Cherry coke meets Monster meets the Iraq war? Their can asks you to “declare war on the ordinary”, and drink down this latest offering by the Hansen folk. Assault comes in a camouflaged package that, while well designed, certainly fits into a pro-war image. Their slogan on the side tries to minimize this, by stating that the folk at Monster are not Pro – War, but neither are they anti-war. They state that they are just put the camo on here because it looks cool? They then state that it will help them fight the multinational conglomerates run the energy drink business. Huh? Isn’t that like Rupert Murdoch telling people to fight “the man”? Hansens is one of the largest manufacturers in this category! The company has just under 500 employees, and a net worth of $605,774,000. Not that I am say the drink is bad, but the label is just stupid. If you really wanted to fight the man, you would put down the monster and pick up one of the smaller locally made energy drinks with cherry – like Bing. Still, for the flavor of this drink, would give it a try, unless you live in Sioux City

Taste:8
This is a very unique and satisfying flavor, without that much carbonation and a very complex and fruity flavor. They also use some very interesting spices in here so the drink tastes exotic and earthy too. There definitely has cherry in it, but I would not say it is a cherry drink. It is like a cola, but definitely not a cola drink. If you don’t mind the calorie count , this could be a great drink to try out.

Buzz/Nutrition:6
Monster sticks to what they know here – showing nothing unique between this can and other monster cans. There is 2000mg taurine, 400mg ginseng, and 5000mg of their energy drink mix: glucose, caffeine, l-carnitine, inositol, and malodextrin. It probably has 140mg of caffeine in the can, as original monster does and they dont seem to be changing things up much in the nutrition category. Wish tey had a non-calories version, as the 16 oz can has 200 Calories.

Packaging:8
Fantastic job here – going with the red surrounded by dark gray camo. Even the wording on the bottom is written in stenciled letters to really give off the wartime look and feel. The slogan on the back is just what the drink needed, so Monster is out of the hot water of being called Anti or Pro War, and try to make themselves more cool and punk rock. Seriously, monster is edgy like walmart is edgy. Overall, nice designs and great use of fonts and layout.