Hey,
I'm not sure if it's known, but I couldn't find previous posts about it.

I live in Israel and we have many types of carbonated energy drinks with 1000mg of taurine. I use those kind of drinks for the past 6 years with great success. I always carry one with me in my bag.

It's always a problem for me when I travel because in some countries (especially in Asia) you can find only non carbonated energy drinks. I don't know why there is a difference, but even red-bull is sold non carbonated.

I found out that when the drink is non carbonated the absorption takes much more time and less effective. I can never be completely sure it's not placebo effect, but i'm pretty sure as I used those for many months.

I really want to try and mix pure taurine powder with carbonated water and see what is the effect.

BTW, I couldn't find any difference between the regular versions and the sugar-free versions so I buy only the sugar free ones, when they're available.