# Red Bull energy drink

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Red Bull energy drink and 13 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** People like its taste and marketing, and call it the least bad energy drink. Critics warn of sugar and caffeine effects, including poor sleep and diabetes risk.

## Why people recommend it

- Likeable taste, including peach flavor (4 comments): "A peach red bull tastes just better in my opinion." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125590)) "they taste better than bitter dirt water" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125592)) "I personally like the taste of redbull" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49816887))
- Strong marketing and sponsorship (3 comments): "Their business is basically selling poison but creating such absurd quantities of great free entertainment" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46052852)) "Red Bull really ran the marketing playbook that GoPro should have done" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48958312)) "Red Bull doesn’t just market, they bankroll and support." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48958552))

## What people warn about

- Sugar and caffeine health concerns (2 comments): "its real energy come from the massive amount of sugar it contains" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48517359)) "Sugar and Caffeine. Diabetes and poor sleep, great stuff." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46488312))
- Taste not enjoyed by some (3 comments): "I dont particularly enjoy red bulls drinks, but their ads are often cool enough to be considered content." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46052488)) "no it don't. A strawberry or a cherry from the tree tastes good but not RB." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125528)) "red bull doesn't taste great personally" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49125997))
- Stimulant side effects for some (2 comments): "Stimulants set me off really badly." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47295570)) "felt awful for days afterwards" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133513))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Monster Energy drink](https://hackerapproved.com/p/monster.md): 10 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Red Bull energy drink", https://hackerapproved.com/p/red-bull/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).