Monster Nasty Beast Hard Teas

Monster has been busy in 2023. The popular energy drink brand released an alcoholic (and caffeine-free) version of four of its energy drink flavors in February. The drinks launched in six states, but the distribution has spread to about 40% of the country with the goal of being national by the end of 2023. During the initial launch of The Beast Unleashed, the brand hinted that two new flavors were incoming, as well as a line of hard teas. Well, things move fast in the alcohol industry. In the Monster annual shareholder meeting, Beer Business Daily reports, the co-CEO of Monster Energy announced that not only is the brand planning on launching a line of hard iced teas, the drinks already have a name: Nasty Beast Hard Teas.

Hard Teas and FMBs

Like The Beast Unleashed, Nasty Beast Hard Tea by Monster is a fermented malt beverage (FMB). Many mistake FMBs for hard seltzers; however, the two products are very different. First, hard seltzers usually use alcohol made by fermenting sugar. Whereas FMBs are made by fermenting malt in a process similar to producing beer. Thus, FMBs are rarely gluten-free, whereas hard seltzers are more often than not free of gluten. Another essential difference is that hard seltzers use a seltzer base, meaning the products are carbonated. FMBs (and Hard Teas in particular) are often noncarbonated.

The hard tea market is currently seeing a boom in popularity. In fact, according to Brewbound, hard tea sales have increased by nearly 40% just this year. When explaining Monster’s decisions around entering the hard tea market, co-CEO Rodney Sacks stated that it “is the fastest-growing section of the flavored malt beverage category at the moment.” However, the subsegment is completely dominated by Boston Beer Company’s Twisted Tea. Twisted Tea controls 91% of the hard tea market. Well, other brands are looking for a piece of that pie, including Monster with Nasty Beast. However, Monster isn’t the only big brand looking to enter the booming hard tea market. In a deal between Pepsico and FIFCO USA, Lipton Hard Iced Tea hit the market earlier this year. Also, the popular iced tea brand Arizona just launched a line of hard teas in the US this summer (after launching in Canada in 2020).

Everything We Know About Nasty Beast Hard Teas

Nasty Beast Hard Teas by Monster Energy will be available in four flavors. What those flavors will be is still a mystery. What we do know is that these drinks will have an alcohol content of 6% ABV. This is in line with The Beast Unleashed flavors. The hard teas will be available in multi-flavor variety 12-packs of 12 oz cans and 23-24 oz single cans. The brand has not established whether or not these hard teas will contain caffeine, but competitor products in the subsegment usually do contain small amounts of caffeine. Twisted Tea, for example, contains 30 mg of caffeine per 12 oz can (whereas an 8 oz cup of coffee contains about 100 mg). When will Nasty Beast Hard Teas be available? Late this year, around the same time that the Beast Unleashed plans to go national. The brand also hints that new innovations will be coming in 2024.

Want to find your perfect hard seltzer or canned cocktail? Try our new Seltzer Finder! You can search by flavor, ABV, carbs, and more to discover your ideal beverage.