Mountain Dew was created in Knoxville in the 1940s by 2 brothers who mixed thier lemon-lime drink with whiskey. The first sketches of the original Mountain Dew bottle labels were devised in 1948 by John Brichetto, it depicted a character known as Willy the Hillbilly shooting at a revenuer fleeing an outhouse with a pig sitting in the corner. The whole drink was sold under the packaging that this was illegal moonshine. It was originally marketed as "zero proof moonshine" and had pictures of hillbillies on the bottle until 1973.
In 1984 the first energy drink was born (of course this was decades before anyone ever came up with that moniker). Diet Mountain Dew was released in 1984, and became the strongest, but not necessarily the tasties soda until 2006. The flavor was spruced up when Diet Mountain Dew was reformulated with a "Tuned Up Taste,"using sucralose, aspartame, and acesulfame potassium as sweeteners. Regardless of however many other brands come out trying to topple this best selling of citrus drinks, Mountain Dew has always managed to shoo away any callers and easily win all feuds.
There are 2 big newcomers onto the scene to challenge DMD. Vault has been trying to take away some of DMDs liquid thunder for a decade now, replacing Surge back in 1996. Vault is Coke's answer to mountain dew, copying the flavor and color, trying to give more kick for the money. Squirt has also entered the arena with an extra-caffeinated brand, giving you more energy bang than you would ever find in a traditional soda, but not telling anyone about it.
Diet Mountain Dew:8
To get any energy drink reviewed, it needs to pass my DMD standard. Does the drink taste better than DMD - and is there more caffine in it? If so, I will review. If not, Ill just drink a DMD instead and the others will rot on the shelf. I have been asked to review drinks before, but I will not bother if they cant pass the DMD test. DMD has 55mg per 12oz can, tastes darn good and is easy to find. What more do you need to say? As non-coffee RTD drinks go, DMD is the baseline. IF you think you are better, step up to the plate....
Vault Zero:6
Vault and Mountain dew both have orange juice as flavors, but Vault lacks the BVO (brominated vegetable oil) that is found in Mountain Dew. This gives the soda an oily texture, and the Melon flavor in Vault is slightly better than Dew. Vault has been around for a few years, trying different flavors and colors. Vault also has more caffeine than DMD, but not by a ton - 70.5 mg per 12oz can.
More caffeine and slightly better taste - why is this drink not higher? for one, the availability of Vault Zero is very limited. While DMD can be found anywhere, Vault Zero is an unusual find in grocery stores. Vault regular is everywhere, but the near 300 empty calories make is a drink that is hard to swallow. My other BIGGER problem is their slogan,
"drinks like a soda, kicks like an energy drink." Coke is pushing this s an energy drink - without having a single energy drink quality. I lacks any other nutrients, lacks a powerful caffeine kick and has about as much in common with an energy drink as a cup of iced black tea. I like black tea - but I would never call it an energy drink. This bit of misleading marketing has not helped its sales, as it turns off both those who would buy an energy drink, and those who want soda.
Squirt Citrus Power:7
Squirt has been around forever and ever. It was made by Herb Bishop in 1938 in Arizona. The flavor of Squirt is original, using citrus opposed to the orange juice in DMD.What is cool about Squirt is is really is an energy drink hiding in your pop aisle. Squirt has an energy drink lineup of Taurine, B vitamins and nutirents too! It has the same caffeine as a Red Bull or Monster - but you would never know that by the packaging.
My only issue with this drink is that there is no diet version, so like vault, you are left drinking 300 calories in the 20oz bottle. If there was a diet version, this drink might just overtake DMD as the strongest soda on the market. Unfortunately, Dr Pepper/Cadbury/Schwepps are not planning on doing this one calorie free, so it will never get to knock DMD off it's deserved pedestal as the best all round caffeinated Soda in the US.
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