Mountain Dew White Out

Today, I'm here reviewing a Mountain Dew. Now, before I begin, I know you may be wondering why I'm reviewing a soda, rather than an actual energy drink. In comparison to other sodas on the market, Mountain Dew has the most caffeine per ounce. Also, the guys at Amp were generous enough to send samples of the three new Mountain Dew flavors they have released in a national program called DEWmocracy. It's very simple; you try the new flavors released in most stores from now until June 14th, go to Mountain Dew's website, and cast your vote on what you think is the best flavor. In the end, whichever flavor receives the most vote determines the newest addition to the Mountain Dew family. Anyways, I really hadn't heard of this new idea since I received the email from Amp about a week ago, but I think it's an admirable concept. Looking at the bottle, I see that White Out will be 'smooth citrus', which is about predictable, just by looking at the pale, opaque ivory hue.

Twisting open the gray cap, I notice a scent strikingly similar to that of Sprite, or Sierra Mist. The main difference when I drink Mountain Dew and Sprite, for example, is the density of their flavors. Mountain Dew has a much stronger lemon-lime flavor, whereas Sprite is less sweet, and more carbonated. To me, the White Out reminds me mostly of Sierra Mist and original Mountain Dew formula mixed, as it's extremely light on the pallet, tasty, and perfectly sweetened. As for a more in depth flavor, I think that's it basic, and predominantly smooth lemon-lime, with few notes of orange, all sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. However, the disadvantage I find in this drink is the high amount of gumminess. Each sip I take is like a wall of syrupy, dense sugar in the back of my mouth, which is not uncommon in most sodas, at least the ones sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. On the other hand, the Mountain Dew is mildly carbonated, which allows for more initial citrus flavor to be noticed by the taste buds. About halfway through the 20 ounce bottle, I find more flavor disappearing from the gumminess, every other sip tasting like dull sugar. Overall, not a bad citrus soda; I do like the original Mountain Dew better, so far.

Per bottle, there's 2.5 servings (8 ounces per serving). In all of the 2.5 servings, you get a whopping 280 calories, and a massive 76 grams of sugar. You really can't be surprised reading those facts. In a bottle, there's also carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium benzoate, gum arabic, caffeine, sodium citrate, glycerol ester of rosin, calcium disodium edta, and brominated vegetable oil. In 8 ounces of this drink, there's about 36 milligrams of caffeine, and doing the math, about 91 milligrams in the whole bottle. It's not that much, but it's sure enough to perk you up for a good hour or so, without an immediate, noticeable crash. In comparison, there's more caffeine in 20 ounces of this Mountain Dew, than an 8 ounce can of Red Bull, or Monster. If you're going for max energy, obviously this isn't the correct path, but if you're more into sodas, as opposed to energy drinks, Mountain Dew is a good route to take for a short boost of energy. Being the first of the bunch to try, I cannot really compare this drink to any of the other two Mountain Dews, but compared to the original formula, it's a good change-up.

Taste: 7 - Generic lemon/lime/orange citrus flavor, with moderate dullness from the HFCS
Kick: 6.8 - Good kick for a soda, not great in general, however
Overall: 7 - Interesting find; I'm ready to try the other Mountain Dews and cast my vote

Reviewed by: Chan