Mmm…sweet, syrupy death in a bottle.
After years and years of playing video games, role-playing games and pretty much any other kind of games that didn’t involve actual physical activity, I’m a sucker for Mountain Dew. I’ve tried every flavor they’ve ever made, from the sickening (that Baja Blast crap available only at Taco Bell) to the sublime (please, please, please bring back the Halloween-themed Pitch Black).
It’s a small wonder that I’m not some bloated toad living out my existence in front of a glowing computer monitor as reality saunters by unnoticed. Or something.
Anyway, I saw some 12-packs of this “Game Fuel” gunk at the local Target and told my wife that I would have to try it. I suppose it’s a corporate tie-in to the release of the upcoming Halo 3 game. I like Halo and I like Mountain Dew, so the next time we were there, I found a 20oz bottle and decided to close my eyes and swallow.
Yuck.
The flavor is described as “cherry and citrus,” which, if you think about it, is pretty sneaky. Mountain Dew: Code Red is cherry-flavored. Mountain Dew: Live Wire is citrus-flavored. So all the lazy Einsteins at Pepsi did was mix two of their other flavors together and call it a “limited edition.”
The bad part is that they didn’t see fit to dilute either of the flavors before they mixed them. Instead of having, say, one part syrup to three parts water, they now have syrup and water in equal measures. The sickeningly sweet flavor instantly kills off what could only be called a brave attempt by the carbonation to make this drink palatable. It tastes like flat soda mixed with SweetTarts. Or melted popsicles in a sack of sugar.
And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I drank this thing three days ago and my right eye is still twitching. It has more caffeine in it than a can of Red Bull. And I could feel my teeth actually burning from the acidic level of the beverage.
I have never been a fan of the Code Red version of MD, so maybe my opinion is moot as this seems to be the predominant flavor of Game Fuel. However, I always felt that Live Wire made a better match for the vaguely lemon-lime flavor of the original Dew, so I’m kind of torn.
Or maybe it’s just my age. The older I get, the more I turn to softer flavors and less sugar and quicker buzz fixes…like crack or crystal meth. I’m probably not the target audience, because I’ve reduced my all-night gaming frenzies to about two a year.
Nah, I think I’ll stick to the original Dew. I’m a traditional kind of guy. I enjoy a bit of history now and then. Of course, if they ever decide to introduce a health-minded Mountain Dew: Green Tea, I would be all over it like Rosie on a Twinkie.
Oh, and those Elvis-themed peanut butter cups are pretty damn delicious.
Thanks for the article. I would have wasted some money on this otherwise.
Yummm, green tea Mountain Dew. That’s a good one. BTW, Game Fuel is gewd… but maybe it only tastes good to me because it says ‘Halo 3′ on it. If they put out turds with ‘Halo 3′ on it, yeah, sure, I’d try it… and… well… maybe it’s not that bad, but you better believe I’m gonna be king-sizing my Burger King meals soon… Hail to the chief… Master Chief that is…
My husband and I tried it too. He like it, but I thought it was way too sweet.
Ack! I have the taste buds of a woman.
Hehe.
I’ve seen this in the grocery stores, gas stations, Targets, and Wal-marts for a couple weeks now as well. When I first saw it before I knew what it was, I thought it was a really cool marketing idea. Come up with a new Mountain Dew flavor and market it as a limited edition with Halo 3 and call it Game Fuel. Great idea Pepsi Co.!!!
After I saw it the first couple of times I decided to check out what was actually in the bottle. As soon as I saw “cherry flavored” I thought to myself that they’re ripping off their own product and calling it something else!!! How lame is that?!?!?!? They are essentially the same thing, perhaps mixed in different proportions of Mountain Dew flavor and cherry flavor. Mountain Dew actually has citrus in it already, as does Code Red, if I recall correctly. Look at the labels and you’ll see it mentions concentrated orange juice. To me this product is not very original.
That being said, I’m not a huge fan of Code Red anymore. I drank way too much of it in college. So needless to say, I’ve stayed away from this one regardless of the Halo 3 marketing ploy. I say they need to get rid of Game Fuel and bring back the second best flavored Mountain Dew product permanently, Pitch Black (original flavored Mountain Dew is still the best in my book). That stuff was great and it’s unfortunate that it was only out at Halloween. I’d also like to make a caveat to that request. Bring back the ORIGINAL Pitch Black, not the sour crap they tried to get away with that one year.
LOVE Mountain Dew: Pitch Black.
I’m a sucker for grape-flavored sodas.
In fact, my obsession with “grape”-ish liquids may even rival my undying love for “apple”-like solids.
Or even faux-”banana” frozen thingies.
Wow. Now that I think about it, it’s kinda sad that I only seem to like fruit if it’s pretending to be something else…