There are three Mountain Dew flavors being released this summer — Mountain Dew Supernova, Mountain Dew Revolution, and Mountain Dew Voltage — all part of a marketing initiative called DEWmocracy, a pseudo-election "vote for the new Dew"-type promotion. It's time to take a look at the blue-hued Mountain Dew Voltage and how it stacks up!
Mountain Dew Voltage
The color of this drink can only be described as "nuclear blue"… kinda like the blue dye you use when you are coloring Easter eggs. What, did Pepsi hook up with PAAS or something? The label denotes the flavor of Mountain Dew Voltage as "Dew charged with Raspberry Citrus Flavor and Ginseng". I'd say it looks a little lighter than 2002's Pepsi Blue or Amp Energy Elevate.
Can you sense the voltage?
Like the other flavors that are part of the "DEWmocracy 3", the bottle sports a prominently black label, augmented by a Mountain Dew logo sitting on top of a rich blue/black color scheme (much like the Amp Energy Elevate can). The "Voltage" logo is a rhombus shape, similar to a diamond standing on its points. It's quite bold and appealing, in my opinion.
Dew Drinker Designed
It's specifically noted that this flavor is "Dew Drinker Designed", which is a reference to the DEWmocracy campaign.
Only 1 flavor will remain...
In Fall 2007, PepsiCo rolled out a "design your own Dew" initiative via online gaming and a social media-oriented storyline.
The Final 3: Voltage, Supernova, Revolution (Source: Dewmocracy.com)
The result was out of all these combinations, 3 flavors rose to the top, to be featured during the summer of 2008 and voted on by fans. The winning vote getter would be the new Dew.
Online Poster
Encouraging promotion of your favorite flavor is done through campaign tools… graphical banners that can be placed on MySpace, Facebook, e-mail templates, or blogs, each with a distinct tracking code. That way, everyone who is registered as part of the DEWmocracy site can have metrics assigned to their participation. I'm not exactly sure how the "vote" will take place, but I would imagine that it has to do with these tools.
Ginseng?
But enough about the marketing background. Let's talk taste! Mountain Dew Voltage is a berry-flavored Dew, inspired-but-not-exactly-like Pepsi Blue. It has a sweet aftertaste, which is probably where the citrus underpinnings are found. I found much similarity in taste to Amp Energy Elevate, with the "raspberry" flavor somewhat like Pepsi Summer Mix, granted without the colaness. Overall, it's not an awesome Dew, but it's a decent Dew. I found it far superior to Mountain Dew Supernova.
E-mail Template
The official DEWmocracy website describes this beverage as follows:
You don't just taste the intensity, you practically feel it. In our world, voltage measures a charge of Raspberry Citrus with a closing burst of Ginseng, all blended to "Shock Your Senses." And after you've pulled yourself together, put that energy into our campaign tools and spread the word. That shock you felt up and down your spine? Mountain Dew® Voltage™.
I have to admire the copywriters… they know how to make this seem like a big deal.
Text of Campaign E-mail
If Mountain Dew Voltage were released on its own, it might have a chance of surviving. However, as a berry-flavored drink, it's just not that amazing, especially when compared to some of the previous Dew entries, such at Mountain Dew Pitch Black and Mountain Dew Baja Blast. Both of those flavors are/were far superior than what Voltage brings to the table, ginseng or not.
Virtual Bumper Sticker
Let's take a look at what's inside Mountain Dew Voltage, shall we? It contains 4.55 mg/oz. of caffeine, which when aligned with original Mountain Dew at 4.5 mg/oz., is basically the same. For comparison, Coke's Vault has 5.83 mg/oz., while the limited-time Mountain Dew Game Fuel came in at 6.0 mg/oz. Ginseng should add an extra punch, but basically, it's a standard caffeine-based Dew with a non-outstanding flavor.
Voltage as represented online
One 20 oz. bottle of Voltage is packed with 290 calories, 105 mg of sodium, and 76 g of sugars. It breaks down to 2.5 servings of 8 oz. per bottle.
Web Badge
A full ingredient list is as follows:
Mountain Dew Voltage
Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, natural flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), caffeine, sodium citrate, gum arabic, calcium disodium EDTA (to protect flavor), brominated vegetable oil, panax ginseng root extract, Blue 1, Red 40
To recap, Mountain Dew Voltage is a decent-flavored berry Dew. Not horrible. Not amazing. It's chemical makeup is pretty much the same as the other "DEWmocracy 3", meaning that it's nothing more than a drink built on cookie-cutter promotion, not by market demand.
