🔌Monster Energy Ultra Review - Blue Hawaiian, Fantasy Ruby Red, & Vice Guava

Monster Energy Ultra Variety Pack Review - Blue Hawaiian, Fantasy Ruby Red, & Vice Guava header thumbnail

One of Monster Energy's newer variety packs, this set features Blue Hawaiian, Fantasy Ruby Red, & Vice Guava and seeks to continue on the success of the White Monster Ultra Zero. They have the same high carbonation, featuring tiny bubbles for an effervescent mouthfeel, and citrus flavor focal point, but each ads a special fruited twist.

Flavor

Ultra Blue Hawaiian - Pineapple dominates an undercurrent of coconut in this Monster twist on a tropical punch. Some batches have seemed to be a bit under carbonated but this variety pack edition doesn't have that issue. Strong pineapple aftertaste and juice reminiscent mouthfeel.
Ultra Fantasy Ruby Red - Officially Fresh Pink Pamplemousse, Fantasy Ruby Red delivers the grapefruit you'd expect along with blood orange and tangerine, reminiscent of the white monster but with an additional buff to the citrus and slightly more substantial texture. Honestly, this may be an improvement over the the White Ultra.
Ultra Vice Guava - A tart tropical punch, it comes across monotone. Guava is typically described as being a blend of pear and strawberry. Honestly, this tastes pretty similar to a regular Red Bull.

Mouthfeel is similar across all of them when in-spec, sharing the classic Monster Ultra tingle.

Ingredients

Not too much to see here. All three flavors are pretty much the same ingredients as the White Monster Ultra though with different natural flavors. Ruby Red omits acesulfame potassium, potentially for a smoother citrus aftertaste, but also packs in 20mg extra sodium and one additional carbohydrate. Gum Arabic, Ester Gum, Gum Tragacanth (ruby only) are thickening agents which contribute to a slightly fuller mouthfeel than white ultra and also ads more rationale to while ruby tastes a bit fuller. One bit of sadness, they do include artificial colors Blue 1,Red 40, or Yellow 6 while white is colorless.

Blue Hawaiian, Fantasy Ruby Red, & Vice Guava Nutrition Facts

Ranking & Overall Review

After trying them all multiple times, I have my order easily and clearly:

1. Ultra Fantasy Ruby Red - 4.5/5 Great

2. Blue Hawaiian - 3.5/5 Good

3. Vice Guava - 3/5 Serviceable

While Ultra Fantasy Ruby Red is a standout, Blue Hawaiian and Vice Guava didn't impress me. It's not that they're bad (they're plenty drinkable/enjoyable), rather that I think they are significantly outdone by Ruby Red, Strawberry Dreams, and Red/White/Blue. Rather than the variety pack, I would get singles of the three to see if one tickles your fancy and then go all-in on the big pack of your favorite flavor(s). If you're dead set on a variety pack, I think they did a great job with the Monster Energy Rehab pack.

⚖️Scale:

1 | Bad | Don't Drink it | I Wouldn't Drink it

2 | Poor | I would drink it if there was nothing else or it was free

3 | Good | Serviceable | Buy it on sale

4 | Great | A Cut Above | White Monster | Buy at full price

5 | Excellent | Standout in the Category | Pay venue prices

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