No matter what party you find yourself at on a Saturday night, at least one candy-colored can is sure to catch your eye.  Described as vile, horrendous, and “a blackout in a can,” FourLoko is an alcoholic energy drink that has been making waves on campuses across the nation.

On Oct. 1, the Yale Daily News published an article on the notorious canned beverage and its sudden spike in student popularity.  The author, Danny Serna ’13, singled out Wesleyan as a particularly “loko”-friendly campus, claiming that students even rate parties according to their “loko-”ness.  In the past few weeks the drink has attracted national attention, being featured in a New York Times article entitled “Caffeine and Alcohol Drink is Potent Mix for Young.”

“Mixing alcohol and caffeine is hardly a new concept,” wrote Times reporter Abby Goodnough in the Oct. 27 article, “but a rash of cases involving students and others who landed at hospitals after drinking beverages that combine the two in a single large can has alarmed college and health officials around the country.”

Such claims beg a deeper investigation into just how big a phenomenon the drink really is on campus, and whether or not this is a cause for concern.

Students unanimously attest that Fourloko is not quite as much of a University obsession as the Yale Daily News article implies. Despite the claims, the beverage is still far from being the most popular drink on campus and it appears that the drink is more talked about than actually consumed.

“I tried it once because I kind of just wanted to see what all the hubbub was about but I didn’t really like it,” said Alex Cannon, ’14. “But I think it’s popular; it comes up quite frequently in conversation.”

Though it may not be the drink of choice for the majority of students, Fourloko is an undeniable presence on campus.

“It’s definitely always a staple of the Saturday morning recycling bins,” said Joey Mehling ’14 of the beverage’s colorful cans.

David Galanto, manager of Metro Spirits in Middletown, vouched for the sudden spike in popularity of FourLoko and other alcoholic energy drinks amongst customers.

“We only started carrying FourLoko about eight weeks ago, just as the semester was starting,” he said. “The company contacted us, but I had never heard about it before. A lot of our customers began asking if we carried it. There’s been a ton of demand–we started carrying it and the rest was history.”

Given the drinks sudden popularity, the store has decided to prioritize its stock in Fourloko over some older, more classic drinks.

“Cores haven’t been selling great, so we’re cutting down and bringing in more FourLoko,” he said.

A common advantage may be the price, a 23.5 ounce costs as little as $2.50, as well as the benefits of an energy boost.

“It’s cheap and that’s important to me,” said Faith Harding. ’14. “It is nice that it’s an energy drink, because it’s not fun to fall asleep at 12 a.m. on a Saturday night. It’s practical; it gets straight to the point. You get four drinks in one can and it will keep you awake—it just seems like someone was like ‘Let’s make the perfect drink for a college kid!’”

Others see a more tongue in cheek appeal to the beverage.

“It’s such a disgusting drink, and it’s such a ridiculous concept to combine an energy drink and alcohol, that I’m always just amused by drinking it,” Mehling said.  “A lot of the joy of having FourLoko comes from the fact that it’s such a grungy drink.”

Yet, the drink is controversial for more than just its foul aftertaste. The more serious issue with FourLoko lies in its potential health-related consequences. At 12 percent alcohol and having 156 milligrams of caffeine, the drink has attracted attention from 18 attorney generals and the FDA and is being reviewed for its safety. Dr. Davis Smith, medical director of the Davison Health Center, elaborated on the dangers associated with its consumption.

“The concern seems to be that the make up of this particular beverage disguises both the alcohol content and effects of alcohol,” he said.  “By the first, I’m referring to the styling and flavoring of the product which seems to obscure its alcoholic content.  By the second, I refer to the effect of the stimulant content, caffeine, to disguise the inherent central nervous system depressive effects of alcohol, which may impair users’ ability to judge their level of intoxication.”

He claimed that these aspects make it easier for students to end up drinking more of the drink than they intend.

“If people are less aware of the alcoholic-ness of the beverage and less aware of the extent to which it is intoxicating them, they may ingest more alcohol than they would have otherwise,” Smith said.

Despite these concerns, Smith did not take a melodramatic view of FourLoko’s presence on campus and said he that was not aware of any specific cases in which students had become seriously ill because of it.

“Most Wesleyan students are responsible and careful with their drinking most of the time,” he said.

Even the students who do consume the beverage were conscious of its downfalls. Some students have witnessed unique negative effects of the drink first hand.

“I’ve seen people who are really drunk, to the point where they should be passing out and falling asleep but they can’t because they’re so caffeined up,” said Andre Fernandez ’14.

For others, taste was the most common complaint.

“It’s interesting having it for the first time; everyone told me it was going to be gross and then when I first tasted it I didn’t think it was that bad,” Harding said.  “But the aftertaste—it’s pretty foul.”

Questions remain of whether the drink is merely an innocent trend or a serious matter for students to consider. Regardless, most students don’t see the trend as out of control.

“I wouldn’t say students have an obsession,” said Harding, “I’d say we have a healthy interest.”