In brief, Monster Import contains 179mg of caffeine, 190 calories, B vitamins, and 49g of sugar for boosting your energy.
With a different taste, resealable can, and unique design, Monster Import is a favourite for many.
We take a closer look at the ingredients and facts surrounding this big, multi-serve Monster Import can.
I’m pretty sure you’re curious about what’s in the Monster Import drink, so I’m here to feed your curiosity.
Keep reading!
Where does Monster Import come from?
According to the Monster Import can itself, the idea for a multi-serve can was born in Spain, at the Moto GP to be precise. Monster Import was born in 2008 and has been a staple in the Monster energy range since.
The can talks tough about how they contacted the manufacturer of the resealable can and muscled their way into a deal for supply. It may be true, but it sounds a little unlikely that it went down exactly like that. But hey, it’s Monster, so you’ve gotta talk tough.
The supplier of fancy resealable cans is Ball-Packaging. If you look closely at a can of Import, you’ll see a little “Ball” logo printed next to the barcode.
Seriously, if Monster were so tough would they allow another company to print their logo on their cans?
Monster Import was originally called “export” because it was made in Europe and exported to the States. Nowadays Monster Import is manufactured Stateside and we refer to it as “Monster Import”.
Not Monster Export, although that also has a nice ring to it.
Monster Import Ingredients
Despite the fact that Monster says that a can of Import contains “2.5 servings”, let’s be real here – most people will down it in a single sitting.
So, I’m going to talk about the ingredients per can, not per “serving”.
In addition to plenty of caffeine and sugar (which I’ll talk about below), each can of Monster Import contains:
- 190 calories
- 179mg of caffeine
- Vitamin B2 (230% of the recommended daily intake)
- B3 Vitamins (230% of the recommended daily intake)
- Vitamin B6 (230% of the recommended daily intake)
- B12 vitamins (230% of the recommended daily intake)
And… several other nice-sounding ingredients, but because they don’t give any information about how much of them are actually in the recipe, I won’t include them here.
For all we know, there are only traces of the attention-grabbing ingredients, included only for marketing purposes.
The scary thing about the ingredients label is the fact that they list sugar as the second ingredient, behind carbonated water.
That’s a concern.
How much caffeine is in Monster Import drink?
Monster Import packs a hell of a punch.
With 179mg of caffeine per can, you’ll probably want to limit your consumption to no more than 1 or 2 cans per day at most.
There are other energy drinks with more caffeine than Monster Import, but it still has quite a lot of caffeine in a single can.
Compared to a standard 8.4 fl. oz can of Red Bull, Monster Import has more than double the caffeine. 80mg for Red Bull versus 179mg for Monster Import.
Even compared to a standard 16 fl. oz can of Monster, Monster Import has 12% more caffeine. The 16-ounce standard Monster has 160mg of caffeine per can, but somehow they managed to jam even more caffeine into a can of Monster Import.
One review claimed that he had been awake for 6 days without sleep and felt great. I really hope that person was joking, because that is seriously dangerous.
Even if it was just a joke, it gives you an idea of the effects that you can expect from drinking one of these “multi-serve” cans with all of the caffeine that it has.
How much sugar is in Monster Import?
The crazy-high amount of sugar in Import has been the subject of some criticism. And rightfully so.
Each can of Monster Import contains a whopping 49 grams of sugar.
That may not sound like much, but that’s 12 teaspoons of sugar in just one can.
You wouldn’t grab a spoon and start shoveling sugar straight from the packet into your mouth, would you? Well, it’s exactly the same thing when you drink sugar.
Sugar needs no introduction and by now no explanation about how bad it is for us, so I won’t bang that drum anymore.
Just know that the American Heart Association recommends that an adult male should consume no more than 9 teaspoons of sugar per day and women should limit sugar to only 6 teaspoons.
One can of Monster Import busts those daily limits before you even get to the bottom of the can.
B Vitamins
Having 230% of the recommended daily intake of several B vitamins might sound extra-healthy, but it actually isn’t.
B vitamins are water-soluble. That means that our bodies can’t hold anything that we consume over and above 100% of our daily requirements.
What happens to those extra B vitamins?
