Entertainment
Top 10 Untold Truths of Mountain Dew Baja Blast
Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast flavor has earned its place as one of the most sought-after sodas of all time. But what are the secrets behind the soft drink? Let’s find out with the Top 10 Untold Truths of Mountain Dew Baja Blast!
10. It’s Named After a Real Place
Baja Blast may sound like the name of a drink hailing from a tropical island paradise, but it actually gets its name from Baja California, which is a Mexican state known for its beautiful beaches which borders the US state of California. Because it’s located on a peninsula, nearly all of the land is surrounded by water, making many of its bigger cities popular destinations for tourists. With Taco Bell being a chain with a menu inspired by Mexican food, it makes sense that their signature drink would be named after the westernmost Mexican state. Mountain Dew used the location as a means to advertise Baja Blast in April of 2018, encouraging fans of the drink to stay in their “Baja Bungalow” to celebrate the drink’s re-release. The Bungalow was said to have a rideable shark and, most importantly, all the Baja Blast you could drink! This was clearly only a gag for publicity, though, as the Craigslist listing for the Bungalow was quickly flagged and removed, which made for quite the April Fool’s prank. Regardless of whether the Baja Bungalow was real or not, it certainly attracted a lot of attention to both the Baja Blast drink and the real-life destination. Though Baja California is definitely a good Mexican vacation destination all on its own, it’s hard not to think about how many people heard about it through the famous Mountain Dew flavor that was named after it.
9. Baja Blast Lip Balm Exists
Superfans of this Mountain Dew drink will never have chapped lips again! An Instagram user documented finding Baja Blast flavored lip balm at a Dollar Tree and said it smelled exactly like the freeze from Taco Bell. (If you’re willing to pay a pretty penny and order it online, though, there are some Ebay sellers carrying the Baja Blast lip balm for inflated prices.) With this flavored chapstick, you can take the essence of Baja Blast wherever you go, essentially reliving your last Taco Bell visit by simply pulling the tube out of your pocket or purse. Although Lip Smacker is probably the most notable lip balm brand out there in terms of making crazy flavors, the Baja Blast lip balm doesn’t seem to be branded by them at all; rather, it seems to come from Mountain Dew and Pepsico themselves, with no evidence of Lip Smacker’s branding to be found anywhere on the package. Unfortunately, this means that the Baja Blast chapstick doesn’t seem to come in a can-shaped container. Instead, it’s just a simple little tube that doesn’t really scream “Baja Blast,” which is a bit disappointing. Weirdly enough, the original Mountain Dew has its own lip balm, too, which comes in multiple different shapes that look like miniature cans or bottles of the drink. We can only hope that they’ll apply the cute can or bottle design to their Baja Blast flavor eventually — that would make the experience of applying Baja Blast lip balm all the more fun!
8. Baja Blast Was Chemically Formulated for Taco Bell
Everyone knows that Mountain Dew isn’t the most natural soda on the market, but their Baja Blast flavor was actually developed to taste good with Taco Bell’s food in particular. The lime flavoring definitely highlights Taco Bell’s menu staples well, and the Freeze version of the drink is especially effective at cooling you down after a big meal. Although it makes perfect sense that Mountain Dew and Taco Bell would work to create a drink that would compliment their menu items specifically, most people agree that Baja Blast goes well with just about anything: the refreshing lime flavor offers a special kick that will be a surefire hit with summertime barbeque foods or even something as simple as a bag of chips. Fans of Baja Blast also say the caffeine level in the drink is perfect, too; Baja Blast contains 72 milligrams of caffeine per 16 fluid ounce cup, which means it has a moderate caffeine content that’ll make you feel awake but won’t be enough to give you the jitters after you drink it. With over 2 billion tacos and 1 billion burritos being eaten at Taco Bell locations across the United States every year, it’s no wonder that Taco Bell needed to create a drink that would go well with their most popular menu items.
