Castle & Cairn

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 Gua...

First released in the early 2010s, the Rehab line of Monster Tea + Energy is a low calorie offering with added electrolytes, packaged without carbonation and complemented by the addition of fruit flavors. If you ask me, these are directly targeted at the hungover consumer needing a quick boost and some hydration to get their day on track. I remember these making a big splash on campus when they first rolled out and I may have walked off with a few cases of free samples back in the day. You can buy the flavors separately or as part of a variety pack featuring Wild Berry, Tea + Lemonade, and Peach Tea flavors. So how are they? Flavor All three flavors drink very similarly. Mouthfeel is medium thickness for a sweetened tea, not super syrupy but well blended and somewhat creamy. Flavors are well pronounced and the overall the effect is that the Rehab line is very easy to drink. This is also compounded by the absence of carbonation. If you don't enjoy the prickle of regular monsters/ul...

Pretty much everyone has seen the infamous White Monster, but surprisingly few have also tried its older, blue, and Lo-Carb sibling. Flavor Comparison Both beverages are very citrus forward, but Monster Energy Lo-Carb is much closer to the original monster flavor, slightly less sweet than the OG and somewhat savory while Ultra Zero is "bright" with what I perceive as tangerine or clementine. I would summarize Lo-Carb as being more candy-like and Ultra Zero as veering more fruit-like, though they're definitely both on the same flavor spectrum. A similar comparison would be that the blue monster is to the white monster what Sprite is to Fresca.  On the tongue, Lo-Carb feels a bit smoother with less of the electric lightning bite of Ultra Zero.   Under the Tab - Comparison of Ingredients Looking at the two side-by-side, you see that Lo-Carb has 20 more calories per 16oz. can which still only leaves you at a total of 30. Peeping the ingredients list, you'll see that this ...

As a habitual caffeine abuser, I have a soft spot for Monster, both for their expansive lineup of flavors as well as their support for Sports and E-sports. Coffee is my standard caffeination vector, so the Java Monster suite of products is the perfect mix of bean flavor and energy boost. In this post, I'll provide my personal rankings and rationale for what is a very strong lineup.  Note that I have not been compensated in any way for this write-up... I just like them. Currently,  Monster Energy 's Java Monster lineup has five available flavors: Mean Bean - Vanilla Irish Crème Loca Mocha - Chocolate Salted Caramel Café Latte There are two "triple shot" versions of the Vanilla and Mocha which contain 300mg of caffeine though their flavors are very similar to the base versions above. At this point, we should also take a moment of silence for the two cold brew flavors, sweet black and nitro latte. The nitro latte was a personal favorite and I quite liked the sweet black,...