25-04-2012
Back again
02-10-2010
Monster Nitrous Killer-B
Price: C$3.00 (current Exchange rate: €2,13)Contains: 12 fl.Oz (340mL)
This one kinda came out of nowhere,
This time, my friend's mum went to Canada and when he asked her to bring a new Monster drink, we really weren't expecting this one.
We've heard a lot of the Monster Nitrous drinks and have been dying to try them ever since, especially the Kiler-B.
So when she said 'I couldn't find the Monsters you asked for, but will this do? They were on sale, you know', we were like 'HELL YEAH! This is Even better!'.
Packaging:
This can proves that Monster only hires the most skilled of craftsmen to design their cans, since this can really looks amazing.
The drink comes in a quite unusally sized
But the uniqueness doesn't end there; the design really managed to blow us away.
The eyecatcher is the orangish-yellow honeycomb pattern on the background; which really suits the Killer-B theme.
Within this pattern we can see the KILLER-B text and a black Monster Claw logo, which is slightly tilted and has a 3D effect.
The honeycomb pattern suddenly fades to black when we come to the bottom of the can, clearing an area to display some legible text.
Here we can read the MONSTER ENERGY we're all familiar with, but this time it's accompanied with the NITROUS text in an truly awesome font.
As I alreasy mentioned; the designers did a great job on this can.
They managed to put all of these elements together without making the can look over the top and that is a real accomplishment in my eyes.
Slogan:
No slogan can be found on this can, but we did manage to find one on the internet.
'Unleash the Nitrous Beast!' would be the slogan for all of the Nitrous drinks and we love how they added the Nitrous thing to the well known 'Unleash the Beast!' slogan.
Taste:
Of course, this was the part we all had been waiting for, so we removed the sticker, twisted open the top and poured the drink into some glasses and test tubes.
The very first thing we noticed was the color.
This drink is colored fluorescent yellow and I would't have been surprised if it glowed in the dark.
Also: a very strange thing was going on with the carbonation.
We know that this drink was carbonated with Nitrous Oxide, so that might have been the thing.
Anyway: even though we poured it into several glasses, only the first portion had a small layer of foam.
Weird...
The taste quite surprised us, actually.
We were expecting a very strong taste of honey, but instead, we could only vaguely taste a hint of honey in the aftertaste.
The main taste: citrus.
When looking on the internet we disovered that our drink used a new formula; a formula that switched the main taste from honey to citrus.
I have to say that's quite a bold move, considering that this drink is themed around bees and such.
Anyway: it tastes awesome and unique, but what can I say?
If it's made by Monster, you're in for a treat and that also applies for this bad boy.
I highly suggest that you give this drink a try if you can get your hands on it, because with Monster Nitrous Killer-B you're in for a sensation!
Kick:
Even though we shared this drink, we all felt a serious buzz going on after a very short amount of time.
It was like the 'Big Bad Monster Buzz' times two: an energy drink that can keep you going for quite a few hours.
Great job on the kick, Monster!
Price/Quality Ratio:
The drink is quite pricey, especially if you consider that the Killer-B adds C$1 to the price of the standard 16 fl. Oz Monster, while it contains less fluid.
Monster Nitrous Killer-B has it all, though; great can. great taste and great kick.
Needless to say that Monster has once again made a drink that lives up to the price.
12-09-2010
Rockstar Recovery
Price: €1,30Contains: 0,5L
Okay; it took us quite some effort to get our hands on this drink, which basically means that one of us took a journey by train to another province to find the snowboardstore where this drink had been spotted.
You see, the CR crew always had a weak spot for the Rockstar drinks and we almost jizzed our pants when we found out that we could actually get the newest Rockstar stuff in our own country!
Anyway; his quest was succesfull, as he returned with no less than 8 of these bad boys.
You'd have to be semi-blind not to spot this one from a considerable distance.
This can is really flashy and it stands out more than any other member of the Rockstar family.
