My partner swears she once spent the evening drinking a bottled
alcopop called "Diamond Red" which consisted of Vodka and Red Bull in
the Empire nightclub in Milton Keynes, UK, around the year 2001.
We haven't ever seen it since. In fact, I'm sure she has the name wrong.
I've seen Diamond White (cider) and Red Square but she says that those
are not the drink in question.
Could someone please verify for me that such a drink does exist (or did exist).
Thanks

---

Clarification of Question by bob1057-ga on 13 Dec 2003 04:20 PST

Please see my note to Markj

bob1057 --

Thanks for the helpful comment.  Combined with what can be reasonably
inferred from this information, I am confident what I have found will
allow you and your partner to have a good idea of what Diamond Red is
as well as what the label looksd like.

Diamond Red is a cider-based alcoholic drink produced by Matthew Clark
Ciders, which also produces Diamond White.  "In the [Matthew Clark]
portfolio are ? [p]ackaged ciders like K, Diamond White, Diamond Red
and Diamond Fruzion":
Matthew Clark: The Cider Company: News: July 16, 2002
http://www.mclark.co.uk/news/160702_matthew_clark_cider_the_cider_company.shtml

Diamond Red is no longer a "major brand" of Matthew Clark Ciders.  If
it exists at all today, it appears to be a small, niche brand. "Major
Matthew Clark brands include Blackthorn, Gaymer's Olde English,
Diamond White, Red C, K, Natch, and Special VAT":
Matthew Clark: Brands: Ciders
http://www.mclark.co.uk/brands/ciders.shtml

Diamond Red appears to have been heavily promoted in early 2001. The
Redonism Club Tour - February/March 2001.  "The promotion was run in
conjunction with Diamond Red and 20 First Leisure Nightclubs, who are
one of the biggest leisure companies in the industry."
Club 18-30: Promotions: Redonism Club Tour: Feb./March 2001
http://www.club18-30.biz/events.asp 

A helpful and entertaining, but unfortunately general, description of
the ingredients of Diamond Red was posted on the Web in March 2000:
"Still on the cider front, Matthew Clark are still spewing out new,
trendy keg products, some dafter than others. Cashing in on the latest
trend for 'energy' drinks, comes Diamond Red, with added flavours (?)
and caffeine, so presumably you can stay alert, even when the legs
have stopped working. (I thought that this already applied to cider.)
Alongside it comes K6, another bottled product at 5.4 per cent, after
Matthew Clark finally decided that the original K was far too strong
at 8.4. Also available after trials in the is Red C, a sweet cider
aimed at taking some of the market away from Bulmer's Woodpecker. I
wish they'd take it all away!"
Campaign For Real Ale: Thoughts Of Chairman Mick
http://www.camranorthlondon.org.uk/fullpint/fp0403.html

As for the label on the bottle, we know that "Diamond Fruzion is a mix
of real fruit juices and cider with an abv of 5.4% and packaged in a
similar style to Diamond White and Diamond Red."   On the same page
that this statement occurs, there is a picture of a bottle of Diamond
Fruzion:
Beverage and Drink Industry News: Rockware bottles for VK Vodka Kick,
Diamond Fruzion and Reef Red Berry & Kiwi
http://www.bdinews.com/market/details.shtml?market.REF=620&subsections.REF=482

It thus seems clear that the Diamond Red bottle and label are similar
and in style and shape to the Diamond Fruzion bottle pictured. 
Supporting this conclusion is the following Web page that includes
examples of the label on cans of Diamond White, which indeed are very
similar to that of Diamond Fruzion:
Beer Can News: Cider Can News
http://beercannews.com/CIDER_CAN_NEWS/cider_can_news.html

Besides the lack of more recent online information on "Diamond Red"
and the statement by its producer, noted above, that it is not among
its "major brands" it is reasonable to conclude, as noted above, that
it is at best a small niche brand today, if it exists at all.  This
conclusion is supported by the link immediately above that seems to
purport to be a comprehensive collection of images of UK cider cans
and does not include an example of Diamond Red.

Finally. here is a link to a recipe for a "punch" that contains vodka.
Diamond White, an alcoholic version of the soft drink Irn-Bru and Red
Bull.  Sample at your own risk (or maybe your partner already has!):
Bar None Drink Recipes: The Ben Chemical
http://www.barnonedrinks.com/recipes/punches/t/thebenchemical.html


Additional Site:

In my "travels," I came upon Red Bull's Web site, which I thought was
clever and mildly entertaining.  It also includes a link to Red Bull's
ingredients, should you be interested.
Red Bull
http://www.redbull.com/home_intro.html


Search Strategy:

Faced with the problem of limited online information, I tried a wide
variety of Google searches to find enough relevant information to draw
conclusions that would fully meet your expectations for an answer to
your questions.  Here are some of them:

"diamond red" bottle -neil [the "-neil" was to eliminate the many
results that included "Neil Diamond"]
://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22diamond+red%22+bottle+-neil

"diamond red" cider
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22diamond+red%22+cider


"diamond red" "diamond white"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22Diamond+red%22+%22diamond+white%22

"diamond red" flavour OR flavours
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22diamond+red%22+flavour+OR+flavours+

"diamond red" label OR labels -neil
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22diamond+red%22+label+OR+labels+%2Dneil

"diamond red" "made from OR with" -neil
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22diamond+red%22+%22made+from+OR+with%22+%2Dneil


I hope that this answer gives you sufficient information about Diamond
Red and its label to fully meet your expectations.  If anything is
unclear, please ask for clarification before rating the answer.


markj-ga

You've answered my original question fully, and although you haven't
provided a picture of the bottle you've given me a good idea as to
what it would have looked like.  At least now I know my partner wasn't
imagining it!

bob1057 --

There definitely was a bottled drink called Diamond Red being marketed
in the UK in 2000-2001.  However, it appears to have been a
cider-based drink like Diamond White, although with different
flavouring and with caffeine added.  But, no vodka as far as I can
tell.  On the other hand, I have come across a recipe for a drink that
combines a soft drink with Diamond White, Red Bull and vodka, so at
least some adventurous souls have been drinking concoctions such as
your partner described.

I can back the above information up with links to Web sites, but I
can't give you a definitive conclusion that a drink such as your
partner describes did or did not exist.  However, it does seem clear
that it was not the bottled version of "Diamond Red" that was being
marketed by the makers of Diamond White in 2000-2001.

Let me know if this information -- backed up with links and an
explanation of my search strategy -- would be an acceptable answer,

markj-ga

Thanks MarkJ

I'm not certain but I think this must be the drink she was referring to.
Though she was fairly sure that it had Red Bull in it.
I'll accept your answer if you can give me the background.  
It would be nice to know the actual contents of the drink ie. what
distinguishes it from Diamond White apart from the caffeine.
And I'll definitely tip you if you can find me a reasonable picture of
the bottle showing the label.
Cheers
Bob1057

bob1057 --

Thanks much for the kind words, the rating and the tip.  Cheers!

markj-ga