Monster Import Energy Drink Review

Monster has brought a lot of new energy drinks to the Canadian market in the last month and this is their latest one. It is an odd sized, 550 mL can with the new Monster plastic tab/cap.

Taste

This is just a regular Monster in a new package...or is it? It is called Import because it comes from Amsterdam and has a special Euro-flavour, which appears to be much sweeter without much of the cough syrup taste. I say much, because I can still taste it. Another subtle difference from the regular Monster is the aftertaste, which is even more candy-like now. Other than that, there is nothing else new.

Energy

Drinking from a bigger can, one expects to find more caffeine, and one does. The caffeine is one way of checking to see if the formula is different, because if it was the same, then the 550 mL can should contain around 174 mg (if you use proportions based on the 473 mL can), but it contains 233 mg of caffeine!!! That's right, the Euro-formula manages to stuff another 60 mg without altering the taste and making it more bitter.

As expected, the drink works fast thanks to its sugar content and does give you the jitters if you drink it fast. The caffeine kicks in fully in about 35-40 minutes and provides a pleasant rush for hours...3 to 4 hours and then comes a moderate crash.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Taurine - 2,325 mg
• Ginseng - 449 mg
• Caffeine - 233 mg
• Vitamin B3 - 47 mg
• D-Glucuronolactone - 12 mg
• Inositol - 12 mg
• Guarana - 12 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 4.7 mg
• Vitamin B2 - 4 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 14 mcg

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: carbonated water, sucrose, glucose, citric acid, naturally sourced flavours, sodium citrate, natural color, sorbic acid, benzoic acid, sucralose, sodium chloride, acesulfame potassium, maltodextrin

Scores:
Cost - $3.69 CAD from 7-11
Taste - 6/10
Energy - 8.8/10

Overall - 14.8/20...I am still not a huge fan of the regular Monster taste, but this is a slight improvement. I do, however, enjoy the high caffeine content