With names like “Fixx,” “Cocaine,” “Bong Water” and “Xtreme Shock,” is the ever-growing appeal of energy drinks any surprise? According to a 2007 report by market research firm Mintel, approximately 65 percent of those who consume these drinks are male and under 35 years of age. Packaged in cans, like soda, the strongest of the drinks contain high levels of caffeine, which make them attractive study aids, work-out enhancers, even cocktail mixers. (Watch an amusing commercial for one such drink at YouTube.) Predictions are that the market for these drinks will hit $6 billion or more annually by 2010 as groups such as young professional women are targeted with gentler-named products. But do they work and are they safe? At Energy Drink Ratings and Taurine Rules, blogs dedicated to reviewing the hundreds of drinks on the market, you can learn which drinks are strongest, best tasting, most popular, least fattening, cheapest, etc. We like the “Best Energy Drink” page at Energy Drink Ratings. It’s over a year old but lists the top five strongest drinks — Wired X505, 5-Hour Energy, Fixx, Redline and Cocaine — from the 250-plus beverages the author has reviewed, with links to the original review and where to purchase the drink online. For example, Redline Energy Drink made the top five strongest drinks, so we linked to the review and learned that the active ingredients are caffeine, Evoburn, hydroxy, yerba mate and green tea and that it isn’t a conventional energy beverage, but rather “falls more into the category of fat burners or thermogenics … you cannot get these things at gas stations or grocery stores. You have to get it online or at a vitamin store like GNC.” The author goes on to a “final judgment” of Redline that reads, “It tastes like crap, it costs too much but the kick you get from this freakin’ thing is amazing.” There are concerns about the dangers of energy drinks. Please read up on them and, if you choose to consume these beverages, do so responsibly.