I finally had the chance to taste one of the new flavors released by Mountain Dew November 10. My questions is where can you buy these new drinks in Utah? The only place I found this was in a vending machine which was ridiculously over priced. Is there a location that sells all of the trial flavors at the normal prices in Utah anywhere in Salt Lake or Utah county?
my review, taste like a blue raspberry jolly rancher? who wants to eat more than one of those without a melon/cherry/strawberry in between. MUCH TOO MUCH sourness to it to be a soda. sodas are supposed to quench your thirst, this does the opposite.
I have to disagree with you on that its better than supernova, but obviously you don't know dew because you thought baja blast is decent, it tastes like crest toothpaste…
Bajablast does not taste like crest toothepaste, you've probably consumed so much other drinks that your tastebuds receive flavors differently. Also, bajablast is only available in soda fountains, and sometimes those can be overly watered down, or too flavored.
My personal take as well as many others on baja blast, is that it is very much awesome and refreshing. My personal favorite. Can I get a hoorah anyone?
I actually like this a lot. It's a nice break from other beverages. Strong raspberry taste, smells like cotton candy, what's not to like? It's at the very least worth a try.
I first got to try all 3 flavors last summer up in PA and didn't see it anymore when I got back home here in NC untill just 2 months ago ,they released Voltage which is my favorite of the 3 but after about a month they quite making them in 2 liters and now all they sale is 12 packs here. Wish I could find the 2 liters somewhere around here cause this is an awesome drink! LOVE IT!!! I'm So Addicted!
I got one Voltage for the first time today in a 2Liters. I underestimated the kick and by the time I read that it had genseng I was down 1.5 liters and it is almost 3 am in the morning. I love the taste. The bad part is that I am not able to sleep now….
I am very much in love with Voltage it has literal ruined me from drinking other soda nothing quite tastes good when I drink it except voltage and then just when I think I am getting burned out on it I drink one and fall in love all over again I LOVE THIS MOUTAIN DEW VOLTAGE.
When I'm buying soda for a big LAN party or a new game release, I always toss a 12 pack of Voltage along with a case of regular Mountain Dew. The flavor is very good, sweet and a little smooth, without the bite of mountain dew, which makes it a good break. But more than that, the Ginseng packs a surprisingly powerful kick that wires me up for that important first run through a new raid.
It makes your poop change colors
what happened to the diet blue? Best diet ever and it dissapered.
I think the Mountain Dew Voltage is hot stuff. I love the taste of ginseng, though I guess it is an acquired taste. I've been drinking it for so many years that I don't remember if I ever disliked it.
Ginseng teas has always suppressed my appetite, which is what I like about it. I've battled thew bulge for 2 years, so anything that makes me less ravenous is great.
I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THERE WAS A MT DEW WHITE OUT…..I LOVE THE VOLTAGE WHERE IN TEXAS CAN I GET THE OTHER FLAVORS? R U STILL GOIN TO BE MAKIN THE VOLTAGE? LET ME KNOW
I'm actually a pretty big fan. Maybe I just have a certain taste for raspberry (the blue raspberry ICEE was always my favorite), but I'd say this is a pretty sweet-tasting drink–both literally and figuratively. The aftertaste you get after finishing a chunk of the bottle is a little gross, but nothing too abnormal for a soda.
I think it tastes a lot like Sprite Remix. And I like original Dew much better.
I AM IN LOVE WITH VOLTAGE!!!! SOOOOOO TASTY! WEN I FIRST SAW IT I WAS LIKE HERM IVE NEVER SEEN THAT B4 AND SO I TASTED IT AND FELL IN LOVE!!!!
BEST THING EVER
I think it's just like Pepsi Blue, that I cried when they got rid of it.. … Pepsi Blue was launched in mid-2002 and discontinued in Canada and the United States in 2004, although it remains available in some other countries. Its flavor was the result of taste-testing over 100 flavors over a 9-month period.[1][2] Designed to compete with Coca-Cola's Vanilla Coke,[3] the flavor of Pepsi Blue was described by Pepsi only as "berry" and described by drinkers as like blueberries or raspberries, or similar to cotton candy with a berry-like aftertaste and much more sugary and syrupy than regular cola. It was tinted using Blue 1,[4] a highly controversial coloring agent banned in numerous countries at the time. The move to make a brightly-colored version of the flagship Pepsi brand was spurred by 2001's introduction of Mountain Dew Code Red, which had bumped PepsiCo's Mountain Dew division sales up 6%.[3]
This stuff is great. It kinda taste like a blue raspberry popsicle.