Mountain Dew's Fruit Quake Just Replaced Merry Mashup
Fans of Mountain Dew are constantly surprised (and sometimes disappointed) by new flavors. The soft drink's original flavor was a simple lemon-lime that was similar to Sprite. Mountain Dew has undergone many transformations from its inception as a mixer for whiskey in the 1940s (per MyRecipes). The brand now has several flavor varieties and bright-colored sodas to choose from. Mountain Dew has even branched out to offer energy drinks and a zero-calorie lemonade, in addition to sodas.
Each year, Mountain Dew releases limited edition sodas with either a uniquely funky flavor or color. In honor of Halloween 2019, the soda brand launched a candy corn flavored VooDew flavor and in 2021, it returned with a mystery flavor (via the company's website). In 2018, Mountain Dew provided holiday cheer in the form of its Merry Mashup holiday flavor. Merry Mashup was colored red to celebrate the season, while its flavor had notes of cranberry and pomegranate, according to Chew Boom. In 2021, the cookie-flavored Gingerbread Snap'd replaced the Merry Mashup. The gingerbread lemon-flavored beverage garnered some pretty mixed reviews on Instagram.
For 2022, Mountain Dew is at it yet again with the release of its new holiday flavor.
Don't want to eat your fruitcake? Drink it, instead
According to a recent Instagram post from Mountain Dew's official account, Fruit Quake Mountain Dew debuts in November, replacing Merry Mashup. The new Fruit Quake flavor is part of Mountain Dew's Holiday flavors, which have included Holiday Brew, Merry Mashup, and Gingerbread Snap'd. Based on prior holiday releases (per Chewboom), this new flavor likely won't last longer than the actual holiday season.
The Fruit Quake logo states that "artificial fruit cake flavor" is added to Mountain Dew. Fans who want to truly embrace the holiday season will be happy to see that Fruit Quake retains Merry Mashup's dark red color. Comments on the post ranged from, "Bring the merry mash-up back," to "It tastes like code red with a little live wire." Fans were a bit more generous on Twitter, with comments ranging from, "Screw it I'll drink it," to "Can't wait to try the new flavor." It seems with every new flavor release, fans are either going to love it or wish for their long-gone favorite to return. Devotees of the Dew will have to decide if they want to spice up their holidays by eating their fruitcake, drinking it, or both.