Monster Hitman

Monster was the first of the big three energy drinks out of the gate with an energy shot. This hit before Rockstar, Red Bull, Venom and the dozen other Big Shots felt the need to get their energy drink smaller and less carbonated. Whether or not that makes them better is besides the point. The buzz around this drink was fantastic - kinda like when Mcdonalds re-releases the McRib or their Mint Shakes. Monster's energy shot was a big deal in the industry - which explains why it took me so long to write the review. I have a hard time giving into trends - and like to see how they play out - rather than buy into the hype.

What I don't understand is who Hansen's thought this drink was for! I mean, for the expensive price they used tocost at the stores, People could buy a Monster BFC or DUB. This expensive shot does not have the same cache as Monster's blue or green cans, and seems like it was rushed to stores once they decided to go after 5 hour energy's market. Well, Now,a year later, look what happened. I did not find this drink on the C Store shelves or in the liquor store, those places have their samples all dried up or were put in back. This time, I found cases and cases on sale for .60 cents at the energy drink graveyard, Big Lots. Has even the mighty Monster fallen? Usually they leave those places filled with their competitors, or the remnants of their bought out companies they killed (Ace? Lost? Vidration?). Now it sits with all the other big energy shot failures, like Full Throttle, Venom and the rest.

Packaging: 7
Rather than do the usual 2 ounce bottle, they opted for the more friendly, makes-you-look-like-you-are-getting-more-nutrients 3 ounce bottle that Red Bull, Liquid Nitro, Full Throttle and NOS bottles use. The design is about a clean as it gets, doing a great job of using the logo and theme well. It is all cool green and foil covered, and is overall a nice design

What I don't like is the same thing that bugs me with the energy drink. The caffeine content is hidden in a proprietary formula, so you have no idea how much caffeine you are ingesting.

Taste:6
I am not sure about making it taste like flat Monster. I get it - what else could I want this to taste like? I mean, if anything could be forgiven for tasting like Monster, it should be the original. What I am really glad about is that it does not taste medicinal and nasty, like a 5 Hour Energy or the hundreds of clones that came after it. What it does taste of is sweet Green Monster. There is a slight sticky mouthfeel, owing tot eh sugar used, but really it is not that bad. The aftertasteis also nice - not cloying and bitter.

Buzz: 8
I enjoyed the buzz from this one, Monster or no. I am not usually one who can feel the buzz of a can of regular monster - at least not as much as I felt it off of this one. I got around 4 hours of a happy boost without any real crash - which surprised the heck out of me. There is 2 grams of Taurine, 400 mg Ginseng, and the usual tonnage of B complex vitamins. Their "proprietary energy formula" has L-Carnatine, Caffeine, Inositol, Guarana, glucuronalactone, but again, how much of whatever is in there is unknown.

Well the sweetness makes sense, as they are using glucose (sugar) and sucralose, which is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Oveerall, I am just leftwordering if they thought this whole shot out. With it being Monster, they had all the names and scientists they desired to come out with something really unique and different. I just did not get that from this shot - which is most likely why it ended up in the Energy Drink Graveyard.