I started taking creatine ethel ester 4 caps 2 x a day. Is ethel ester or monohydrate better. If I get the powder to add to protein shakes does it taste better, worse, or no change? I didn't load because I heard lots of people having bad side effects. Is loading absolutely necessary?

with the ester you do NOT load.
you load with mono.

as for which is better - i have no clue.
it's very debated, and i think i'm a non-responder anyway.

i'm pretty sure ester tastes much worse, which is why i dont mix it with my shakes.
i put 1/2 tsp of powder directly on my toung, and quick take a swig of water to wash it down.

CEE tastes like battery acid. The pills are good. Omega's "Thunder" isn't a bad product.

With that said if you like mono I'd stick with it.

Thanks. Looks like I should probablly stick with ethel ester capsules then (most expensive form whouldn't you know it). Can I stay on continiously or do I need to cycle this? Can I use this with bulking, cutting and maintaining?

I am currently taking CE2 with NO2 and i gotta say it's great....in 14 days i'm up 16 pounds and my bf% is the same....and i know it actual 16 cause for the last 4 days i haven't been dieting cause i was gonna quit alltogether cause it was tooooo expensive and my weight stayed the same......i'm gonna start back on on monday i gotta i mean i worked so hard i'm not gonna throw it all away cause of money

Thanks. Looks like I should probablly stick with ethel ester capsules then (most expensive form whouldn't you know it). Can I stay on continiously or do I need to cycle this? Can I use this with bulking, cutting and maintaining?
Just do your research and read many logs and product reviews. Check out http://forum.bodybuilding.com and go into Product Reviews section. See what others experience on different brands of the pills.

There was a huge "study" done a while ago on various CEE brands, and the majority failed the tests. I'd have to go back and refresh my memory on what all went down, but you could go read about it too. I did like Thunder okay though...

CYCLE:
Well, I have gone a while while on it, as in 3-4 months at a time. I always cycle off for a while though. I don't know what is recommended, some say you can stay on for a really long time. I prefer to cycle off everything just to be sure (well except multis and protein).

CUT/BULK/MAINTAIN:
No doubt it can be used on a bulk. I believe creatine can be used during a cut personally. Many disagree with me but I think it can have benefit. The new-age CEE and CEE/NO2 mixtures seem to have benefit for those cutting apparently (no experience here but that's what I've read).