Monster Energy's new Coffee Monster to be released on October 7th

A new flavor of Monster Energy is set to be released in Japan. The next release is the Coffee Energy drink, "COFFEE MONSTER." The packaging resembles the overseas JAVA Monster, and the size is 250ml, which is smaller.

■ Release Date: October 7, 2014
■ Volume: 250ml steel can
■ Price: 190 yen (excluding tax)
■ Coffee Monster Review

Overseas JAVA Monster, Similar Color to MEAN BEAN

Oh, it looks like the new flavor expansion will be huge! @shu0457: This is Monster's new product in Japan (*´∀`) pic.twitter.com/1r21Zi5jei"

— エナジー・ドリン君エナジードリンクマニア (@energydrinkun) August 30, 2014

Thanks to the tweet, we got some information about the new product, Coffee Monster (ｕ_ｕ*).

Once again, there was no announcement on the official site, and it seems the information was first released via a flyer. Judging by the flyer, the color resembles the overseas MEAN BEAN. There doesn't appear to be any specific mention of a flavor, just "COFFEE MONSTER," which suggests that it won't be part of a broad coffee flavor range like the overseas version.

The overseas version is 355ml, and it's known for offering good cost-performance, but this new product is in a smaller 250ml size. For some reason, in Japan, coffee seems to be packaged in smaller cans, possibly to match the market here. It's a bit of a shame since I would have preferred it to come in the 355ml size, especially for collectors.

It Probably Doesn't Contain Carbonation

Since energy drinks are strongly associated with carbonated beverages, many people seem to think that Coffee Monster contains carbonation. However, based on this flyer, there is no mention of "carbonated beverage" or "carbonated," which suggests it doesn't contain carbonation. By contrast, M3 had a similar image as a nutritional drink, and many people assumed it was carbonated, but it clearly mentioned "carbonated beverage."

Overseas coffee energy drinks, such as the JAVA MONSTER series and Starbucks' Doubleshot Energy, as well as Rockstar's Roasted, do not contain carbonation. Likewise, the coffee energy drinks available in Japan are mostly just regular coffee, like Power Coffee.

Carbonated versions are rare, with UCC's Full Throttle being an exception, which makes it quite unique. So if you were concerned about "carbonated coffee tasting awful," you probably don't need to worry too much.

How Sweet Will It Be?

The JAVA MONSTER series is known for being very sweet and rich, which made it difficult for many Japanese consumers. Since this is a coffee energy drink specifically for the Japanese market, I don't think they'll make it too overly sweet or heavy, but who knows... If it's too sweet, it could become unpopular, and if it ends up tasting exactly like the MEAN BEAN flavor, it might not become as popular.

It would be a shame if it ended up like Chaos and was pulled from store shelves. So, I’m hoping for a delicious coffee energy drink.

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