They make your pee bright yellow and go straight through you and into the toilet on your next visit.
Monster Import Taste
The resealable cap makes it a little awkward to drink out of and into your mouth. That makes it a little difficult to chug as quickly as you might like to, but you get used to it.
Of course, you could also just pour the drink into a glass and drink from a glass instead.
Bevreview published a bad review of the taste of Monster Import and was promptly sued by Monster. It didn’t even seem like a particularly scathing review, just simply one person’s opinion that the taste wasn’t great.
So, with that precedent in mind, I’m here to tell you that Monster Import tastes great!
No, seriously, in my opinion, it really does taste good. Mind you, I like most energy drinks.
I think it tastes a lot like the original Monster, but perhaps a shade sweeter and a little smoother. It’s quite nice, but it became a little too much for me after drinking a full can.
Perhaps I should have used that resealable lid after all.
My main concern with Monster Import is the ridiculously high sugar content.
49 grams per can is scary and probably explains why it tastes so sweet.
That’s about 9% of the total contents of the can.
This guy says that it tastes like Red Bull.
This Monster Import energy drink taste review isn’t as favourable.
Resealable Can
The Monster Import can feature a resealable lid that allows you to drink some and then save the rest for later.
I did a little experiment to see how long it would last after opening and it still had a little bit of fizz after 24 hours. Considering that it didn’t have a lot of fizzes, to begin with, I would estimate that it lost approximately 50% of its fizz during that time.
Lots of people complain about being splashed in the face with liquid when they open the can. This also happened to me, so you should be ready and on guard. It seems to happen more often when you re-open it after it’s been in the fridge for a while.
Pretty annoying.
2 days later…
Another 24 hours after that I opened the can back up again and (after another rude splash in the face) poured some into a glass.
The fizz was completely gone after 48 hours in total or two subsequent openings after the initial opening.
However, the drink itself still tasted fine.
Actually, it’s pretty easy to break the cap completely until you figure out how to properly open it, which will probably take a couple of goes.
The Monster Import can says “If you can open and close the can with one hand you probably dated a lot when you were younger.”
Personally, I make enough of a mess trying to open the darn can with two hands.
I’m not going to try to do it with only one.
Are you really going to drink it in 2.5 sittings?
I’m not sure how I feel about these multi-serve cans.
Seriously, how many people just drink the entire can at once?
The reason for labelling the can as containing multiple serves is to get around the rules on how much of certain ingredients energy drinks can contain. And Monster Import is packing some heat, with 179mg of caffeine and plenty of B group vitamins.
On the one hand, I think the regulating bodies should stamp out these “multi-serve” cans that only exist as a way to sell more than they should be selling.
But on the other hand, I think that beer doesn’t come with “max 2 per day” warning labels on it. So, what’s the difference?
Ultimately, Monster is playing within the rules as they are written and it’s up to the consumer to exercise some common sense in deciding how much of anything they should be consuming.
However, as always, moderation is key in avoiding potential side effects from too many energy drinks.
Monster Import Price
I paid $37.95 for a pack of 12 on Amazon. That was the best deal I could find and it included free shipping. That’s more than $3 per can.
It took more than a week for my drinks to arrive in Florida. Perhaps they didn’t get around to shipping my order for a few days, but shipping was a bit slower than I was expecting.
If you order a box of Monster Energy online it comes in a heavy box. My cans arrived all beaten up. They looked like someone had dropped them. Twice.
Comparing buying Monster Import online or at a convenience store shows some variation in price. At a gas station or drive-thru, prices range from around $2.90 per can if you buy 2 cans (and you don’t even have to get out of your car), up to $4 per can, depending on where you buy them.
So, the Amazon price isn’t necessarily the best deal.
This guy says that he prefers the original Monster mainly because of the price.
Check out my other article to learn more about whether regular Monster is bad for you or not and why.
Where is Monster Import actually made?
It’s made in the United States.
It was originally made in Europe, but now it’s made in the US.
This raises an interesting academic question. Should it still be called Monster Import if it is made, sold, and consumed in the USA?
Perhaps we should call it “Monster Domestic” instead. What say you?
