Monster vs Red Bull vs Prime

WatchMojo

Red Bull might give you wings, but what about the other two? Welcome to WatchMojo, and in this installment of vs, we’re lining up three of the most popular energy drinks on the market, to see how they measure up in terms of caffeine boost, nutrition and overall brand legacy.

Transcript

00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and in this instalment of Versus, we're lining up three of the

00:07 most popular energy drinks on the market to see how they measure up in terms of caffeine

00:11 boost, nutrition and overall brand legacy.

00:13 And be sure to stay tuned for my blind taste test too.

00:16 If you have any questions about the health implications of energy drinks, please consult

00:20 a medical professional.

00:29 For many of us, this is the important bottom line when it comes to energy drinks.

00:32 And for the most part, you can look at an energy drink's caffeine content per milligram

00:37 as a good gauge for how much "energy" it's going to give you.

00:40 As a baseline figure, it's worth noting that an average 8-ounce cup of coffee is said

00:44 to give you around 95mg of caffeine.

00:47 An 8-ounce serving of Red Bull and Monster comes out at 75mg and 85mg respectively, so

00:53 both of them offer slightly less caffeine than a cup of Joe.

01:00 Keep in mind however, that Monster energy cans typically come as 16-ounce servings,

01:05 or twice the size of Red Bull cans.

01:07 So in terms of caffeine content, you're getting twice as much with a can of Monster.

01:11 But what about Prime Energy drinks?

01:13 Well, they blow both Red Bull and Monster out of the "caffeine-laden" water with around

01:18 135mg for every 8-ounce serving.

01:21 And just like Monster, Prime Energy drinks usually come in 16-ounce bottles.

01:26 So let's say you buy an average can of Red Bull, Monster and Prime.

01:29 You're looking at a caffeine content of around 75mg, 170mg and 270mg for each can

01:36 respectively.

01:37 Based purely on bottom line caffeine figures, this round goes to Prime Energy drinks.

01:47 Before you go running off and buying the energy drink with the most caffeine, you might want

01:50 to consider nutritional information first, because this is where things get a little

01:54 more complicated.

01:55 In terms of calories, protein and carbs, an 8-ounce serving of Red Bull and Monster are

01:59 extremely similar, with Red Bull edging it slightly with marginally less calories and

02:04 carbs.

02:05 Once again however, you need to consider that Red Bull cans are typically half the size

02:08 of their Monster counterparts.

02:14 Prime on the other hand claims to have next to no sugar, lower calories and considerably

02:19 more electrolytes than comparable servings of Red Bull and Monster.

02:22 So at a glance, this might lead you to believe that Prime is the much healthier option.

02:26 Well, to determine that, we have to again look at the caffeine content.

02:30 While Prime Energy drinks have far more caffeine than its competitors, some health professionals

02:34 claim that it can be a dangerous amount of caffeine.

02:36 It's said that the average adult should only consume around 400mg of caffeine a day.

02:41 That means that the average bottle of Prime Energy is almost three quarters of your daily

02:44 caffeine intake, at 270mg.

02:48 And if you're not used to high caffeine intake, downing a bottle of Prime could accelerate

02:51 some high-caffeine side effects, like headaches, getting the shakes and insomnia.

03:00 Of course, all three brands offer zero-sugar versions of their popular drinks, so from

03:04 a calorie-counting point of view, that's always worth keeping in mind.

03:07 However, due to its high-caffeine content, we just can't give Prime the win for nutrition.

03:11 So with Red Bull coming in more health-appropriate servings, and with slightly less calories,

03:16 the Bull brand gets the win for this round.

03:28 This round is of course very subjective, and each brand certainly has its flavour-lovers

03:32 and haters.

03:33 Red Bull's signature taste has become somewhat at the benchmark for other brands, with some

03:37 saying its sweet and sour taste is similar to licorice, and others saying that it tastes

03:41 horrible like cough medicine.

03:42 But Red Bull's other flavour options are arguably even more controversial, with some

03:46 of them being described as undrinkable, and even more medicinal-tasting than the original.

03:52 Monster's taste, on the other hand, has been described as more candy-like, with the

03:56 brand offering a staggering amount of flavour options.

03:59 The main downside of Monster is that their flavours can be so sharp that some simply

04:03 find them overwhelming.

04:04 And a similar thing can be said for Prime, with most of their flavours based around sweet

04:08 fruits like raspberry, strawberry and lemon-lime.

04:16 to the shop, buy all three drinks and have a little taste test myself, so that's exactly

04:19 what I've done.

04:20 I don't know which can or which bottle is where, I've had someone come in and randomise

04:25 that for me, I covered my eyes.

04:27 I've had Red Bull before, I know what Red Bull tastes like.

04:30 The other two, never had them before, Monster or Prime.

04:32 You can purchase these drinks in the description below.

04:34 If you click any of the links, you won't pay any more, but we might earn an affiliate commission

04:38 as a result, which helps the channel.

04:39 I'm gonna go down the middle first.

04:40 That's Red Bull.

04:41 100%.

04:42 Now I've heard Monster energy drinks taste like sweets, I think that tastes like sweets.

04:47 Let's try this one.

04:48 Ooh, that's completely different to Monster.

04:49 That's more like a fruit drink.

04:50 Right, so I think that's Red Bull, that's Monster and that's Prime, because that's

04:51 like super fruity.

04:52 Yep, well done.

04:53 In terms of which one I prefer, I'd probably say Monster, that's just really tasty.

04:54 So in terms of ranking them, I'd go Monster, Red Bull and Prime.

04:55 Based on the feedback from consumers and our quick taste test, we're giving this round

04:56 to Monster.

04:57 I'm gonna go with Monster.

04:58 I'm gonna go with Prime.

04:59 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:00 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:01 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:02 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:03 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:04 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:11 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:12 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:13 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:14 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:15 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:16 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:17 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:18 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:19 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:20 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:21 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:22 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:23 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:24 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:25 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:26 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:27 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:28 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:29 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:30 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:31 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:32 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:33 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:34 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:35 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:36 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:37 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:38 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:39 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:40 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:41 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:42 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:43 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:44 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:45 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:46 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:47 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:48 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:49 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:50 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:51 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:52 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:53 I'm gonna go with Monster.

05:54 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:55 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:56 I'm gonna go with Prime.

05:57 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:04 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:13 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:20 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:27 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:36 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:42 I'm gonna go with Prime.

06:52 I'm gonna go with Prime.

07:03 I'm gonna go with Prime.

07:13 I'm gonna go with Prime.

07:23 I'm gonna go with Prime.

07:33 I'm gonna go with Prime.

07:43 I'm gonna go with Prime.

07:53 I'm gonna go with Prime.

08:03 I'm gonna go with Prime.

08:10 I'm gonna go with Prime.

08:20 (upbeat music)

Category

Transcript

Recommended