Mountain Dew White Out

Yummy! Another imported can purchased at Americandy. This drink tastes like a very smooth lemonade. There’s no sharpness to it and the balance of carbonation, citrus flavouring, sweetness and sickliness is just right. Not the best Mountain Dew but certainly near the top. It’s also the first Mountain Dew which doesn’t seem to contain a radioactive colouring. This drink is just a cloudy  white colour (as the name suggests) which makes it similar in appearance to a traditional lemonade.

Mountain Dew Throwback

Mountain Dew how it used to be apparently. The can says it is “made with real sugar”, I guess that is as opposed to the corn syrup that the Americans usually use in their soft drinks. The design of the can is completely different to the design and branding off all the other Mountain Dew products, the design of which is based loosely on the original Mountain Dew logo from the 1970s. The actual flavour of the drink is a lot smoother and lighter than regular Mountain Dew, and if you pour it from the can you’ll also notice it isn’t bright yellow either – just a paler yellow instead. I’d have to say I enjoyed it just as much as regular Mountain Dew and I’d hazard a guess that due to the fewer ingredients used it’ll be *slighter* better for you.

Rip It Shot – Citrus X

Yay! An energy drink brand with lots of different flavours of energy shots instead of the normal boring single flavour in full-fat and sugar-free. Rip It Shots are ALL sugar free, and they’re all based on flavours from the main Rip It line. This flavour sort of tastes like a bitter version of Rip It Citrus X – you can taste the oranges. It’s nice as energy shots go and can be downed without gagging which is good going compared to some energy shots (ahem, Target Urban…)

Rip It – Citrus X

This drink definitely has orange in it. Probably loads of other citrus fruits too, but I’m sure it uses Orange as its base flavour. It’s very slightly sharp tasting, but mostly sweet and sickly. I wouldn’t suggest this drink if you’re after something refreshing, but it’s certainly filling and substantial! The taste is pleasant and the kick is decent so drink very early on in the day. This is only the second Rip It variety I have tasted so far and it was always going to be a downer from the superb Power flavour, but this is still a decent drink in its own right even if it can’t match up to its bigger brother.

Mountain Dew Voltage

Another can from Americandy imported from the US. Described on the can as “Charged with Raspberry Citrus Flavor and Ginseng” it is certainly unusual. Apparently it was created as the result of a national vote and it is definitely an unusual flavour. It’s very refreshing as per Mountain Dew original but with an obvious raspberry flavour. Lower in caffeine that a normal energy drink, but with enough to count! If only they sold this in the UK… (hint, hint Pepsico). Unlike original Mountain Dew, this drink is blue in colour which should give a clear indication that it won’t taste the same, but of course that means it contains Mountain Dew’s trademark food colouring ingredients!

Mountain Dew

The original US Mountain Dew is my favourite drink ever so obviously it’ll get full marks for taste and originality! This can was purchased in a store called Americandy in Cardiff who specialise in imported American produce. It’s sadly not widely available in the UK with the inferior Mountain Dew Energy being the flavour touted over here. Jammed full of high fructose corn syrup and concentrated orange juice, this proper Mountain Dew is possibly the best thing in the world ever apart from chocolate.

The taste is slightly of citrus but not sharp in any way at all and the colour is the trademark fluorescent yellow. It doesn’t have a huge caffeine hit but that’s not what this drink is all about. It’s full of sugar, a bit of caffeine, but mainly it is nice and refreshing especially on a hot day.

V

This drink is a bit different. It appears to take its primary flavour from the guarana berry (although the mysterious ‘flavourings’ ingredient appears in the list also). The taste is quite fruity but neither too sharp or sour striking a good balance. I’m not saying this is one of my favourite drinks, but it is certainly one of the better ‘natural’ flavoured drinks I’ve sampled so far.

The name is an unusual concept too. V for what? Vitamins? Variation? Vitality? No, inVigoration. Oooookay, they’ve even trademarked V… can you trademark a letter?

Mountain Dew Energy

Last year was an exciting year. Finally, Mountain Dew returned to the UK. Sadly my excitement was short-lived because Mountain Dew Energy (the word Energy being important) was not the same as the Mountain Dew I had sampled from The States, or even the same as Mountain Dew from my childhood. They appear to have replaced the all important “Orange Juice From Concentrate” ingredient found in the original with the word “Flavourings”. The taste is very similar but not as nice, and it gives me a headache afterwards. If only they’d release proper Mountain Dew and its various special edition alternative flavours over here.

The actual flavour of Mountain Dew is pretty unique. It’s a very subtle fruity flavour, but the main characteristic of the drink is its fluorescent yellow colour. I remember the original UK version containing the Quinoline Yellow additive to achieve this, however I think this has been removed now in Mountain Dew Energy due to allergy concerns.