New York Energy Drink Trip

First Class Becomes Addictive

This time, I'm going on a long-haul flight in first class for my energy drink hunt! Not many people in the energy drink community have probably done this (*´ｪ`*). The seat space, privacy, and meals are slightly better than business class, and I even got to drink Krug champagne! The cabin crew's service was amazing as well.

On the way back, I bumped into a wealthy celebrity at the lounge, and we became friends. There were so many other exciting moments related to the flight, but I'll save those stories for another time… it’s definitely addictive! Lol.

Manhattan Has Fewer Energy Drinks Than Expected!

This time, I based myself in Midtown Manhattan and decided to hunt in the southern part of Central Park.

South of Midtown is the area where 9/11 occurred, and now One World Trade Center is a landmark. The observatory at One World Trade Center costs about 5,000 yen, which is a little higher compared to Japan’s Skytree, but the experience leading up to the observation floor was incredible. I highly recommend it for anyone visiting New York!

Now, let's go on our first New York energy drink hunt! ((o(´∀｀)o))

The stores are mainly convenience stores like 7-Eleven, local liquor stores, cigar shops, delis, and large supermarkets, but the selection is quite limited.

First up is 7-Eleven. There aren't many stores in Manhattan, but the variety of stock is the same everywhere. And the variety is so limited... Isn’t this crazy!?

Many people might want to post a photo of an array of energy drinks on social media when they visit the U.S., but you can't do that in Manhattan! (´；ω；｀) Ugh...

It seems like all the energy drinks are grouped together in one fridge. Also, at some 7-Eleven stores, the alarm goes off whenever the fridge door with energy drinks is opened. Choosing only the ones without dents was a bit of a hassle (^_^;)

This is the new Monster Energy Pacific Punch from the summer of 2018. Interestingly, not all stores carry this, and despite being a new product, its availability is quite sparse. It’s a little disappointing... The same goes for the new MAXX series from the same year. Solaris was hardly seen either.

There’s almost no Rockstar. As you can see, this store doesn't have a single Rockstar. I was hoping to collect the 8 different cans from the Rockstar Destiny collaboration, but none of the stores had any. It’s not just that the collaboration cans were missing, there were barely any Rockstars in general (^_^;)

That said, even though there’s not much Monster or other smaller energy drink brands, Manhattan overall felt completely lacking. I was really surprised.

This store had the best selection out of the ones I visited. Rockstar is barely visible in the bottom right... This was the only fridge that looked somewhat decent for a photo (；´∀｀). The height of each shelf was too high, so if they packed it better, they could have added another two shelves. It seems like there’s just not enough to fill them, which is crazy for the world’s greatest city.

Mutant × Deadpool 2 Collaboration Bottles

Among all this, I was lucky to find three remaining bottles of the Monster Mutant Deadpool 2 collaboration that had disappeared in Los Angeles about a month and a half ago. The Canadian collaboration bottles had also become rare, so I was happy to find these.

Summer Edition Released 5 Months Later with Coconut Edition

The 2018 Red Bull Summer Edition was replaced by the Coconut Edition after less than five months. Isn’t that a little too fast? Especially with some stores still having some stock of this year's Summer Edition.

I had already spotted the Coconut Edition in stores when the Summer Edition was first released, and I had been quietly searching for it since May... it seems it was just released as the second batch of the Coconut Edition.

The refreshing coconut & apple flavor is delicious, the color is nice, the can design is beautiful, and I’m glad it’s becoming a regular product (●´ω｀●)

Monster’s Different Situation on the West vs. East

The Monster BO4 collaboration cans are being circulated on the East Coast, while the Ab Zero design cans aren’t available here at all. I managed to grab some Original and Low Carb ones. The 24oz cans only had Original.

Other than that, I secured a few of the regular products, such as Ultra, which were different from the West Coast selection. It's interesting to see that different top-color variants are still mixed in some stores.

It’s not necessarily that the West and East Coast have completely different products, but it seems like there’s a difference in distribution speed. Some items are being stocked later, so if you’re looking to fill in your collection, Manhattan may still have value.

Red Bull’s New York Limited Edition Cans

During this hunt, I found Red Bull’s New York and New York Red Bulls limited edition cans that were sold exclusively in the New York area. I didn’t expect to find these, so it was a pleasant surprise.

This year in the U.S., there have been tons of region-specific products. There might be some I missed, but I think I’ve completed the collection for now ( ´∀｀)b Good!

Good Safety, You Can Walk Around Late at Night

It was a busy trip, meeting people and sightseeing from morning to night, but despite the hectic schedule, Manhattan felt safe enough to enjoy hunting even at night.

Here’s Times Square at 3 a.m. It's so bright!!

Everyone has their own view on safety, but what I felt after walking around from morning to night was the overall safety. The Empire State Building’s observatory is open until 2 a.m., so I took a stroll around the area after midnight and then went up. It’s nice to have tourist spots open late so you can make the most of your time.

Midtown Manhattan is quite safe, and as long as you avoid trouble with drunk or high people, you should be able to enjoy yourself even late at night. The amount of garbage on the streets is insane, and you definitely don’t feel like you’re in the center of the world, but it's still much cleaner than the dangerous areas.

Manhattan is Quite Tough

This time, I focused my sightseeing and energy drink hunting on the southern part of Central Park, but as you can see, the selection was pretty disappointing. I stretched my trip a little and went up to Harlem, just north of Central Park, but there was no improvement (ヽ´ω`).

I only covered a small part of Manhattan, so next time I plan to go beyond Manhattan to explore Brooklyn and Queens for sightseeing and hunting. Also, across the river from Manhattan is New Jersey, so I’m curious to see if the selection there will be different. After enjoying New York a few more times, I’d like to visit the New Jersey side as well ((o(´∀｀)o))