It's the color that does the trick; our second favorited brand has chosen for a very bright shade of yellow that wouldn't look bad on your everyday sportsdrink.
Along with Rockstars' updated template, this drink will really draw your attention.
You can see a very subtle watermark in the background, which basically consists of Rockstars' name brand being repeated.
It really does add something; it prevents the can from becoming a tad boring but in such a way that it doesn't make it too busy either.
Another nice detail is the top.
The entire top is colored black, which isn't something we've seen before.
Normally it's just silver and in very special ocassions, just the pull tab is colored.
The last thing I find interesting and appealing is the addition of the color red.
You'll find it in the Recovery script and in the little stars near the top that devide the listed key ingredients.
We really like this can; it's certainly special, even for Rockstar.
Slogan:
No slogan is featured on this can and we consider that a bit of a let down.
Anyway, let's focus on the text the can does have.
Well, we think that 'Energy+Recovery' and 'Energy+Hydration' come close to being actual slogans, so let's pick those.
So this can implies that we'll certainly get an energy boost, along with both Hydration and Recovery, which are the prime ingredients to making a good sports drink.
These small bits of text have made us really curious to the drinks' effect.
Taste:
The can mentioned that this drink was 'non-carbonated lemonade with added juice'.
Well, that about summed it up, but still we wanted to experience every bit of this unusual Rockstar creation.
The fluid has a very bright yellow color indeed and it had a faint lemon scent; the absence of carbonation can also be noticed easily.
We took a sip and we could easily pinpoint the taste.
In our country we don't know lemonade like the Americans do, but we still recognised it from something else: a lemon-flavored ice lolly.
That's right; we could copy this drink by putting some lemon ice lollies in a funnel in the opening of this can and wait for them to melt (but then you'll unfortunately miss out on the truckload of key ingredients).
It does have some minor differences though.
You will taste the caffeine, along with some sourness that ice lollies dont have.
The aftertaste hangs in there for quite some time, so you will still enjoy this drink half an hour after you've finished it.
Well; we have to admit that this drink really is something new (you must be getting tired of that phrase, but I feel like using it even more) and we are delighted by its' taste.
Yep, only the drinks' taste make us want to buy it again, but let's see if the kick wants us to get on the train again.
Kick:
Absolutely phenomenal.
Next to your everyday energy drinks' key ingredients (caffeine, taurine and guarana) this drink also contains electrolytes.
Like most people, I didn't have a clue what those are supposed to be, so I decided to look it up on Wikipedia.
The first sentences:
'In chemistry, an electrolyte is any substance containing free ions that make the substance elcetrically conductive. The most typical electrolyte is an ionic solution, but molten electrolytes and solid electrolytes are also possible.'
Just to sum it up: when used in this drink they give one hell of a kick, yeah!!!
Price/Quality Ratio:
This drink actually was a tad cheaper then most of the Rockstar drinks we've bought in the past.
Normally, the prices vary from €1,39 to €1,49, with €2,39 being the absolute peak of expensiveness (you're probably not surprised if i tell you that was at a gas station).
With €1,30 this is the cheapest Rockstar product thus far.
And next to that: we consider it to be the best one,
We'll bring a truck the next time we'll visit that snowboardshop, that's for sure...
30-07-2010
AMP
Price: C$2.00 (current Exchange rate: €1,49)Contains: 16 fl.Oz (473mL)
It's time to review yet another Canadian drink.
This time we're looking at an energy drink by Mountain Dew: AMP.
AMP comes in a typical American sized 473 mL (16 oz.) can.
It is neatly designed with stripes in various shades of green running down the can.
On the front there's the AMP logo, which can be described as a silver tribal flame
With a bit of imagination you can see that the flame vaguely resembles the letter 'A', but I'm not sure if that was the purpose.
Underneath the logo there's the 'AMP ENERGY' text.
