2 days Ago By [email protected] (Jay Wilson)
In a world full of energy drinks, Monster towers over most of the competition. The energy drink has sold enough of its supersized cans in the last few decades to reach a market value of approximately $55 billion, and it's partly achieved that through its massive selection of beverages. Unlike some energy drinks, which tend to stick to their core flavors, Monster has made it its business to release dozens of wild and wacky varieties throughout the years.
It's had a lot of energy drinks labels in its time, and not all of them have lasted to this day. As you might expect, this has left some Monster fans in uproar about their favorite tastes disappearing. Some of the flavors that have made the biggest splash in Monster admirer circles, like the Swiss Chocolate Java Monster and Monster Mule, have been cruelly axed from the lineup with virtually no warning from the company itself.
Others might remember some slightly more niche varieties from back in the day, like Ubermonster or Monster M-80, which quietly receded from the market. Although Monster does occasionally bring back some of its best flavors for another spin, we're here to take a trip to the past with some of those products that are likely gone for good. 1.
Swiss Chocolate Java Monster We've gotta admit that the thought of a chocolate-flavored energy drink doesn't exactly make our taste buds tingle. However, Monster's Swiss Chocolate Java flavor was, according to fans, a cut above the rest. This energy drink took the luxurious taste of Swiss-made chocolate(which is, importantly, made differently from Belgian chocolate and has a different flavor), and infused it with heavy cream and brewed coffee.
It then added in a dash of Monster's key flavors for good measure, and popped the concoction in a can emblazoned with a picture of the Matterhorn (we'd imagine to show how towering its taste was? Maybe? We don't know how these guys think, honestly). It might not sound like the most logical choice for a canned drink, and it's probably no surprise that it was allegedly one of the company's lowest-selling flavors, which may have led to its eventual discontinuation. However, fans of the drink were not pleased at all.
"Swiss was the only energy drink made by anyone I would drink," said one commenter on Reddit , one of many folks who took part in a discussion about how devastating the decision to axe it was. A couple years down the line from its discontinuation, though, it doesn't look like there's any movement to bring it back. 2.
Monster Ultra Citron We can understand why some slightly more niche Monster flavors were discontinued, but when it comes to Monster Ultra Citron, we're a little bit in the dark about the company's decision making. On paper, and in practice, this drink had everything: It was touted as a citrus-infused addition to Monster's line, with the flavor notes working well with the inherent taste of the core beverage. People who reviewed the drink praised it for its slightly lower level of carbonation, which made it a little more drinkable, and its light, sweet sherbet notes.
It's clear that Monster Ultra Citron was a total winner — but it didn't seem like Monster agreed. At some point towards the end of the 2010s, Monster decided to discontinue the drink in the United States, and it was removed from store shelves before some people had a chance to stock up. Since then, folks have reported that you may still be able to find Monster Ultra Citron in other countries, but it seems to be very much on a case-by-case basis.
In the U.S., it's no longer in stock at major stores, and has become a distant, sherbet-infused memory.
3. Monster Rehab Pink Lemonade Pink lemonade is a natural fit for energy drinks: The flavor profile of this drink is tart, sweet, and juicy, which works well to make what can be a slightly intense-tasting beverage into something a bit lighter. Clearly, Monster figured this out, and its Monster Rehab Pink Lemonade was the result.
This drink took a non-carbonated approach, and the unusual step of infusing the Monster blend and pink lemonade flavors with tea. Now, this might sound slightly strange, but the result was a mellower-tasting drink that we'd imagine was way more pleasant to sip on a hot day, while you feel the caffeine coursing through your veins. Sadly, like so many flavors from the Monster line-up, the Rehab Pink Lemonade variety was not long for this world.
By the end of the 2010s, it had been discontinued. People flocked online to voice their displeasure. "My last bastion of hope, Mr.
Bezos's online superstore, no longer has my life juice," said one particularly well-spoken commenter on Reddit . "My fountain of youth. My second blood.
Pink lemonade is unavailable. No other online stores have it. It's been removed from Monster's website, and they won't return my tweets about it.
" Honestly, we kinda feel this person's pain. 4. Monster Mule The flavors of a Moscow Mule , wrapped up in a non-alcoholic energy drink, which wakes you up instead of making you feel drowsy? Sign us up! Monster Mule marked a slightly more sophisticated approach to the Monster line-up, by putting ginger and lime-infused notes at the forefront of the drink.
Reviewers pointed out that the ginger in this beverage, which could be overwhelming, was instead pretty subtle and well-balanced. When stashed in the fridge and served cold, it was the perfect sidekick to a hot summer's day. Despite its clear potential to appeal to a different kind of energy drinker, though, it seems that the Monster Mule just didn't have staying power.
