Food
10 Discontinued Mountain Dew Flavors You Miss (Part 3)
It’s truly amazing how many flavors Mountain Dew has offered to the public over the years. This is the third list in the series and includes some exotic Dew flavors like Coolatta, White Label and Johnson City Gold. And while Baja Blast came back into our lives, we still miss the others.
10. Mt. Slushy
Mountain Dew released a the Coolatta slushy drink in 2011. This cool treat was only available at Dunkin’ Donuts stores across America. The Mountain Dew Coolatta was a citrus-flavored drink similar to original Mountain Dew and it was the same yellow-green color as well. This variation of Dew was similar to other Dew flavors Dew Iced and Dew Freeze, which were available at the fast-food chains Cold Stone Creamery and A&W Restaurants respectively. This smoothie-like drink doesn’t seem like a good compliment to donuts and other pastries. Of course, coffee and milk are the obvious choices and customers seemed to agree. Would Mountain Dew ever have a soda that tastes like coffee? PepsiCo did try a mix of cola and coffee flavor in 2019 called Pepsi Cafe. The Mountain Dew Coolatta was discontinued at Dunkin’ Donuts locations before the end of the year. Other stores like 7-Eleven probably would have been a better choice for the Coolatta. This slushy would go well with Slim Jims and Doritos, but would that many people really want to slurp one with a handful of Munchkins? The Mountain Dew Coolatta didn’t work at Dunkin’, but with the right partner, perhaps a more fitting fast food restaurant, and the right marketing campaign, it could work the second time around.
9. Malt Dew
Johnson City Gold was a Mountain Dew flavor that has its origins with the creators of the original Mountain Dew, Barney and Ally Hartman. Johnson City is the name of the town where Mountain Dew was first bottled. The brothers used to make the unique malt mix they would use for special occasions. In the early 2010s, members of Dew Labs were asked what the next Dew should be. And in the summer of 2012 Mountain Dew revealed that the next flavor was called “Johnson City Gold.” This Dew was part of the Regional Dew Promotion that let fans help tailor the design and name to one of the six regions where Johnson City Gold was available. The flavor is described as a lemon-lime malt drink and, like many Dew flavors, it was a pale green color. A reviewer described the taste of Mountain Dew Johnson City Gold as a mix of Heineken beer and lemon-lime soda. He also pointed out that it might remind people of beer with its taste and smell, but this malted drink is definitely non-alcoholic. The Hartman brothers clearly liked the particular soda and the made for themselves and friends, but it doesn’t seem like it would catch on with the soda drinking public. Curiosity might get people to try it once, but we can understand that the flavor profile detailed above is not exactly a mainstream mis-mash of flavors. This variety of Dew only lasted until 2013 because of a lack of sales. Because of this flavor’s historical roots with the founders of Mountain Dew you have to wonder if there might be a chance it’ll see another run.
8. Dew of the Dog
Cherry Fusion was a Mountain Dew Flavor available only as a fountain drink at the Wienerschnitzel fast food chain. It was introduced at the hot dog restaurants in 2009, but it was discontinued in 2010 because of its similarity to Mountain Dew’s Code Red, which is another cherry-flavored soda. It seems like it would have been simpler to have introduced Code Red as a Wienerschnitzel fountain soda instead of Cherry Fusion. However, some fans of Cherry Fusion described it as having a stronger cherry taste than Code Red. This could be the reason Mountain Dew tried Cherry Fusion in the fast food chain instead of using a similar flavor like Code Red that already existed. Some fans of Cherry Fusion had held out hope that Mountain Dew would release the soda at some point, but PepsiCo has abandoned the trademark associated with the name so it’s probably safe to say you won’t be seeing Cherry Fusion at Wienerschnitzel or any place else. Hot dogs and soda are popular classics at ball games, picnics so it made sense to pair a Mountain Dew flavor with this salty food. With the right soda, it seems like Mountain Dew and Wienerschnitzel should be able to have a successful partnership. Cherry-flavored Mountain Dew sodas have proven to be popular in the past, but this fountain drink just never caught on like some other offerings from Mountain Dew.
