A good late night drink. Known alternately as the "Blue Bull" or "Blue Balls", depending on where you order it. Very popular in London, where folk are starting to have these things for breakfast. Do not have more than 3, or your hangover will last forever.

Another variation is the Red Bull and Whisky, which makes a foul black concoction.

This mix has been blamed for a handful of deaths, all of which were surrounded by media hype and purposeful mystification. Very few people fully understand the purpose of Red Bull, and believe without doubt that it is an infallible "performance enhancing drug". (The manufacturer, while stating relative truths on the official Red Bull web site, takes little action to actively dissuade this opinion.) Red Bull is a useful substance, in some circumstances. The official website (www.redbull.com) even recommends it for intense sporting events, with the following disclaimer:

"(Drink Red Bull) prior to demanding athletic activities, or in a performance drop during a game. As Red Bull has not been formulated to deliver re-hydration, we encourage people who are engaged in sport also to drink lots of water during intense exercise."

Red Bull isn't officially recommended for consumption with alcohol. However, redbull.com states: "we have to reinforce the fact that only the alcoholic part of the mixed drink can have a negative impact on health." In short, it is their public opinion that Red Bull is no more harmful than any other non-alcoholic mixer. Other sources disagree:

"(The consumption of Red Bull in conjunction with alcohol use) can lead to a wired and drunken feeling at best, nausea and heart disrhythmia at worse (sic)." Both alcohol and caffiene can contribute to dehydration, and Red Bull has a relatively high caffiene concentration. Combining the two drugs could result in severe dehydration. In addition to this, pre-existing heart conditions (even undetected ones) can exacerbate the effects of caffeine. Consumers with pre-existing heart conditions should avoid mixing stimulants such as caffiene and taurine with depressants such as alcohol due to the opposing ways these substances can affect the heart rate.

It would be overly reactionary to ban Red Bull itself because of a few deaths after unusually high consumption levels. A more reasonable solution is to consume both alcohol and Red Bull in moderation, ensuring that you remain hydrated by drinking water or another hydrating substance also. Keep in mind that a 250mL can of Red Bull contains 80mg of caffeine; the same amount as a 600mL bottle of coke, or a 330mL bottle of Red Eye Platinum. However, your reaction to these drinks may differ as Red Eye and Red Bull take their caffiene content from guarana, and also contain other stimulants, only some of which I have mentioned here.

Sources:
www.redbull.com
www.redbull.co.uk
www.salon.com
www.spiked-online.com
news.bbc.co.uk
www.stltoday.com
CHOICE Magazine (Australian)
Wazzer (fellow E2 User)

Related to this, I would like to share a near-personal experience.

I was an observer (who stuck to beer) at a party where two guys had the brilliant idea of trying this. Additionally, it was only the two of them and 4 cans of 250ml each of Red Bull as well as the same amount of vodka. The resulting concoction was 2l of an off-yellow brightly colored liquid, which they proceeded to gulp down like thirsty chickens.

(A lot of pseudo-medical nonsense deleted after someone with more knowledge than me bothered to enlighten me. Thank you.)

Almost instantly after the effects hit, both of the guys started vomiting violently. Luckily we were all outside at the time. At the same time a sudden loss of coordination had them rolling around on the grass for quite a while. This phase didn't last very long. One of the guys spent most of the night periodically falling over into his mother's flowers while sitting in a lawn chair. He was the lucky one. The other one spent most of the night hugging a toilet seat asleep, periodically waking up to vomit his guts out. A few hours later, and in the morning, he was vomiting a yellow sludge we assumed to be stomach acid. When the vomiting had calmed down, we carried both of them to the nearest couch/bed, where they found each other in the morning, with one's arm lovingly holding the other close, and no recollection whatsoever of the previous night.

As far as I know neither has bothered with Red Bull and vodka since.

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