monster energy

(this photo was taken from google because im too lazy to import the picture i took off my phone). speaking of lazy, sorry for not posting any reviews in a long time, i have been forgetting and putting it off for too long. anyways, this is probably the most popular energy drink in existance, and therefore can be found almost anywhere. this is made by hansen natural, which makes natural sodas with real sugar. i believe i reviewed their vanilla cola previously and was quite impressed. monster basically copied red bull and rockstar with two things. the 16oz can from rockstar, and the high price from red bull. of course the price of monster fluctuates incredibly between stores. i have seen them cost 2$ up to $3.50 then buying them in bulk creates another price difference. sometimes a ten pack is 20$, sometimes its 14$. the cheapest guaranteed way to buy these though is a 24 pack from costco which is around 25$. enough about pricing, monster gained extreme popularity somehow, and possibly has surpassed red bull which is less common now than monster. i assumed this was green apple and lo carb was blue raspberry, but monster uses very strange labeling which confused my young mind.


smell: quite nice! like red bull no doubt, but some other pleasant aroma mixed in. maybe its rainbows.



taste: not bad, but i am not a fan. some of that weird smell definitely shows up in the drink, and nobody has ever observed this before, but monster kind of tastes like marshmallows. i know its a weird comparison, but think of that the next time you drink a monster and you will notice it. anyways, monster is a strange variation of red bull, and is at least decent tasting. i would say its better than red bull. the carbonation is somewhat weak, but DONT EVEN TRY to shotgun it cold. your throat will burn off and you will want to die. i dont know what it is, but the faster i drink this the more the carbonation hurts. i know most drinks are like this, but the gap is much wider.


kick: one thing that is great about monster, is its incredible kick. i have so much of a caffeine tolerance, that even redline doesnt work too good anymore. despite that, this still woke me up quite nicely and kept me awake for a good 4 hours. if you are having your first energy drink, dont make it a monster. you will be an insane spazz and everybody will think your high.


overall: try a can! monster could stand to taste a lot better, but it does have a very good kick, and after all, thats why you drink this. many people say that if you dont like original monster, you wont like any other monster products that are similarly flavored. i beg to differ, because some of my favorite energy drinks are a variation of this flavor.

trader joes vintage cola

this is pretty much the only soda i could find that was worth trying and not in a huge bottle at trader joes. given whole foods vast selection of craft soders, you would think you could find something other than a store brand cola at the similarly organic store. though store brand colas are generally bland and pepsi esque, this is at least in a glass bottle. dapper cola was in a glass bottle too, so i cant really make too many assumptions about this.

smell: like coca cola, but a little spicier. its actually very similar to mexican coke in smell.


taste: not bad! despite the flavor being so much like many other organic colas, its hard to figure out the flavor. its kind of in between virgils cola  and coke, which to me is a great combo. the fizziness is at literally the perfect level, which is slightly less than what most colas use. this may be due to the use of tartaric acid instead of phosphoric acid, but either way this is a very good cola.


overall: buy a palette! this is a terrific cola, and being store brand it is also fairly cheap. it seems any cola in a glass bottle is good, and somehow all the store brands excel in that category. this is of course sweetened with real sugar being organic and all.

rc cola

rc cola has a very long past, and though somewhat popular, has never really been on the same scale as coke or pepsi. however it is its own unique cola, and not a generic dollar store cola. it is entirely likely that you have never seen or even heard of rc cola, and if you have ever seen it, it was almost definitely in a plastic bottle or can. however this is glass ( still uses corn syrup though) and was found at the absolute unlikeliest of stores, old navy! there is usually nothing in old navy i would ever want, but i was notified that they had rc cola by a fellow classmate, and had to check it out. the first 3 i went to didnt have it, but i finally found it last week. along with this was jones sodas and mexican coke to name a few. one movie i have seen that had rc cola was the green mile, and it was in EXTREMELY old glass bottles. i think even at the time of the movie they would have been antiques. for those who dont know, rc stands for royal crown, not remote control.


smell: a very distinct cola scent. not like coke or pepsi, but something entirely different.



taste: very good! this is sort of like the in between of coke and pepsi, tasting a little like both, and better than both too. this is also very spicy when cold, but not when warm. i have always had trouble describing the taste of cola, since it it so unlike anything else. keep in mind this uses corn syrup, so if there was a real sugar version it would probably be the best cola i have ever had.