7. Distorted DEWmocracy
Sometimes democracy doesn’t work and this might have been one of those times. Mountain Dew fans were allowed to vote on a new flavor of Dew as part of a Democracy campaign and this is what they came up with: a lime-flavored green soda called Mountain Dew Distortion. Does this sound familiar? it should because it describes about half of the Mountain Dew variants PepsiCo comes out with. You’d like to think that when given a chance to be creative fans of Mountain Dew would have come up with something a little more…distorted. A green-colored, lime-flavored soda isn’t too far off from the original green colored, citrus-flavored soda. The label used a darker shade of green for the logo, but this is arguably the biggest change associated with this flavor. This isn’t very compelling and makes you wonder what’s going on with the decision-makers at PepsiCo. Mountain Dew has had some fairly exotic flavors such as Game Fuel Tropical Smash and Black Label. Maybe either of these flavors would have been better suited for the “Distortion” label. If they were trying to market concepts like fan participation and “distortion” with a new soda they should have made sure to have a product worthy of this campaign. maybe more thought was put into the “Distortion” campaign than into what the soda would actually be like, but PepsiCo can blame this one on Dew fans.
6. Mt. Blueberry Burst
Eskimos living in the Arctic make a kind of ice cream with snow, berries and animal fat that is said to be quite tasty. Perhaps Mountain Dew’s Arctic Burst would have been a flavor they would have warmed up to. A blueberry flavored Slurpee is fairly unique and this frosty drink was exclusively available at 7-Eleven locations in 2006 as part of a promotion for the movie Superman Returns. The dark blue color was described as “cobalt blue.” The promotion also included Kryptonite Ice, a green Slurpee drink with a mango-citrus flavor. Both of these unique flavors were discontinued later in the year after the theatrical run of Superman Returns. There have been several movies featuring Superman since 2006 including Man of Steel, but PepsiCo decided not to bring back Arctic burst for thirsty fans. However, Arctic Burst was brought back by Mountain Dew in 2017 as part of the game fuel series along with a flavor called Tropical Smash, a pineapple-mango flavor with a yellow-orange color. These drinks were used to promote the video game Middle Earth: Shadow of War. Both of these game fuel flavors were discontinued in 2018 when the video game promotion ended. A blueberry flavored drink just doesn’t seem to be a very popular choice. If soda drinkers were clamoring for a blueberry soda or Slurpee it would be able to stand on its own and not have to be part of a limited-time promotion.
5. Freezing Fusion of Cherry and Lime
Mountain Dew Cold Fusion, not to be confused with Cherry Fusion, was a slushy type of fountain drink similar to the Coolatta that had been available at Dunkin’ Donuts in 2012. This Dew was a cherry-lime flavored drink and sported a bright red-orange color. Mountain Dew recruited its Dew Lab members to decide on the label art that was featured on the cups. This Mountain Dew flavor was only available as a fountain drink at several different convenience store chains such as Sheetz starting in 2013. After a few years of spotty sales, it was finally discontinued in 2016. A cherry-lime slushy seems like it would be a popular choice, but not everyone likes the frozen variations of these flavors. Perhaps Mountain Dew would have been better off if it had released it as a Cherry-Lime soda instead of a slushy at Sheetz locations. PepsiCo has released a number of related flavors over the years including Citrus Cherry, Cherry, Lime, Game Fuel(Berry-Lime) and Golden Lime. These various flavors met with different levels of success; some of them developed a committed fan following while others disappeared without any fanfare. Cherry-Lime has been a popular flavor for a drink for a long time so you would think PepsiCo would release a variation of this flavor at some point.
4. Restart the Dew
Fans of Mountain Dew’s Kickstart Limeade made some noise that they want PepsiCo to bring this particular flavor back. It was available from 2014 to 2017 and developed a small, but devoted following. Although it’s essentially the original Mountain Dew flavor, but with less sugar. Some people prefer the lower sugar recipe, but it seems like fans of this drink could be happy with the original flavor. Don’t fans of Mountain Dew products consider the original the best? Kickstart Limeade wasn’t that special, but the original has been popular for decades with its citrus flavor, distinct color and a larger dose of caffeine than its cola competitors. PepsiCo marketed Kickstart Limeade as a nighttime drink to help gamers keep playing long into the evening. It’s too bad that the only place you can find Kickstart Limeade now is Australia. While it seems like a great place, the land down under is probably too far to visit just for your Mountain Dew fix. It seems like Mountain Dew puts out too many similar flavors whether they be “kickstarts, ” “energy,” or “Slurpees.” Customers must have a hard time keeping all the different offerings straight. Kickstart Limeade’s been gone for 3 years already, but customers can always hope that PepsiCo will decide to restart it and give this flavor another try.
