Originally from https://www.buzzfeed.com/beimengfu/pray-for-chinas-livers-four-loko-is-back?utm_term=4ldqpia
The main selling point? The claim that the drink is “banned in the US.”
Remember Four Loko, the controversial caffeinated alcoholic beverage that destroyed the brain cells and livers of a generation? Well, for better or worse, it's alive and well across the globe in China.
The "Four" in the name for the malt alcohol concoction from hell refers to four ingredients: caffeine, alcohol, the Brazilian stimulant guarana, and the animal-derived stimulant taurine.
Phusion Projects, the drink's manufacturer, decided to halt the production and sale of its caffeinated version in 2014 after a series of incidents where the drink was consumed resulted in a series of injuries and deaths. (You can still buy non-caffeinated versions — also stripped of the other stimulants in the original formula — in 48 states of the US, Canada, China, and Latin American countries, in case you were actually still interested in drinking it for some reason.)
Some important context needs to be addressed up front: Although the official drinking age in China is 18, alcohol is very accessible to Chinese teens, as ID is not required for them to purchase it.
Wang Zhao / AFP / Getty Images
So not only is the fruit-flavored monstrosity available, it's ~really popular~ in China — over the past month, tens of thousands of cans of the 12–14% ABV drink have been sold on Taobao, just one of several online retailers in the country.
The other online retailers include JD.com, a major competitor of Taobao, and Nuomi.com, a Groupon-like site.
Chinese sellers and buyers like to refer to Four Loko as "blackout drink," "hookup tool," and "lose your virginity alcohol."
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