Usually, the American cans have their key ingredients listed around the top of the can.
With this AMP can the top only says 'POWER', but after a little search you'll find it on the bottom, at the right-hand side of the logo (see photo).
In my opinion, this can is very appealing to say the least.
I especially like the green striped pattern since it worked out very well.
Slogan:
Well, since I couldn't find a slogan on the can again (which is getting a little annoying now), I decided to 'cheat' for a little and looked it up on the internet.
It didn't take me very long, as it is frequently proclaimed on AMP's official website.
AMP's slogan is 'AMP UP!' and they use it on all their products.
I think it's a clever way of incorperating the name in the slogan and I like it.
Taste:
The CR team was honored to be part of the very small group of people to ever taste AMP in the Netherlands.
So once again, three people volunteered to unite their taste buds with mine in the 'quest' of reviewing this Canadian beauty.
I cracked open the can and poured it into several glasses.
The color of this drink was quite a shocking surprise.
It is colored yellow, but in such a bright manner that 'fluorescent' would not be an unfitting description.
The smell was somewhat difficult to identify; we knew it was familiar but none of us could really pinpoint it.
After a moment of intense attempts at remembring one of us finally cried 'I know, it smells like Groene Ranja!'.
Well, people from around the world are probably clueless after reading that last line, so allow me to explain.
Groene Ranja basically is a green tainted lemonade that tastes like Reine Claude/greengage prunes.
So to keep it short: this drink smells like prunes.
The taste wasn't that much of a surprise, as it pretty much was what the smell made us think.
It is a little tea-ish at first, but very swiftly the greengage kicks in.
There is a presence of carbonation that can be noticed, which isn't really needed in my opinion, but it doesn't kill the drink in any way, so I guess that's okay.
Another thing that should be mentioned is that AMP is rather sweet; it doesn't really kill the taste, but people without a sweet tooth might want to keep their distance from this drink.
My overall opinion: for the 'regular' variant of a brand this really is something special.
It has a very distinctive sweet taste you should give a try.
Kick:
For an energy drink from across; the kick is just decent at best.
We've tried several drinks from from this particular area and they usually give a considerable buzz.
After those, AMP is a bit of a disappointment really.
We did feel something, but it certainly wasn't worthy of being called a 'Big Bad American Buzz'.
Price/Quality Ratio:
2 Canadian Dollars seems to be a standard price for energy drinks in Canada.
It is pretty much the equivalent of €1,49, which is what we usually pay for top quality drinks.
None of Canadian drinks have disappointed us up until now, so I hope they can keep it up.
The C$2 are certainly worth it when you buy AMP, thrust me.
Even though it doesn't provide you the kick that some drinks of the same value can give you, the special taste makes sure that it's worth a try.
So when you ever encounter this can and have a sweet tooth: AMP UP!
28-07-2010
Burn Day
Price: €1,75Contains: 485 mL
In my last review I told you that one of my friends went to Canada, and another one went to Paris.
Well, fresh from la belle France, we present you one of our latest additions: Burn Day!
Packaging:
We were already familiar with Burn's skills for designing cans for their beverages.
Basically, this is just the resealable Burn can we showed you last time with inversed colors.
Well, you might call that a bit of a cheap move, but the result is actually very attractive.
The white and light blue combination is easy on the eye and makes this can have a very 'icey' impression.
This can is also fairly unique among the Burn cans.
They usually have the black and red combination and that's what I got used to, so from a great distance, this drink isn't that recognisable for me.
However; it surely stands out in my collection (in what I'd like to call the 'Burn Section').
Slogan:
None, why do we even have this section?
Taste:
Well, this is were it gets interesting.
We weren't sure on what to expect, but we knew that Burn certainly is not a brand that creates generic energy drinks.
There's only one way to find out what the drink is like and that's by putting four energy drink addicts on this 'case'.
We twisted open the top and a pleasant, apple-like smell filled the room.
