Four Loko started with three recent Ohio State graduates, Chris Hunter, Jason Freeman, and Jeff Wright, who had mixed drinks in their Kappa Sigma house and resold Thai energy drinks bought at a local Asian market. In 2005 they formed Fusion Projects in Chicago and launched an energy beer in cherry and berry, named for four active ingredients: caffeine, taurine, guarana, and wormwood. Short on cash after a year, they dropped the wormwood, raised the alcohol, and sweetened the flavors, and by 2008 sales soared.

When Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors pulled caffeine from Tilt and Sparks under pressure from state attorneys general, Four Loko filled the gap. In 2010 nine students aged 17 to 19 connected to Central Washington University were hospitalized after a party in Roslyn, with blood alcohol levels up to 0.35. On November 17, 2010, the FDA sent warning letters declaring added caffeine in these malt drinks an unsafe food additive and gave the companies 15 days. Fusion Projects had already announced a reformulation the day before, and caffeine free cans reached shelves by late December.

• Ramapo College banned the drink after 17 students and six visitors were hospitalized.
• Oregon’s liquor commission voted four to one for a ban, with 30 day license suspensions for sellers.
• Before the deadline, full cans sold on eBay for up to five times retail.
• The 23.5 ounce cans range from 6 to 14 percent alcohol depending on state rules.
• The brand reached 21 countries, uses a vodka base in Europe, and released a strawberry daiquiri flavor called Jackpot in March 2026.