Monster Hydro Tropic Thunder

Finally a new product from the US made its way across the border. I spotted all of the new Monster Hydro flavors at a Petro Canada gas station and bought them all. There were no special deals at the time so I paid $3.79 per bottle.

So what is Monster Hydro? This, essentially is Monster's delayed response to Vitamin Water. The label talks about all the waters that are available to you and how this is a lightly sweetened version to give you a boost.

Energy

First off, this Tropic Thunder smells incredible! It is a mix of various citrus fruits and mango. The label led me to believe this would be a slightly sweetened, and lightly flavored water, but in fact, this tastes a lot like something from the Rehab line. The flavors are light to medium at first, but intensify towards the middle of each sip and end on a strong note, leaving lots to linger.

The flavors start off with the citrus, but the mango moves in quickly which is then followed by a bit of pineapple. The citrus comes back towards the end and join with the mango to give you a refreshing aftertaste. The label is right about the sweetness level, though. There is just enough of it to compliment the flavors, but not enough to build up to astronomical levels like some other sugary energy drinks...some Monster ones included.

I loved this flavor, especially in combination with the non-carbonated nature of this beverage. I found myself consuming this bottle very quickly because not only was it a good thirst quencher, but also the flavors were good.

Energy

There are 138 mg of caffeine in this 550 mL bottle, which is on the low end, but still enough to give you a nice kick. I started to feel the effects within 10 minutes, which manifested themselves through a mild shaky leg. Damn those sugars (25 grams in the bottle by the way). The rest of the energy started coming in another 10 minutes later with my mind clearing up from the morning fog and me getting the urge to go down to the gym.

The kick was fairly clean and lasted for almost 2 hours. No crash at the end because this was early in the morning and I had plenty of sleep.

Scores:
Cost - $3.79 from Petro Canada
Taste - 9.5/10
Energy - 7/10

Overall - 16.5/20...awesome flavor that would have found a great home as part of the Rehab line