7. There Are Tons of Limited-Time Store Releases
If you really want to stock up on Baja Blast but don’t want to keep going to Taco Bell, there’s a chance that Mountain Dew may be re-releasing the coveted beverage in stores like Walmart or Target — again. Since 2015, Baja Blast has made brief appearances outside of Taco Bell restaurants nearly every year. However, the one exception occurred in 2016, when Mountain Dew’s campaign to promote Pitch Black and Baja Blast had fans vote on which of the two flavors they wanted to see placed on shelves permanently. Fans used hashtags on Twitter to complete a poll for which flavor they wanted to make a comeback, and Baja Blast lost to Pitch Black by a marginal amount, and the tropical lime storm was tucked away for the remainder of the year. Luckily, it’s made multiple returns since then, with the most recent being in spring of 2020. If you weren’t quick enough to get your hands on it this time around, never fear: there’s a Discord server dedicated to catching these re-releases months before they happen. The Dew Drinker Discord server, made up of Baja Blast superfans, is a place for Mountain Dew customers to anticipate new releases, often figuring out when Pepsico will be putting Baja Blast back on the shelves months in advance. It’s worth checking out if you don’t want to miss out on the next re-release!
6. The Birthday Freeze
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Baja Blast in 2019, Taco Bell came out with a limited-edition Baja Blast Freeze to commemorate the event. The Birthday Freeze was similar to the original Baja Blast Freeze, but contained fun and festive candy confetti pieces inside the drink. This wasn’t a huge upgrade, but it was wise of Taco Bell not to fix something that people already loved and cherished to begin with. With the Baja Blast Freeze receiving wide acclaim for being a delicious twist on an already tasty drink, adding something crazy to a beverage with such a devoted fanbase would have been a huge risk, and could’ve damaged both Taco Bell’s and Mountain Dew’s reputations as brands. Luckily, the Baja Blast’s birthday campaign went beyond just adding confetti to a drink: Taco Bell used it to promote their Live Mas scholarship program, where customers could round their purchase up to the nearest dollar to support education programs. In return, they would receive coupons for a free crunchy taco or drink for a limited time. This would be a win-win for all parties involved: Taco Bell would get good PR, customers would get coupons for free food and drink while contributing to the scholarship fund, and a student in need would receive money for their education. All in all, the Birthday Freeze campaign was a great way to promote Baja Blast while giving back to the community!
5. You Can Buy it at Target and Walmart Right Now (Maybe)
Although it may be in limited supply online, there are some Target and Walmart locations that still have Baja Blast in stock right now. Want to pick up some Baja Blast, but want to save yourself the disappointment if they don’t have it available? Go to the store’s website and look up your favorite location; the site should indicate if they have it available in-store and in stock if you want to buy it. A quick search of ‘Baja Blast’ will show if they have it available in the 20 oz bottle or, if you’re lucky, in the box of cans. In some cases, Target and Walmart even carry the Zero Sugar variant of this treasured Mountain Dew drink, although it can be considerably harder to find than the original Baja Blast. The downside of this is that you likely won’t be able to find it available for delivery — most Baja Blast products are in-store pickup only, likely due to their limited supply and high demand. If you’re more into other Mountain Dew variants, Walmart also carries their Sangrita Blast and Ultraviolet flavors, while some Target stores may have the Mountain Dew Voltage flavor available. If you’re a Dew drinker who is having trouble finding your favorite flavors, it may be worth the shopping trip to check one of these stores!
4. Baja Blast Has Gone International
Well, sort of. Mountain Dew announced that it would be bringing Baja Blast to Canadian Taco Bell locations in 2018, which had Canadian fans excited for the release of the hard-to-find flavor in their home country. Since Baja Blast first hit Taco Bell locations in the United States in 2004, this meant that Canadian Dew drinkers had to wait more than a decade for Mountain Dew to bring Baja Blast to Canada, but better late than never, right? But the excitement didn’t stop there: a Canadian Reddit user posted a picture of a Mountain Dew promo they’d seen in January of 2019, presumably in a convenience or grocery store. Needless to say, this sparked some discussion of Baja Blast being available not only at Taco Bell locations across Canada, but also in convenience stores as well. Mountain Dew later addressed the leak, confirming on their Instagram account that Baja Blast would be a permanent flavor in Canada. Although Baja Blast hasn’t been reported to be officially introduced in any other countries, there have also been rumblings of a similar flavor being distributed in the Philippines. There, the drink is called “Aqua Blast” and has the same teal color as Baja Blast, but lacks both the Baja Blast and Mountain Dew branding. It would be interesting to see if Aqua Blast has the same lime taste as Baja Blast, or if the flavoring is something completely new — either way, it would be fun to compare the two!