A couple years back, one customer who had noticed that the Monster Mule had disappeared from shelves emailed Monster Energy, and was informed that it had been discontinued, with no plans to bring it back in the near future. Now, it should be said that Monster Mule was only a limited-edition offering — but it's not unknown for drinks companies to make some of their fan favorites permanent. This just wasn't the case here, sadly.
Although Monster Mule has reappeared on the Monster UK website, indicating that it might one day be back in stock, when you click through to find which stores carry it, it's nowhere to be found. We'll just have to keep waiting. 5.
Monster X-presso Hammer The slightly intense-sounding Monster X-presso Hammer has to take the top spot for the product which has the most classic "energy drink" name. Hammer: Vaguely aggressive-sounding, and promising serious energy. X-presso: Letting you know that you're gonna feel seriously buzzed, with a separate X to appeal to younger drinks.
So what awaited people in this drink? Surprisingly, quite a pleasant taste. This Monster flavor had a smooth, creamy note, with a strong jolt of coffee coming through. It was underpinned by a gentle hint of chocolate, and its complexity meant that it was one of the better coffee-flavored canned beverages out there.
It also had that kick of caffeine that the folks drinking it were craving. Regrettably, though, Monster only had room for one canned coffee line in its product selection, and the X-presso Hammer flavor, as well as the other options in the X-presso line, was discontinued. Monster instead turned its attention to its Java Monster line, and this one was no more.
6. Monster Cuba-Lima If you had a Monster Cuba-Lima poured out for you without seeing the can, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was just Pepsi. That was exactly what reviewers of this drink noticed about Monster's cola and lime flavored offer, with the smell matching Pepsi and Coke pretty well too.
Its taste, though, set it apart. Although it had Coca-Cola notes, it erred on the side of sweetness, and this initial note was followed by a pop of zesty lime. Monster Cuba-Lima was also delightfully fizzy, which only added to its freshness.
Oh, and you got that jolt of energy, too. Maybe the bigwigs at Monster realised that the Cuba-Lima was a little too close to its main competitors, though, and it was eventually discontinued. Other folks online have some slightly different theories about why it was removed from stores.
"I'm a Monster collector and this flavor got discontinued because the acid in the can was so high it caused it to leak," said one enthusiast on Reddit . It's worth saying that this is community-based knowledge and not confirmed by Monster itself, but if that's the reason it was discontinued, it's probably a good thing you can't get it any more. 7.
Monster Mad Dog Monster Mad Dog was a drink with a difference — and that difference was that its flavor was pretty extreme. While other Monster flavors tend to offer a subtle, perhaps slightly mature spin on the drink's classic profile, Monster Mad Dog leant in and hit its consumers with more sugary notes than they could handle. The top note was apparently meant to be grape, but people who drink it regularly stated that it tasted more like candy.
There was a good note of sourness which balanced everything out, but generally speaking this thing was sweet, sweet, sweet. We have a feeling that this drink was meant to appeal to a slightly younger crowd, and maybe that crowd never quite got on board with it. As a result, Monster Mad Dog was one day discontinued from the line-up.
It's worth saying that not everyone was totally unhappy about this: Although some Mad Dog fans were appalled at the choice, others said that they were pleased to see the back of the drink, thanks to its awful taste. Hey, we guess you can't please everyone, right? 8. Monster Baller's Blend The clue's in the name here, folks: Monster Baller's Blend was designed to keep you going through your game.
This was a fruit punch flavored addition to the Monster line-up which was shot through with a hefty dose of caffeine, and the combination of the two might not appeal to most folks out there. However, it seems that Monster got it right with this one. The scent was pretty much identical to fruit punch, and the flavor was smooth and easygoing.
When you combine that with the light carbonation throughout, we can see this being something that basketball players could easily sip on between halves without causing too much discomfort. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end — and Monster Baller's Blend did too. One day, fans woke up and found that the drink was no longer available.
This could have been down to sales, or it could have been a result of Monster just needing to free up space in its product line (or a combination of both). Whatever the reason, it hasn't been seen in a good couple of years, and we don't think it'll be back again soon. 9.
Monster Khaos When it comes to Khaos, it kinda feels like Monster's toying with us. Monster Khaos was first released in 2005, and when it hit shelves it felt like an energy drink revolution. Khaos took the normally-harsh flavors of energy drinks, and replaced it with a kind of orange soda note.
This was helped by the high level of juice in the drink itself, which made the whole thing taste that much better while still giving you a jolt of energy. By 2021, though, things were starting to wane, and despite its popularity Monster Khaos was discontinued. Or, should we say — it was rebranded.
Monster Khaos became Monster Khaotic, with its branding subtly changing to reflect the new approach and flavor blend it was offering. The sad thing was that the flavor blend just didn't hit the spot with customers, who felt like Monster had ruined its drink with this new balance. It was so close, but so far from the original flavor.
