We Got an Early Taste of New Monster Strawberry Shot

Back at the NACS Expo, I was lucky enough to walk away with sample cans of every new Monster Energy drink debuting in the next seven months. That presented a unique problem: When do I review them? If I covered the summer 2026 Monster Ultra flavor now, the comments would be full of grumpy people asking why we’re wasting their time with such advance notice. We’ve landed on a healthy middle-ground: my reviews of these new drinks will go up one month before they hit shelves.

Today, I’ve got two new Monster Energy drinks launching in early January under the name “Strawberry Shot.” The concept is simple: they boosted the classic Monster formula with a shot of strawberry flavoring! Let’s see if a simple concept can stick the landing.

New Monster Flavor!

Monster Strawberry Shot Energy

Instacart

Pros: There’s something about that original Monster formula that takes me back. I can remember exactly where I was and who I was with when I first tried the OG Monster Energy drink back in 2012. I’ll save you the personal essay, but this is definitely “original Monster… with strawberry!” rather than a whole new strawberry energy drink. And it’s absolutely killer. While I don’t buy classic Monsters myself, I’ll definitely be recommending this to my diehard Monster-enjoying friends.

Cons: It came off as a little too syrupy at first… until I remembered that the original Monster is just like that. 

Verdict: The strawberry is such a good addition that I’m surprised it took this long. If you took someone with no knowledge of the Monster Energy timeline and asked them to line them up by release date, they’d likely think this came out before drinks like Swiss Chocolate Java Monster and Monster Dragon Tea.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

New Monster Zero Sugar!

Monster Zero Sugar Strawberry Shot Energy

Instacart

Pros: Monster’s Zero Sugar version of the original formula is perfunctory; adding strawberry bumps it up into a comfortable “happy to drink it” category. I don’t have nearly the same nostalgic feelings towards the comparatively brand-new Monster Zero Sugar; this never had a chance of hitting the same as the OG sugar-acid drink.

Cons: The strawberry flavoring, while a positive addition, cannot mask that artificial sweetener taste. 

Verdict: The issue with classic Monster’s Zero Sugar variant is that it’s always sold right next to their entire Ultra line, many of which are the best examples of sugarfree energy drinks on the market. Trying to replicate a full sugar flavor without sugar is much harder than creating a new flavor to work around artificial sweetener’s weaknesses.

Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart

Rating:

7/10

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