Mountain Dew Fruit Quake

A surprise pickup last week from the grocery store was this bottle, yet another Mountain Dew flavor variation and makes me feel like this blog has nearly been taken over by Mountain Dew's varietal flavor releases. Trust me when I say, I'm planning to get back to other labels here quickly. This is another holiday themed creation, which by the name and label design I can assume is given flavors like that of a holiday fruit cake. I like the cranberry coloring of the drink itself. 

The scent is a little hard to place. It has notes of cherry and grape and something else sweet almost like a licorice but not licorice, maybe gummy bear-like. It's certainly an explosion of tastes. A quick swig has my taste buds all over the place. I do get a cherry-like flavor, a touch of lemon, and I'm picturing those white grape gummy candies in that order as it crosses my palate. No real taste of anything close to a bread, though these fruity/candy-like flavors start a little dark and heavy and become lighter as it finishes in the mouth. It's a perplexing flavor combination I'd recommend trying just for the novelty. 

Mountain Dew Gingerbread Snap'd

I'm always in the mood for ginger sweets and this release from Mountain Dew seems apt for a holiday evening. I really like that strong ginger aroma it has. Feels like walking into one of those Christmas themed home décor shops. No notes on changing the amount of carbonation, but what I get from swigging this is an upfront gingerbread taste, which is nice. Unfortunately, it's followed up with a slight citrus flavor reminiscent of, what else, Mountain Dew. I'd have liked this as a straight gingerbread soda without the Mountain Dew. So it's a miss for me, disappointingly so since I had high hopes for it. Good thing I can make a great ginger snap cookie. 

Dragon Tail Energy Lightning Cola with Tea

I'm not a fan of energy drinks, but there exists this blurry line where sodas and carbonated energy drinks mix that sometimes leads me to picking up a bottle to try. Dragon Tail is apparently another drink coming from the folks at Orca Beverages, in Washington state, that we've mentioned in several previous posts. While it contains cane sugar over high-fructose corn syrup or other alternative sugars, it also contains high levels of caffeine and guarana, both commonly found in a wide variety of "energy" drinks on the market. 

The scent of tea is the first thing you get when opening this bottle, along with a hint of something close to cinnamon. The color is a rich brown you expect from cola and it has adequate but not strong carbonation. How do I describe this flavor? There is a touch of cola in it, that's true. But you also pick up a taste of green tea as well as earthy tones like you get when smelling the inside of an old antique furniture shop or opening an old Chinese armoire. It's an interesting flavor, but definitely not something I'd personally consider sitting around sipping on, let alone ever enjoying with a meal. 

Coca-Cola Orange Vanilla

You know, I'll be very upfront in saying that I've not been a big fan of some of some of these flavors with fruit mixed with cola. Vanilla blended with coke was a nice novelty when it came out and I get why some folks like it, but I find it a little too sweet to drink more than one of the mini-cans worth of it. I'm curious to finally get around to tasting this as it's been on the shelves for a little while now. 

It does not smell like Coca-Cola. It actually smells like an orange-cream pop. I don't find the flavor very pleasing. The initial taste is that of an orange creamsicle but then then Coca-Cola flavor mixes in and overwhelms the orange-vanilla. Lastly, it ends in a dry chemical-like flavor on my tongue.

Mountain Dew Voo Dew Mystery Flavor 2022

Another "mystery flavor" offering from the folks at Mountain Dew. This is the 2022 edition. The frosted white color of it leads no hints to what the flavor might be.

The scent from the bottle is reminiscent of raspberry to me. There's a hint of citrus hiding behind that raspberry I'm picking up. Indeed, the flavor of it is very much like you might expect from a blue raspberry soda, but it has a tartness in the finish like a lemon or grapefruit. It isn't unpleasant and might even make a decent regular flavor option despite it being a limited edition. 

Mountain Dew Overdrive

So I'd heard rumor of a limited edition flavor from Mountain Dew only available at Casey's gas stations. I wasn't so sure about such a thing. I'd only known of Casey's in smaller towns, and usually known for the pizza they make in their locations. But a quick google search shows that there are 2,300 locations across the midwest and plains states. As luck would have it, I had the opportunity for a road trip and remembered this when seeing a roadside sign for a Casey's and decided to pull off to check it out. Lo and behold, it was true. I found a stand claiming a Casey's exclusive flavor called Overdrive, in this orange-red color and had to grab one.