Associating apple drinks with green, we expected a green fluid to come out.
Ehrm... WRONG! This stuff is blue, the exact same shade of blue as the one used on the can.
The taste wasn't really surprising, but we did get surprised; the taste of apple was joined by a touch of pear.
A really nice touch if you ask me.
Burn has gone easy on the carbonation this time and the sweetness is also kept very subtle.
The last issue is quite important; a lot of energy drinks actually have a truckload of sugar or artificial sweeteners in them and often it's overdone.
This is a drink you have to enjoy for sure; very different from the usual Burn drink, but I think it's delicious.
I would especially recommend this drink for people who want to try something new, but want to go easy on the sweetness.
Kick:
I found the kick to be rather poor, but I quickly found out why.
The amount of caffeine in this drink is considerably lower than usual.
Burn day 'only' holds 20 milligrams of caffeine, as opposed to the 32 milligrams that are considered normal with us.
Price/Quality Ratio:
This is certainly a drink that you'll have to enjoy.
The taste is brilliant, we can't deny that.
€1,75 is a little expensive though; it's normal for Burn standards, but the price will still stop a lot of people of buying Burn Day.
We recommend it to enjoy it every once in a while if you get your hands on it and do not expect to get a big buzz or anything, just enjoy....
Monster Assault
Price: C$2.00 (current Exchange rate: €1,49)Contains: 16 fl.Oz (473mL)
We've been offline for a while and because of a very simple, yet understandable reason.
We ran out of interesting drinks to review!
Well, loyal readers; time has come for some updates.
You see: a friend of mine went to Canada for the past few weeks and he was kind enough to bring us one of these (along with some other cans, you'll see).
When he was in Canada; I went on a trip to Germany and another friend went to Paris.
So no shortage of drinks to review in the following month...
The CR crew was very pleased with this baby and a four-man testing squad (constisting of me, my brother, my friend and his brother) was put on this can...
We all are big fans of the Monster drinks and from the start we were expecting something awesome.
So, was the transatlantic trip worth the effort? Let find out, shall we?
Packaging:
Monster always blows us away with their can designs and yet again, they managed to make our jaws drop on the floor.
This can is a welcome variaton on the Monster cans we know and love.
The eyecatcher remains the Monster claw logo, which has a nice shade of red on this occasion, but this time there's another detail that really sets off this can: the camo pattern.
Yes, Monster cans always scream 'hardcore' and this is certainly no exception.
The camo pattern really adds to this theme; it's different than any other camo pattern we've seen, though.
It consists of shades of gray and has a rather pixelated effect on it.
Underneath the usual Monster text, 'ASSAULT' is written in silver with an army stamp effect.
Because this can is from across the atlantic, it also shows two minor differences to the Monster cans we got used to.
The first difference lies within the size; this can is addapted to the United States' fluid ounces system.
Therefore: the content of this Monster can is 16 fl.Oz, which is the equalivent of 473mL.
The visual difference? Well, the can has the same thickness as the half-a-liter Monster cans we got used to, but it's slighly shorter.
The second difference is the pull tab.
European Monster cans just have the regular, rather standardised silver pull tabs, which is nothing to be excited about really.
This Canadian can has a custom pull tab; it has the same shade of red as the Monster claw logo on the front and has a really nice and professional touch to it: there's a small claw logo on the pull tab!
First time in our lives that we've ever encoutered that, actually, so it's quite a shock to see how much more effort is spent on the American/Canadian Monster cans when compared to the European ones.
Slogan:
Sadly: we couldn't find a slogan on this can... anywhere!
We were a little bit disappointed with this; so many things within the Monster Assault theme can easily be converted into a cool or cheesy slogan.
It's a bit of a shame, really...
Taste:
We stood in awe when we cracked open this can and as soon as it was done, a strong raspberry and cinnamon smell filled the room.
