Monster Import Light Energy Drink Review

This is the second newly introduced Canadian Monster, the light version of the recently introduced Monster Import. The two newly introduced Monster light drinks are perfectly suited for comparison since one is a new sugar free version of the regular Monster and the other a light version of the regular European Monster, also know as Import. Which one would be better? Well, here is my opinion.

Taste

Monster Import Light comes in the same large, 550 mL can as the Monster Import, but unlike it, its label is a gigantic sticker and the text is blue. The aroma is similar - a sweeter North American Monster. The taste? Well, damn, it is the same - a sweet Monster with less of the cough syrup taste and very little signs of it being a light drink. I say very little, because there are almost no signs at all at first. It took me a few sips before I started to noticed traces of the artificial sweetener in the aftertaste. Overall, this surprised me as much as the Absolutely Zero did. Great sugar free alternative to Monster Import.

I have to say that both Absolutely Zero and Import Light are great tasting sugar free alternatives, which offer almost the same taste. The question is which regular Monster do you prefer? If you like the North American one, then you might enjoy Absolutely Zero. If you are a fan of the sweeter Monster Import, then Import Light is the alternative for you.

Energy

Larger can = more liquid, and more liquid = more caffeine....or does it? Nope, this sugar free alternative has the same problem as does Absolutely Zero - the caffeine content has been reduced. There are 160 mg of caffeine, which is pretty good, but much less than the regular Import.

Absolutely Zero had about 24 mg of caffeine less than its sugar-full sibling, while Import Light has 73 mg of caffeine less! That is almost 1 can of Red Bull less than the regular drink, and that is a significant amount of caffeine.

Of course that didn't stop me from drinking it and getting a good kick. I didn't experience too much of the jitters I felt drinking the regular Import and the energy kick was gradual and very solid for about two and a half hours without much of a problem at the end.

But hold on, this article is not over yet! The first thing you would notice when you pick up an object would be its texture and whether or not it is painful to hold it. Well, the first thing I noticed about this can, and also held off on was its shrink wrapping. I grabbed a knife and cut a piece large enough I can grab and peel the wrapping off. And here is what was underneath:


Well, OK, there was nothing unusual, like a whole another drink, but there was something very interesting. Underneath the plastic sleeve was the actual American label. This made me think - why don't more American energy drink manufacturers take this approach? Make a label and a can for the American market and simply create a plastic sleeve for the Canadian market with our labeling requirements? I am sure it will be cheaper and quicker. If one of you knows something more about this, send me an e-mail or leave a comment.

Scores:
Cost - $3.29
Taste - 7.9/10
Energy - 7.9/10

Overall - 15.8/20...another fairly decent Monster energy drink