3. DIY Baja Blast Recipes
Yep, it’s official: Baja Blast is famous enough that even Pinterest users are trying to figure out the perfect DIY Baja Blast recipe, so that Mountain Dew fans can enjoy it at any time of year. According to the niche pool of Pinterest users who also happen to be obsessed with Baja Blast, your best bet for creating a DIY version of Taco Bell’s signature drink is to combine blue Powerade with regular Mountain Dew. Though this seems pretty simple, there have been discrepancies with the ratio of each drink in the mixture: some think that a perfect Baja Blast dupe contains 85% Mountain Dew and 15% Powerade, while others swear by the 75:25 split. If this doesn’t show how serious Baja Blast fans are about getting their hands on their favorite drink, nothing will: it’s a pretty ridiculous debate to some, but a completely valid one if you’re serious about your Mountain Dew. One Youtuber even documented filling his entire bathtub with this mixture in order to bathe in the Baja Blast imposter, with the video amassing over 4 million views. No matter the exact ratio, this DIY version may be helpful for those who just can’t seem to find Baja Blast anywhere and need something to tide them over until the next re-release; with that being said, it can be agreed upon that no duplicate will ever measure up to the OG Baja Blast.
2. Drinking Too Much of It Could Be Harmful
Don’t worry, it’s not like you’ll keel over from a few cans of your favorite Dew drink. Baja Blast, like many other soft drinks that we consume every day, contains caffeine, which works as a stimulant and makes us feel awake. Stimulants, as their name suggests, raise your heart rate and blood pressure; because of these effects, it goes without saying that drinking too much of any caffeinated beverage could negatively impact your health, especially if you have pre-existing conditions or are sensitive to caffeine. With 4.5 mg of caffeine per fluid ounce, Baja Blast contains much less caffeine than a shot of espresso or any energy drink, but it’s still important to watch your caffeine intake and make sure you’re not drinking more than what is recommended. Besides, part of the reason why Baja Blast is such a universally loved drink is because it’s so difficult to find; consuming too much of it would probably end up spoiling the good taste, anyway. With Baja Blast being an infrequent, sought-after treat for most, falling out of love with it would be devastating for soda lovers everywhere. If you plan on stocking up on Baja Blast during the next release, make sure you don’t drink it all in one sitting — you’ll be taking better care of yourself in the long run, and you’ll have some left for whenever you start craving it again!
1. The Baja Blast Memes are Hilarious
If you haven’t seen some of the stuff people have been posting online about Baja Blast, you’re missing out. Fast food menu items having cult followings is nothing new, but Baja Blast fans take it to a whole different level with the hilarious, relatable, and downright ridiculous memes they’ve posted all over the internet. Whether it’s people photoshopping Baja Blast cans onto screencaps from funny scenes in Spongebob Squarepants or adding Baja Blast-related comments to meme-able images, fans have taken their obsession with this drink to a new extreme that people on the outside might find downright outrageous. One Mountain Dew fanatic even claimed to have brought two gallon-sized jugs to Taco Bell, only to have them filled up completely with Baja Blast, taking full advantage of the “free refills” policy of the fast-food restaurant. In theory, any Taco Bell customer could pull off a similar stunt, if they really wanted to get as much Baja Blast as possible – as long as they don’t use the drive-thru. In-store Taco Bell restaurants offer free refills until you leave the store, after which you’d have to buy a new cup. Even then, it’s hard to believe that this guy managed to get two full gallons of the stuff without getting into trouble. Regardless of whether the images are real or fake, they’re hilarious to look at and prove that some people will do just about anything to get their hands on the drink they love.