The color is just a bit more orange than Code Red. The bottle doesn't actually say "Casey's" anywhere. The only clue to that might be a tiny barn image at the bottom which appears to be on a green bottle. This barn doesn't say "Casey's" but says "1968". I was quite confused at first because the font looked like it read "1%8" until I looked very closely. Still, the funny thing about that is some sites online state the company began in 1959, while Casey's own website says they began in Boone, Iowa in 1968. 

Some slight as to what the flavor might be appear on the label. Next to the orange gorilla-like creature on the label is a lime and a raspberry. Though elsewhere it says "Dew with a blast of Citrus Punch". It does, in fact, smell like a bit of regular Mountain Dew mixed with fruit punch. Unfortunately, I find the flavor lacking. It's a bit like a weaker version of Code Red. It really leaves you wanting something with a bit punchier flavor to it, a real let down considering many of the livelier flavors coming out of Mountain Dew. 

Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer

Originally produced in 1929, Brownie featured the little elfin mascot on caps and bottles. Brownie was bottled by the Atlas Beverage Company near the corner of Conant St and Carpenter Ave in Detroit. The founder and owner, Walter Tomaszewski, passed the company to sons Butch and Leonard, but the company would close in 1996 and the old building no longer exists. Today, Brownie is carried on by Orca Beverage in Washington who, as mentioned in previous posts, have carried on producing many retro soda labels, which is appreciated by guys like me... though I still wish many of the old bottlers were still around and producing regional sodas. 

You can get a good good snort of that root beer and vanilla scent from the bottle top, pushed by ample rising carbonation bubbles. This soda gives a pleasant blend of rich flavors. A good swig gives a strong root beer flavor, which is followed by a swift vanilla cream taste. It's then finished with a caramel aftertaste. I can imagine in the soda landscape in the mid-20th century this was a pretty original treat to drink.

Jones Soda Icee Cherry

Here's another limited release flavor from Jones, who've had a long history of interesting flavors. I'm curious how well this one will capture that frozen treat taste. 

A promising amount of carbonation with a crack of the twist top. The sugary sweet cherry candy smell rises off the top of this bottle reminds me of a Bomb Pop popsicle. It's got a strange taste though. The cherry is close to being that of a black cherry soda, and it's actually not as sugary as I anticipated. Rather than being saccharine it's actually quite tart. When I think of a frozen Icee it is the opposite, very sugary and not tart. Maybe Jones missed a bit with the cherry flavor they were trying to create. It isn't terrible, but it isn't an Icee in my mind, or perhaps they were working from Icee syrup rather than the flavor of an Icee with all the ice thinning the flavor. 

Kazouza 1941 Lemon Mint

The second of the latest flavors of Kazouza I was able to find recently is this Lemon Mint. So the aroma of this bottle is a little like a cough drop... in a good way. There's a refreshing mint smell combined with a background of citrus. The taste is odd to me though. I immediately felt like I was tasting a mint leaf. There's a greenness in that lemon like that of a leaf that seems more vegetable than fruit. The slight sourness of lemon is there too, but it's overshadowed by that leaflike taste. The taste reminds me of summer yardwork, not relaxing with a cool drink.  

Kazouza 1941 Apple

It's been quite a while since I've discussed Kazouza, a soda from Lebanon, but I recently found a couple of bottles at a nearby Middle Eastern food market. The last time was this 2011 post. The bottles are smaller than average American sodas. This one just 8.45 ounces, down a bit from the 9 ounce bottles from 2011. 

A nice release of gas when cracking open the bottle always portends well. The aroma is sort of like a crisp Fuji apple. The drink itself has a very light, pale coloring. The carbonation is quite evident when tipping back a bottle. The apple flavoring is also light and dissipates quickly after taking a healthy swig. It's a pretty middling apple soda as far as taste is concerned, but it remains refreshing.