Mexico City Energy Drink Journey 2018

Hunting in Mexico City is OK with Convenience Stores

In Mexico City, there are familiar convenience stores like 7-Eleven, the local Mexican convenience store OXXO, and Circle K. These stores are everywhere you walk, and the number of locations is so high it feels like there are more than in Japan.

There are several supermarkets as well, but they’re a bit farther from the tourist areas, and the price difference between supermarkets and convenience stores wasn’t that significant. You also can’t expect discounts, so I don’t think it’s worth going out of your way for energy drinks.

That said, I did go to about seven supermarkets from the area where I stayed just to gather information. I think I did quite well this time (*´艸｀*)

Let the Hunt Begin!

First, I headed to OXXO right below my hotel.

Here’s the energy drink section. Despite Mexico having a lot of Monster and Red Bull varieties, this is what I found. There are still more varieties than in Japan, but it’s still pretty sparse…

After gathering my thoughts... I went to 7-Eleven!

I went in full of expectations, but this was all I found… It was totally different from what I imagined!

I kept finding convenience stores, going in and out, and then headed to a supermarket, Sperama.

By the way, supermarkets all looked like this. The prices weren’t much different from convenience stores. They may have had a wider selection than Japan’s supermarkets, but there’s nothing to get excited about.

I visited dozens of stores, including convenience stores, supermarkets, and independent shops, but almost all had the same selection. Most independent stores didn’t carry energy drinks at all, so there’s no need to bother with those.

Before going to Mexico, I thought I could cover all the current releases by visiting 2-3 stores, but it turned out to be completely different (ヽ´ω`)

Compared to Japan, it feels like they carry various flavors, but the in-store situation was quite disheartening. However, this is one of the joys of being an energy drink traveler—experiencing it firsthand (●´ω｀●)

Despite the disappointing situation in Mexico, there are occasionally stores with a solid selection.

This 7-Eleven had a decent variety. I felt relieved to get a photo that looked like something.

Energy Drink Hunting is a High-Difficulty Task on a Short Tourist Trip

Since the stock situation at most stores wasn’t great, I felt that trying to collect every flavor and size of the major brands available in Mexico City—Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar—would be pretty tough. In fact, I couldn’t even collect all the different sizes of Red Bull during my whole trip.

Since it was my first time in Mexico, I can’t say for sure, but I suspect many of the flavors and sizes have already been discontinued. For example, there were no Monster Chaos or Rockstar Freeze series in stock, and I rarely saw the Red Bull Edition 355ml. Some regions might still sell them, but they weren’t available in the area I traveled in Mexico City.

Although it’s been out for a while, I was able to grab an Assassin's Creed limited edition. I didn’t see it at 7-Eleven, but I did spot it at OXXO. It’ll probably be phased out soon.

Energy Drinks Are Almost Ignored in Mexico

After visiting dozens of stores, I found some amusing and laughable situations, so I’ll share them here.

This is 7-Eleven, and even though there was a 2-for-50 pesos deal, they only had one bottle in stock. Not sure if they just hadn’t restocked…

Even in downtown Mexico City, I found a 7-Eleven like this, messy and disorganized. The handling was so poor it made me laugh.

Even worse, there was a sign for a 2-for-50 pesos discount, but the fridge didn’t have any Monster Energy! Of course, they had Monster in a separate fridge. It was way too haphazard.

Hunting Digest

While Mexico’s energy drink scene was quite different from what I expected, there were a few finds that made me excited and felt like a true hunt.

I found an old Neymar can! I thought it was long gone, and I only saw it in this supermarket.

Also, in the same supermarket and on the same shelf, I miraculously found a few cans of Monster Ultra Black. This was the only place I saw it, so I think it’s probably discontinued.

At another supermarket, I even found a 4-can pack of the limited edition. There were only two packs left, so I bought them both (*´ｪ`*)

However, when I returned home, I found that my suitcase had been opened during airport security checks, and for some reason, the pack of cans was torn open. I also noticed that other souvenirs like chocolates had their packaging opened, which made me pretty upset. If you're bringing pack items back from Mexico, make sure to carefully open them and store the cans separately in your suitcase… (ヽ´ω`)

Energy Drinks Are Too Expensive to Want to Buy

Mexico’s energy drink scene likely has its reasons for being so neglected.

The prices of energy drinks are generally just over 30 pesos. At the time, that was around 190 yen. When you consider that you can buy energy drinks for about 200 yen in Japan or 2 dollars in the U.S., it seems like a reasonable price.

However, when you compare them to other beverages, you’ll understand why energy drinks are so expensive and unappealing.

A 500ml bottle of soda costs around 7 pesos. That’s about 40 yen in Japan.

A 2-liter bottle of cola costs about 34 pesos. Meanwhile, a 355ml Red Bull costs 40 pesos (；´∀｀)
The price difference was so shocking that I almost forgot why I was even trying to buy energy drinks.

This was the soda display. It was amazing to see so many people drinking soda, even at street stalls. Meanwhile, energy drinks were left untouched, cans scattered or knocked over. It was quite amusing to watch (^_^;)

Incidentally, beer costs around 15 pesos at convenience stores and about 40 pesos at restaurants. Tacos at street stalls cost between 7-10 pesos each. Mexico is known for its affordable beer, but even so, it’s clear that energy drink prices are ridiculously high. No wonder they don’t sell well.

During my trip, which spanned from the upscale residential areas to the tourist-heavy Zócalo area, I never saw anyone drinking energy drinks, and I visited many, many convenience stores. In other countries, you often encounter people buying them, but not in Mexico.

Finally, About the Safety of Mexico

Before going, I had heard that it was very dangerous, but in reality, it wasn’t like that at all. There were police officers stationed everywhere, and during my stay, there were no incidents or accidents. The city center is quite clean and developed, with tall buildings everywhere. Although there were rumors about the subway being dangerous, it felt completely normal. I think the conflicts from cartels are far removed from the tourist areas of Mexico City.

The architecture around Zócalo, which is different from the downtown area, is also worth checking out (●´ω｀●)

Although it’s not a city that many people from Japan would visit for tourism, you can actually access Mexico City quite easily with direct flights from ANA or Aeromexico, which take around 12-14 hours. I was so busy hunting and sightseeing that I didn’t have enough time to enjoy all the cheap Mexican street food… I’m sure I’ll go back to Mexico again soon ((o(´∀｀)o))