More recently, rumors have started to spread about Monster Khaos making a comeback, with reports online of people finding it in stores. However, if you try to buy it online, you're met with a sea of dead links and potentially fraudulent products. What's the truth, Monster? 10.
Monster Gronk Few food and beverage companies can resist a good old-fashioned celebrity tie-in product. For Monster, that came in the form of Monster Gronk. This drink was released in partnership with Rob "Gronk" Gronkowski, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player and Monster Energy Ambassador.
The can came complete with a picture of Gronkowski emblazoned on it, and Monster promised a rejigged taste to all those who drank it. So how did it pan out? Well, unfortunately, the taste itself wasn't that much different from other energy drink flavors. Some people noted that it tasted kind of like an amped-up Red Bell, while others stated that it was basically just a can of regular Monster with a fancy new label.
When you add in the fact that this drink was essentially released because of Gronk's work with Monster, it's hardly a surprise that this drink was a limited-edition offering that was soon discontinued. Don't hold your breath for it to come back any time soon, folks. 11.
Ubermonster There's Monster, and then there's Ubermonster. This spin on Monster's classic energy drink took the beverage in a whole new direction, for several different reasons — the first being that Ubermonster was a brewed, bio-activated, non-alcoholic version of Monster, with its different production approach promising a new experience. When you add in the fact that this drink came in glass bottles, instead of Monster's typical tall cans, and that its branding was ever-so-slightly rejigged so that the whole thing kinda looked like a German beer or Jägermeister, folks were locked and loaded for a taste sensation.
So it was slightly disappointing that Ubermonster basically tasted exactly like regular Monster. Although people noted that it was a bit more sugary and slightly smoother, there wasn't much to set this drink apart. It's probably no surprise that, with the money Monster probably sunk into making this drink happen and its ultimate indistinct taste, it didn't quite justify its place in the product line-up.
Ubermonster was soon discontinued, and has since become a collector's item. 12. Monster M-80 Honestly, we're gonna need energy drinks companies to stop giving their products such extreme names.
Monster M-80 is a classic example of this: Although it apparently wasn't named directly after the firecracker that has the same title, and was instead apparently called as such because of its 80% juice content, there's no getting away from the association. Monster M-80 also had a pretty intense flavor going for it, with a topical fruit juice note with strong hints of pineapple that was at risk of making everything a little overwhelming. Despite all of this boldness, Monster M-80 was actually weirdly drinkable, and there were some people out there that were huge fans of the drink.
It didn't seem like there were enough of them to justify it sticking around, though. Monster M-80 was eventually discontinued, and Monster seemed to try and replace it with its Juice Ripper flavor, although the actual experience of drinking the two drinks was pretty different. Nowadays, you can find a few pineapple and mango-flavored drinks in its line-up, but M-80 is long gone.
13. Monster Maxx Super Dry With so many words in its name, it's difficult to tell exactly what Monster Maxx Super Dry would have tasted like. Was it sweet and maximalist, or was it gentle and crisp? Reviewers noted that it was somewhat a balance of both, with the flavors erring on the latter side.
Monster Maxx Super Dry had a citrusy top note and a serious fizziness that meant that it didn't sit too heavily on the tongue, but it was far from unassuming and packed a real punch in terms of flavor. Sadly, Monster Maxx Super Dry just didn't seem good enough to stick around long-term. A couple years back, it appears that Monster discontinued the drink.
Instead, it began pumping out Monster Nitro Super Dry, which was designed as an alternative — but people who had tried both noted that the latter just didn't stack up to the former. Maxx Super Dry tasted a bit like Mountain Dew, whereas Nitro Super Dry just didn't quite achieve the same flavor balance and impact. If you're still pining for Monster Maxx Super Dry, though, we'd recommend trying to move on: It doesn't look like Monster's going to bring it back any time soon.
14. Monster Unleaded Let's be real: Energy drinks can be overwhelming. It's no secret that there are some seriously unhealthy energy drinks that can put a dent in your sugar and caffeine intake for the day.
Perhaps Monster Unleaded was a response to this, with Monster putting out a caffeine-free version of its beverage to folks who enjoyed the taste but not the buzz. Just as you might expect, this drink was virtually indistinguishable from a classic can of Monster, and if you hadn't seen it poured out of its slightly differently colored can, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Well, until there was no effect on your energy levels, that is.
We've gotta be honest, this product kinda seems like a winner — but it's only really a winner if you like the taste of an energy drink without the caffeine, and we're willing to bet that not enough people did. As a result, Monster Unleaded was soon discontinued. There's still a niche in the market for folks who do like that classic Monster taste, of course, but it's probably just not big enough to keep this drink around.
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