Does Monster contain bull sperm?
No, Monster does not contain bull sperm.
With Taurine in every can, some people have speculated that Monster Import contains bulls’ sperm.
That is absolutely false.
Energy drinks don’t contain bull’s sperm.
It’s true that bulls’ sperm does contain Taurine, but that stuff does not make its way into your can. It also doesn’t mean that Taurine is made from bulls’ sperm.
These days, all of the taurine found in energy drinks is synthesized in a lab. No bulls were harmed in the making of your Monster Import energy drink.
Interestingly, the Monster Import can does not mention the amount of Taurine inside the drink.
The can mention that it contains taurine, but it does not give an amount.
How much L-Carnitine is inside?
The can doesn’t say how much L-Carnitine is found in Monster Import.
The design of the Monster Import can is sexy.
It looks great.
One of the marketing messages that jump out at the top of the can is “L-CARNITINE”.
L-carnitine is an amino acid that helps to burn fat. The problem is, to get any benefits from taking L-carnitine or other dietary supplements, you need to consume enough to reach what’s called a “minimum effective dose”.
Similar to the amount of taurine being a mystery, the Monster Import can does not mention the amount of L-carnitine in the can. Without information about how much of this amino acid is present in the can, we can’t say anything more about whether there’s enough to get any health benefits from it.
But, the fact that they don’t mention the amount of these eye-catching, good-to-have ingredients does seem to be a bit of a red flag. We should assume that if there were a lot of these super-awesome ingredients in the can that they would be telling us all about it.
So, by not mentioning the amount of these ingredients, that tells me that they are probably only present in small quantities.
But again, I’m speculating and without the facts, we can’t say for sure.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the scientific community considers the minimum effective dose of L-carnitine to be 500-2000mg.
Misleading Marketing by Energy Drink Brands
The reason I bring this up as a potential issue is that at least one other energy drink company falls short on this.
Spark energy drink broadly boasts “vitamin & amino acid supplement” in large letters on their packaging. However, when you look closely you’ll see that Spark only includes 10mg of L-carnitine, which is the same ingredient that is printed in large font at the top of a can of Monster Import.
That’s around 1% of the amount that you would need to consume to get any health benefit from having it.
With that in mind, don’t for a moment think that other energy drink brands wouldn’t also include a sexy-sounding ingredient in very small quantities simply for marketing purposes.
I’m not saying that’s true with regard to Monster Import.
It might be true, but we don’t know.
Just keep in mind that some energy drink brands include only VERY small amounts of healthy ingredients that might cause you to want to buy their products in the first place.
Alternatives to Monster Import Energy Drink
Monster Import is just one of the flavours that make up the impressive Monster range.
Ultimately, it depends on what matters most to you when considering what energy drink you should buy. The best energy drink for you might not be the best energy drink for someone else. It’s different strokes for different folks.
In terms of alternative options, you could consider some ready-to-drink energy drink alternatives like:
- Red Bull (if you’re curious about the difference between Red Bull and Monster check this article out)
- Rockstar
- Celsius
- XS Drinks
- Rip It
- Bing
- Xyience
- Guru
- Bang
Or, perhaps you’re like me who prefers convenience, powdered energy drinks are a great choice too:
- Zipfizz (you can check out my review of Zipfizz here or a deep dive into the Zipfizz ingredients here)
- Advocare Spark
…or my personal favourite REIZE!
If cans or powders aren’t your things, you may even want to take a closer look at Mio enhancer drops or caffeine pills.
Whatever you prefer, there are lots of really good energy drinks out there waiting to be discovered.
REIZE (10 out of 10)
If you prefer something with lighter caffeine, REIZE is the perfect energy drink for you!
It comes in light 4g sachets that are easy to carry around and mix. All you have to do is mix it with your favourite beverage – water or soda!
REIZE contains 50mg caffeine, 11 calories, no sugar, taurine, ginseng, and B vitamins designed to provide you with a boost without headaches and sugar crashes.
The good news is, you can have REIZE shipped to your door for as low as $1. That’s a pretty good value for the money, right?
Give REIZE a try today and I’m pretty sure you’ll pick it over Monster Import!