We started filling some glasses and test tubes (yes, we have test tubes now, we've finally reached that level of insanity) to share the drink amongst the test squad and noticed a nice, deep red color.
And then the moment arrived where we all had been waiting for, you know: the bumping glasses, cheers and bottom's up moment.
As we expected from the smell: this drink tasted like raspberry, but we could easily taste the cinnamon as well.
We knew from the very start that this drink was going to be special, but this exceeded our expectations.
With the Lo-Carb and Juiced drinks, we still tasted the Original Monster flavour through it.
With Assault: even this familiar taste has vanished.
This really is a drink on it's own and if I would have to go through a blindfolded taste test, I wouldn't recognise is as a typical Monster drink.
At first, I wasn't completely sure about the cinnamon; I thought that it's presence was a little bit too strong but later on, I found it to complete this drink rather than spoiling it.
The sugar and carbonation also are really well balanced, so that's no problem either.
I noticed the drink has slightly less carbonation than the other Monster drink, but frankly, I don't really mind.
Pretty much saves you on gas, doesn't it?
Maybe it was just the excitement of having a new Monster again, but we all agreed this to be the best Monster drink yet, as it slightly surpassed Khaos in flavour and originality.
Kick:
We shared the drink, so we shared the kick.
Monster Assault gave us a decent buzz and I'm sure that if we all had one on our own, the four of us would all have the notorious Big Bad Monster Buzz experience, which basically means that disaster would have struck upon the testing room.
I noticed that the key ingredients, which are displayed on top of the claw logo as always, are different than the usual Monster key ingredients.
They are more or less the same, actually, but there seems to be a lack of l. carnitine and the ginseng magically transformed to panax ginseng (nah, just kidding; it's still everyday ginseng, nothing new here).
Price/Quality Ratio:
2 Canadian Dollars converts to €1,49 on this date, which is really convenient because that's what we always pay for a can of Monster.
Monster did it again, folks: they've made this drink live up to every cent we paid for it.
But this time; our favorite energy drink brand has accomplished even more: now we want to go to Canada!
No kidding: we, as energy drink lovers, are so jealous of the transatlantic countries, such as Canada.
They get the full line-up, whereas us Europeans usually can get only three.
Well, I guess we'll have to order from the States sometimes, for the sake of this site and for the sake of our collections of course.
Too bad that those shipping costs are outrageous...
25-04-2010
Monster Khaos
Price: FREE!! (probably €1,50 or so)Contains:
Here it is: the Khaos our crew has been waiting for for so long!
A friend of mine got really lucky on this one; he was at the right time at the right place.
They were giving away this drink for free and when that friend told me he managed to get some cans, I felt extatic!
Packaging:
A typical Monster 500mL can; mostly black and very simple, with the Monster Claw logo being the true eyecatcher.
In this case, the logo is a very nice shade of orange, a colour that makes its return a couple of times on this can.
Furthermore; this can shares a lot of similiarities with the Monster Ripper can.
Monster uses the design with the grey metallic areas on all of their Energy+Juice drinks.
They also did the scope thing again; this time the little scope is through the letter 'O' which, in my opinion looks better than when they did it through the 'R' as with the Ripper can.
Overall this is neatly designed can by Monster; it's not very special for Monster standards, but it will still stand out in a supermarket or in your collection.
Slogan:
The same as with Monster Ripper: 'The Juice is loose'.
It still fits nicely; Monster always does this thing with their 'dangerous' image and they managed to get the juice in their slogan in a nice and original way.
Taste:
Immediately when I opened this can; a nice aroma entered my nostrils.
The smell made me think of all kinds of orange coloured fruits, such as orange and mango.
I poured the drink into a glass and noticed its orangy color, with a slight touch of yellow.
Both the smell and the looks of this drink reminded me a little of Rockstar Juiced Mango.
The taste, however, is far better.
When it comes to the taste; this drink is truly divine.
