Green Monsters Ultras

CAFFEINE CONTENT

140 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—10

Another Monster beverage found absolutely nowhere for the first few months after I heard about it, then suddenly showed up everywhere overnight. If you’re having a hard time finding it—check the same place tomorrow.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—10

Ultra Red follows in the footsteps of the original Zero Ultra in terms of aesthetic appeal; I only wish Ultra Blue hadn’t had those cheesy M’s integrated into that otherwise brilliant frost pattern…three 10/10’s would look nice on the shelf next to each other. Anyway, this can features the same familiar texture as the other two, this time with a deep red an a paisley pattern to the side—which somehow works exceptionally well with the red. I don’t know how that works…something about red and paisley just looks elegant. Now I’m just waiting for Monster to introduce an “Ultra Green” with a green apple flavor—then 1) I could really look forward to enjoying a green apple energy drink, and 2) I could use cases of all four flavors as decorations when Christmas rolled around.

TASTE—10

Something that I’ve discovered with repeated indulgences of Monster’s Ultra line is that repeated drinking makes good energy drinks better and bad energy drinks worse. The same holds true here—my first experience with this drink was good, but not the best; the cranberry flavor of the namesake “Ultra Red” is mellowed out to about the level of the base citrus flavor profile familiar to those who have tried Zero Ultra, and at first the homogeny seemed incomplete, and that the cranberry had taken a back seat to the citrus and was not allowed to reach its potential. Well, I’ve had it a number of times sense (every opportunity I’ve had to buy an energy drink, actually) and I can safely say that I love Ultra Red. The discrepancies between the two flavors mellow out with repeated drinkings, and before I was wondering if this wondrously balanced beverage was the same one I had drank that first night heading home from Twin Falls. Bottom line—buy this drink, and do it multiple times. Chances are by the third time you won’t be able to get enough.

KICK (INTENSITY)—7

Monster has kicked back on the caffeine a little bit in their Ultra line, and it shows—this isn’t as potent as, say, Lo-Carb or the Rehab line. One can should be enough to wake you up and put some spring in your step, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t actually buy just one when I’m buying an Ultra beverage—and two of these back-to-back makes for a heckuva fun ride, an easy 9/10 that will suffice for virtually any energy-requiring situation and on top of all that be a joy to guzzle.

KICK (DURATION)—7

One can: around three hours. Two: five hours, easily. No crash in either case!

THE DRINK OVERALL—8

As if you can’t tell, I love this drink—enough that I will be reworking my top 10 list soon to accommodate this and the other Ultra beverages. I’m exceptionally pleased, and don’t doubt other consumers, be they Monster loyalists or newcomers to the energy scene, will be as well.