wine bottle is 750 milliliters; in other words, a can of Four Loko at the higher end of its ABV range could have roughly the same amount of alcohol as a bottle of wine, aka several glasses.

As you've probably surmised by this point, Four Loko isn't an energy drink (not that there aren't some unhealthy energy drinks out there) — nor is it a wine, cocktail, or juice, either. Technically, Four Loko is classified as a malt beverage — an alcoholic drink with a primary ingredient of malted barley grain. Legally, a product must have a base of 25% malt and 7.5 pounds of hops per every 100 barrels to qualify as a malt beverage. By that definition, beer is considered a malt beverage, for instance.

To differentiate between beer and products like Four Loko, a category called flavored malt beverage, or FMB, exists. An FMB uses all manner of additives to obfuscate the malt flavor of a drink. But Four Loko is far from the only example of a flavored malt beverage. Redd's Apple Ale, Mike's Hard Lemonade, and Kinky Cocktails are other examples of FMBs.

Four Loko has an incredibly diverse list of flavors that has only expanded over the years. The current Four Loko core flavor catalog includes classics like Fruit Punch, Watermelon, and Strawberry Lemonade. However, other flavors have names that verge on the more abstract; namely Red and Gold

In addition to these rather vague monikers, Four Loko's production team doesn't give much away as to their actual flavor profiles. For example, Four Loko's description for Gold simply states the following: "Tastes like gold. Not much more we can say." Meanwhile, the flavor description for both Red simply tells you that you must try it to find out for yourself, though it does note that "you've definitely tasted this flavor before." Aside from this more enigmatic fare, Four Loko touts a line of sour flavors, including Sour Melon, Blue Razz, Sour Apple, and Sour Grape.

In the summer of 2021, Four Loko made a surprise announcement: The beverage brand was launching its own record label. At the time of the announcement, senior marketer Samantha Catalina said in a press release (via Billboard): "Four Loko Records gives us the opportunity to bring new fresh music from artists that create outside the traditional standards of the music industry. Legends are born out of underground and indie scenes and we are excited to be a part of that."

Four Loko Records has worked closely with three artists: Wreckno, Valentino Khan, and Lil Mariko. Of these, Khan (pictured) seems to be the most popular, boasting a few hundred thousand followers on Instagram. He was also responsible for Four Loko Record's debut release, "Digest."

Despite signing these three artists and subsequently releasing their music in 2021, Four Loko Records has been largely quiet. The most recent activity we could find related to the release of "EZ," a single by Wreckno in fall 2022. 

Four Loko was basically kicked out of the United Kingdom market during 2014 when the Portman Group, the social responsibility body and regulator for alcohol labeling in the U.K., found the beverage's name to encourage irresponsible drinking. However, Four Loko returned to the British market seven years later and has since become a popular beverage.

Four Loko has been especially well received in Scotland, a country known for its love of other canned beverages like the distinctive-tasting Irn-Bru. As distributor Andy Fergurson explained to Scottish Local Retailer in early 2024, "The IRI figures also show we're the number two brand in Scotland and we have the fastest-selling RTD SKU in GB convenience. We also have another five SKUs in the top 10." In other words, Four Loko had become a sector-leading beverage in Scotland despite only hitting shelves three years prior.

Four Loko also built popularity in Scotland by sponsoring several festivals, including TRNSMT, which is held in Glasgow during July. The brand has even moved its U.K. distribution center to Scotland in order to be closer to its main market. These savvy business moves have seen sales jump and led Four Loko to win the Achievers Award from the Scottish Wholesalers Association in 2023.

Many people thought that the controversies surrounding Four Loko, and its subsequent formula change, would spell the end of the brand. However, this has not proved to be the case. In fact, the Four Loko brand remains both a notable and desirable brand, as highlighted by the several collaborations it has been involved in.

Perhaps the most popular of all Four Loko collaborations is the ongoing one it conducts with Warheads, a brand of extremely sour candy that gets its flavor from the inclusion of citric acid (the most common means of making candy sour), malic acid, and ascorbic acid. Together, these brands launched Four Loko Warheads Sour Cosmic Punch, an alcoholic beverage that boasts an overwhelmingly sour flavor profile and an ABV of 13.9%. A review left on Untappd reads: "The sweetness covers a lot of the alcohol but there's still 7% or so that's totally exposed to the flavor. If that doesn't make you wince, there is a direct sour warhead kind of tartness that will. Just like the candy, the top layer of my tongue is burned."

Four Loko has also released limited-edition cans in collaboration with other artists. For example, the Hi Def can was released at the 2018 ComplexCon in collaboration with music double act Flosstradamus.