overall: buy a palette! this is the best cola ( at least that uses corn syrup ) on the market, and i definitely recommend it over coke or pepsi. of course mexican coke or pepsi throwback are equally good

barbican apple

(pssst- theres a future review in the background) this is a mediterranean soder, which i know because it has arabic on it and i got it at a mediterranean store called sabbs market. if you happen to live near it or there are other locations, i reccomend you check it out since in addition to their vast array of strange soders, there are also a bunch of foreign delicacies that cant really be found anywhere else. back to the soder, at first i thought this was beer, as most would, but i thought it was odd that it was with the soders, and not the other beers. upon closer inspection, i learned this is apple flavored, and non alcoholic. this is a malt beverage, so i really have no idea what to expect since the only malt beverage i have ever had was malta goya, and that tasted like liquid cheerios. this has a very clean and quality looking bottle, unlike most soders which usually try for a nostalgic or child like look. this really looks like beer though. i dont know any oft the nutritional facts, or if theres a description since everythings in arabic and this has little to no web prescence.


smell: like apple juice, but not as strong. nothing like malta goya, which is to say the least, a relief.



taste: oh thats weird. it starts out like carbonated apple juice,  and then becomes very bitter like beer. since it uses real sugar and "nature identical apple flavour" this tastes really clean, which is rare for apple flavored items. the caronation is slightly foamy, which makes sense since it uses hops and malt like beer does. there is also a slight wheaty aftertaste like beer.




overall: buyer beware! this is a unique experience, but unfortunately it just doesnt taste very good. i have had much better apple soders, and the bitterness doesnt help either. i dont really hate this, but i wouldnt buy it again so i cant give it a higher rank than that.

body armor strawberry banana guava

having not gone to school due to being sick, i found myself somehow desperately craving a watery juice drink( gatorate for example) and after digging through my fridge, i found this health drink i got for free at a patriots game, along with a body armor t shirt for throwing a football through a small hole. having passed by the monster booth and picking up all the monsters people left on the ground, i was extremely overstocked on monster and decided to throw this in the trunk of the car we were tailgating in. anyways, i am very thirsty so lets get on with it!


smell: kind of gross. like a protein bar and how jarritos tamarind smelled.



taste: have to say, i expected a lot better from this. its been in the fridge for a week and still isnt cold, and it tastes like twizzler mixed with banana puree. and then some coconut water.


overall: buyer beware! this is still drinkable, and a lot better tasting than many other health drinks. however body armor makes much better flavors, so i cant recommend this to any audience.

java monster kona blend

so this is the final java monster for me to review, and one of the rarer ones at that. i say this is the final because i dont expect to come across any of the discontinued ones. the rarest at least in my area, is toffee, which is even rarer than the xpressos. the description says everybody knows some of the best coffee comes from the kona side of the big island of hawaii. well i didnt know that, and i honestly dont think the source of the coffee makes a big difference, its how you roast it and what you add to it. i dont really know what to expect from this, but if the awesome looking can with tikis and palm trees are any indication, this will be great.



smell: wow thats strong for a java monster. there is a very bold coffee scent, but also that pseudo liquor smell that irish blend has.



taste: well of all the java monsters this one tastes the most like coffee, and GOOD coffee too. i like the strong coffee taste, mixed with some sort of chocolate. honestly loca moca should taste like this instead of being the exact same thing as mean bean.



kick: not jittery, but very long lasting. got me through an entire day of walking without getting the slightest bit tired. although after it wore off my feet were in pretty damn bad shape and i didnt even notice.



overall: buy a palette! this is one of the better java monsters, with a great kick too. you caqn actually taste the coffee in this one, which is something that cant be said about most java monsters. this is the 3rd best, with second being hammer xpresso, and first being irish blend. this tastes like how loca moca should taste, and that is very good.

super chill ginger ale

having recently bought an iphone 5, you may notice a sharp increase in quality of the picures compared to the old ones i took with the crappy 3g camera. unfortunately, i already have a ton of other reviews written, and to get the better quality pictures i have to either find the soders again and take a picture, or get one off google. getting to back to the soder, chill is a variety of cheap dollar store sodas, which are often sold at shaws but i have never seen them anywhere else. this is super chill, and from what i can tell is no different in any way from the rest of the flavors. being a generic brand soder, this naturally uses corn syrup. i feel kind of sick today so i figured today would be a good time to drink this since ginger is good for that. people usually think generic soders are really crappy, but honestly they are often just as good if not better then their more expensive counterparts. a great example is shasta or rip it.

smell: regular old ginger ale, but maybe a bit sweeter.

taste: not bad. this is a pretty good ginger ale, although not as good as vernors which i expected. there is very little ginger taste, which to me is not a bad thing, but not a great thing either. i would probably rather drink this than most ginger beers just because of how spicy they are though.

overall: try a can! not bad, but pretty much your average nondescript ginger ale but a little bit better. its super cheap so i reccommend it.