Does Mountain Dew Have A Darker Side?

For those who thought ‘Do The Dew’ wasn’t hardcore enough, PepsiCo has announced that it will unveil ‘ a whole new side’ of Mountain Dew. And boy, is it dark!

Basically, the sweet neon soda that at first all of us thought looked like you-know-what just hit adulthood. And one of those ‘puberty hit him/her like a truck’ meme is just what this drastic makeover calls for.

Black Label

The new “craft soda” will be labeled ‘Mtn Dew Black Label’. And no, to all you excited kids’ disappointment, despite the ‘black label’ tag, it does not contain even the slightest trace of alcohol. It’s actually just a classy, handcrafted soda made with real sugar and “crafted with dark berry flavor and herbal bitters.”

PepsiCo is marketing the product toward beverage enthusiasts who “want to unwind – but with a touch of class.”

Dew Date

Students are getting a taste of this brand new high-end Mountain Dew first. Black Label will appear on 600 college campuses this fall around the United States, with a national release planned for 2016.

The suggested retail price for each 16-ounce can is $1.99. It also comes with a brand new slogan: Boldly Refined.

Family Tree

If this venture into fancier sodas sounds familiar, that’s because Mountain Dew already has a craft soda. DewShine, also made with real sugar, was released this spring, “inspired by Dew’s home-brewed mountain roots.”

So how is Black Label any different from its cousin, Dew Shine? Apart from the obvious difference in their classy and roguish names, the two sodas differ in taste and appearance.

Citric in flavor, Dew Shine was introduced (now discontinued) to honor a clear liquor called moonshine. This because the liquor was also referred to as ‘Mountain Dew’ at times.