3. Dark Dew Rises
The Mountain Dew variant known as Dark Berry was released in 2012 as part of the promotional campaign for the third installment in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy The Dark Knight Rises. It was available only between June 18 and August 12, the theatrical run of the movie. Its unique color was described as “midnight blue” and the flavor as “mixed berry.” Exactly what the mix of berries was isn’t clear. With their soda purchase customers were given codes to access special movie content online. A much-anticipated movie called The Batman is slated for release in the summer of 2021. We have to wonder if PepsiCo is preparing to gear up for another Dark Berry promotion to satisfy the fans of the caped crusader. This Mountain Dew flavor was available in the Philippines in 2012, but only at participating 7-Eleven stores where it lasted until 2016. Dark Berry was actually a big hit in Romania and became a permanent flavor in that country. One reviewer on YouTube said this soda “wasn’t awful,” but was “very forgettable.” This isn’t the kind of review a company likes to hear, but there’s a reason a lot of sodas only last for limited runs. It seems that when Mountain Dew isn’t putting out a lime/citrus flavor it’s putting out a new version of a mixed berry flavor. Most of these turn out to be less than fabulous so they come and go and PepsiCo goes back to the drawing board.
2. Great White Label
Mountain Dew’s White label soda was part of a special release on a handful of colleges around the United States with Dew’s Green Label in January 2017. White Label was released to the general public later that year. This soda was marketed as “Dew with crafted tropical citrus.” To be more specific it was a pineapple-grapefruit flavor and was white in color. Unfortunately, its sort of cloudy-clear-ish appearance looked something like one of those drinks with a dissolved Alka-seltzer tablet. They certainly aren’t the most appetizing beverage there is. However, the flavor itself, pineapple-grapefruit, sounds very tasty and refreshing that had potential that has gone unrealized. This “label” series of sodas seem like a gimmicky attempt to do something a little more high end, but there’s no need to snob up Mountain Dew sodas. Mountain Dew’s main customer base are young males who play a lot of video games, watch superhero movies and ride their skateboards everywhere. This is not the demographic that needs or wants soft drinks with elegant artwork on the cans. They want sweet-tasting drinks with too much caffeine. By the end of 2019 all the Mountain Dew special label varieties, green, black and white, were discontinued. Pineapple-grapefruit is a worthy soda flavor that has possibilities. Perhaps PepsiCo will repackage and market it more in line with other Mountain Dew products like the successful Baja Blast.
1. Blast the Dew
Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast is a teal-colored soda with a tropical lime flavor. The striking aquamarine color evokes the refreshing waters of the Caribbean seas. This flavor was specifically formulated to compliment Taco Bell’s menu items. For most of its complicated history, Baja Blast has been available as a fountain drink at Taco Bell restaurants. Mountain Dew released Baja Blast in stores numerous times for short limited time runs over the years to satisfy customers’ thirst for the refreshing drink. This flavor variation has a history like no other, and a rabid fanbase to boot. Having gone through numerous discontinuations, promotional releases, limited-time runs, restaurant exclusives, Baja Blast has a left a trail of confusion in its wake. In Canada, the first country to receive Baja Blast outside of the USA, it was a very simple process. Mountain Dew Baja Blast was released at Taco Bell locations in the late 2010s and within a year thereafter, became is a permanent flavor on store shelves, where it remains today. But in America, it’s a whole different story and a complicated one at that. Taking one look at the fandom page for Baja Blast and you’ll see that the soda has received a “Limited-Time Store Release” almost every year since 2014, some cans, some bottles, some linked promotional campaigns, it’s a real maze trying to sort it out. That said, this is clearly Mountain Dew trying to create a false scarcity of the soda, trying to convince people it’s actually discontinued, cause an uproar on social media, get people talking about Mountain Dew. And while this has worked in the past, it’s starting to wear thin. Mountain Dew, we know Baja Blast is an official flavor now, pretending to permanently discontinue it every year is no longer fooling anyone. But that’s the good news for fans of the drink, no matter what promotional material you see, know that Baja Blast is widely available in bottles and cans at stores, and no, you don’t need to go to Taco Bell when you need your Baja Blast fix anymore. Baja Blast is a real success story that started out as a fountain drink with limited availability, but because of real popularity it has become widely available addition to the Mountain Dew line up, even if they won’t fully admit it.