Walking through the halls seeing person upon person sipping their vibrant Hyper drinks, leads us to wonder… What makes it so special? According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S FDA), 80% of U.S adults consume caffeine every day. This is due to the short-term positive effects that people enjoy throughout their day. Hyper Energy Bar recently innovated a new way to receive these effects and high school students are loving it. 

 Hyper Energy Bar is a beverage drive-thru restaurant that has just opened a new location in Grimes. It has a total of two locations and the new business is booming in our area.

I ventured to Hyper Energy Bar to put the two most popular flavors head to head. The workers informed me our competitors would be Jet Fuel vs. Lovestruck. Jet Fuel is an all-time favorite and it is flavored watermelon, peach and mango. Lovestruck is a Limited time Valentine’s day drink, that is flavored with almond, white chocolate and raspberry, topped with conversation hearts.

 After trying them both, it was an easy consensus, Jet Fuel would be my personal winner. Jet Fuel was less sweet and more of a refreshing option than Lovestruck. However, for a person who is looking for an extra sweet drink to celebrate the holiday, Love Struck may be the way to go. After doing a final poll it was concluded that the students prefer Love Struck over Jet Fuel- 53% to 47%.

Trying the two most popular flavors leads us to ask ourselves, why do so many people love it? It can be concluded that there are a variety of different reasons for this. Some enjoy the extra energy boost, some the flavor, and others simply just like having something to walk around with and sip throughout the school day.

Sayler Richerson ‘24, an avid Hyper drinker said, “It makes me feel very awake, I love the taste of the drinks, and I get a lot for what I pay for.” Everyone has slightly different reasons for their recent infatuation but many tend to fall along similar lines as Richerson.

Hyper Energy Bar has many competitors, so why are they being picked above those? Many people enjoy the new and exciting experience and that is why they are immediately drawn to it. People crave the ability to fit in and to be a part of the most popular thing. This results in many people going to Hyper Energy Bar and joining in on the trend. 

Even though many have a fixation with the new business, it is important to become more aware of the effects it brings. These drinks may have positive effects on the daily, but long-term effects can be a different story. Health Teacher Destiny Perkins-Willer said, “Caffeine is a drug, so you can get addicted to the dopamine given off by caffeine. There can be anxiety, insomnia, sometimes depression from long term use of caffeine,” 

Long-term caffeine can lead to issues, but by consuming a healthy amount of caffeine you may be able to avoid this. The U.S. FDA claims that consuming 400 milligrams of caffeine, or less, per day, is a healthy amount. Richerson vows to drinking a large Hyper drink about five times a week, which results in about 250 mg of caffeine per day. According to the FDA, that is considered a healthy amount, which means she should not have any serious long-term effects.

Although the negatives are more commonly discussed, many positive effects can be found with caffeine. In 2005 the Radiological Society of North America did a study that concluded caffeine can improve short-term memory and even speed up reaction time. These are both traits that can greatly help one throughout a school day. This can conclude that a healthy amount of caffeine each day could be beneficial to students. 

Overall, the students are greatly affected by caffeine on a daily basis. They are consuming caffeine in many different ways and Hyper Energy Bar is flourishing because of this huge market. After research, it is also believed that the positive effects greatly outweigh the negatives. This poses a new question, how long will this stay popular?