This drink is so good that I would kill just to get a tray of this holy fluid.
As I presumed from the smell and looks of this drink, it tastes like orange and mango.
It kinda reminded me of the Ripper (which is logical since it has a similar concept).
I would actually prefer Khaos over Ripper, but that's most likely because Khaos is a welcome change of pace.
I've had the 48 times before (yes I counted it), whereas this drink is only something I got to try once.
Oh well, just in case you didn't notice: I like this drink and I would recommend it to anyone.
Kick:
The kick actually let me down a bit.
I didn't really get the Big Bad Monster Buzz of this one, but still the kick was decent.
Probably I couldn't get the right impression of the kick.
I was not the only one who was dying to try it, so I had to share it.
I guess that the kick would have been up to Monster standards when I had tried a full can.
Price/Quality Ratio:
My friend managed to get this drink for free.
For that 'price'; it is truly divine.
But even if you put all of the standard Monster prices on it (€1.40-€1.50 in the supermarkets and €2.50 in those greedy gas stations), it would still be totally worth it.
I'm almost willing to order some Khaos drinks from the States.
I said 'almost' because I can hear my wallet protesting with the thought of having to pay up for those rediculously high shipping costs.
29-12-2009
Transatlantic Blow Stimulation Drink
Price: €1.29Contains: 0.25L
I was pretty surprised when I spotted this drink at the local Jumbo supermarket; I was actually just getting some Rockstar...
There wasn't a price tag underneath it yet; that's just how new it was.
Immediately I took 3 with me (one for myself, one for my brother and one for a fellow collector and friend), and the cashier told me that it was going to cost me €3.87.
I was like dude, €1.29 A PIECE?! WTF?! This drink must be mindblowing then, right?
Packaging:
This drink comes in an attractive, white 0.25L slimcan.
The eyecatchers are the crimson Transatlantic Blow-writing and the winged(?) lips logo just above that.
The can is finished with a subtle touch of light-blue dots that are grouped to take on shapes that appear like an overlap between flames and hair.
There is a nice finishing touch on this can: the tab is crimson, really complementing the lips and logo on the can itself.
Custom-colored tabs always seem to be a privilege and a sign of luxury to me.
Why? Well; it's because the bigger brands always seem to be having their own custom lids, instead of the rather uniform silver ones.
The overall appearance of this can seems a bit feminine, with the lips and soft colors and all.
But heck, I won't bother walking on the streets with this can in my hand, as it isn't as obviously meant for women as the She drink did...
Slogan:
There is no such thing as a slogan on the can itself, but there actually is one on the drinks site.
The slogan is 'Stimulate Yourself'.
Well; I have to say that's a bit of a dissapointment.
On the one hand: it is suitable for a stimulation drink, but on the other hand: it isn't really that creative.
They could have tried adapting the lips, the name and maybe even the fact that it has coca extract in it.
Taste:
As usual; I poured this drink into glass.
I found out that the drink had a peculiar 'carbonated water'-like look.
By myself, I couldnt really identify the taste of this drink, so I called in the help of a few friends.
They told me that the taste is very similiar to the Bitter Lemon soft drink, except maybe that they replaced the majority of bitterness with sweetness.
And what does Bitter Lemon taste like? Well... It's in the name.
It has a very bitter lemon-like taste.
I can't say that I really like it, a little too bitter for my taste, but I seem to be the only one that doesn't like it.
It's a matter of taste I guess...
Kick:
This drink does have the average amount of caffeine in it (32mg/100mL), but there is an abcense of taurine that can be noticed.
Poor kick, but at least we can say that this drink did have one, and that's not to be said of every single energy drink we've had.
Price/Quality Ratio:
Well, this is where it gets interesting...
In my opinion: this drink just isn't worth the €1.29 I paid for it.
I disliked the taste, and €1.29 is relatively expensive for a 0.25L can.
However; my friends liked it, and they don't really mind the price.
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