I want to spend my winters on the Kona coast in Hawaii
Java Monster Kona Blend
Ok while scouring the cooler at a local store(hey it’s what I do on a regular basis) I was astonished to see a new Java Monster. I had not heard anything 
about this. I usually hear about these things before they happen so I was really surprised. I grabbed a can with much excitement. When I got home I could find no info on this drink anywhere. I did some digging though and found out a lot of interesting stuff though. It seems Monster is revamping their Java lineup. This drink is just Big Black aka Originale. The can has totally changed though. So this is the 3rd name change. Still since I had not reviewed it I was happy to do so now.
Packaging: While I liked the original wood grain can designs I have to say this is an improvement both in name and in design. I love the Hawaiian theme with the wooden mask and a ton of little details like the rock background, pattern around the top and other cool images. This drink really stood out in the cooler. The green palm trees really set it all off. Grade A
Slogans: “Try monsters new big island brew it’s just too good to be true” is on the can. It’s kind of long but it’s fun and drink specific to this flavor. Grade C+
Taste ect: So popping the top I get a nice sweet coffee scent. I pour some in a cup and it comes out a rich dark brown color with some creamy white foam on the top. I take a sip and it is a really thick creamy drink. The cream taste hits you first but it is followed by some nice rich coffee flavor. The coffee taste lingers pleasantly after you are done. This stuff is super thick and sweet. There is no bitterness or caffeine taste. If you like really thick and sweet creamy coffee drinks this is a pretty good one. Little too much milk for me but then most coffee energy drinks are. I mean the main ingredient is reduced fat milk. I’ll give it a solid C+ I like my coffee drinks with a bit more coffee.
Kick/Ingredients: So I drank this around 5am as I got to work. It made a really good replacement for my morning coffee. It really got me alert and going. I had a good solid buzz going and got off to a better start than I do on most days when I’m running on like 4 to 5 hours of sleep. I was surprisingly alert. I had this energy a good 4 hours with a minor crash at the end. Each can is powered by the usual 2000 mgTaurine, 200 mg Ginseng, and the 2500 mg Monster energy blend consisting of 160 mg Caffeine, Guarana, Inositol, Glucuronolactone, L-Carnitine ,Glucose, Matlodextrin, and B vitamins at the 200% level. You get all this with 200 calories. 36 grams of carbs, and 16 grams of sugars. There is a slight difference in this Kona and the old Originale/Big Black and that is a tad more potassium and sodium. Not really much of a difference there. I’ll give it a grade of B for kick/ingredients
Web presence: As always monsterenergy.com is one of the premier energy drink websites with a ton of content. Nothing about this new name and can but the big Monster moves kinda slow. There is a ton of content there so check it out if you have some time to kill. Grade A
Recap:
So while I was pretty excited when I found this it was kind of a let down. On the plus side though it got me to review a Monster I had not reviewed yet. It turned out to be a pretty good drink. It delivered some pretty good energy that lasted a good while. It was a little heavy but it tasted ok. The highlight for me had to be the redesigned can which was a real winner. Keep an eye out for this drink and if you have not tried it with it’s other names maybe you will be inspired to try it like I was.
