Spoonfuls of alcoholic sugar to help the medicines go down.
Frank Bruni writes that much reviled alcoholic energy drink, Four Loko is "the clearest possible reminder that many drinkers aren't seeking any particular culinary or aesthetic enjoyment."

"I felt a slight flush in my cheeks and subtle tingling on my scalp, I could have convinced myself that I was drinking candy. It wasn’t to my liking, but then neither are jelly beans. Spike a satchel of those with both an intoxicant and a stimulant, and Four Loko might have some fierce new competition."

What distinguishes these concoctions from assertively flavored soft drinks like Sprite or Mountain Dew? In terms of taste, not all that much. If the cans didn’t advertise their contents as 12 percent alcohol, you’d never believe it, because the bite of the malt liquor is so well masked. Not to mention, their names suggest the kind of potent payoff their fans are after. There’s the “crack pipe,” “the shark bite,” “the Hulk.”

Frank Bruni, a staff writer for The Times magazine, about New York’s drinking life, in the Weekend section.