The eyes of the world turn to Iowa today, and if any of those eyes belong to Red Bull distributors, chances are they won’t be contributing to the presidential campaign of one candidate, former Senator John Edwards.

Edwards, a former 12-pack-a-campaign trail-day Diet Coke drinker, gave up caffeine after the 2004 election. Perhaps that’s not the best idea if you’re planning on pushing through an uninterrupted 36-hour “marathon for the middle class” at the close of the Iowa Caucus campaign, as Edwards did, but maybe it makes it all the more admirable.

Or, if you’re in the energy drink camp, it might make it all the more foolish. Watch this video from an Edwards press bus visit and you’ll see that the sleep-deprived-but-chipper candidate pulls no punches when it comes to his favorite — and least favorite — beverages.

“Red Bull? That stuff’s nasty,” he told the reporters, who had attempted to offer him some.