The good, the bad, and the ugly. Arguably the most famous picture from the late great Sergio Leone but also, the year we had when it comes to MTN DEW. Over the 12 months, the fabled soda brand released what seemed to be more new flavors than the amount of stars in the night sky. Nevertheless, we managed to try every single one of them. Some of them made us weep tears of joy, some made us weep tears of sorrow, and others made their way straight to the trash bin.
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The point is, faithful reader, we tried every citrusy nectar we could get our hands on over the past year. We looked Death in the face and said, “Not today, we’ve got some DEW to drink.” And the end result, friend, may be the most comprehensive MTN DEW listicle you’ve ever seen on the internet. Keep scrolling to see our official ranking of every flavor MTN DEW released this year.
8.) Fruit Quake
It’s MTN DEW flavored after fruit cake. It’s lucky it even made the list.
7.) Legend
Last year saw the release of MTN DEW Dark Berry Bash, an exclusive to Applebee’s locations across the country. This year, Buffalo Wild Wings got the DEW exclusive treatment in the form of MTN DEW Legend…a flavor nearly indistinguishable from Dark Berry Bash. In fact, Legend may even be a step back from its predecessor given it’s a sugar bomb trying to hide itself amongst the faintest of blackberry flavors. At least Dark Berry Bash had the littlest hint of blue raspberry.
6.) Overdrive
People love fruit punch, and MTN DEW sure knows that. In the same vein as MTN DEW Purple Thunder (which you’ll see in just a bit), MTN DEW released another convenience store exclusive in the form of MTN DEW Overdrive. Available in both bottled and fountain forms, Overdrive is an exclusive at Casey’s General Store, the pride of the Midwest. The only unfortunate thing is that unlike Casey’s breakfast pizza, Overdrive blends in with every other fruit soda on the shelf.
Go to the Casey’s for the pizza. Snag an Overdrive if they’re out of everything else.
5.) Baja Mango Gem + Baja Gold
We’re lumping this year’s Baja offerings (with the exception of one standout) together here. Neither MTN DEW Baja Mango Gem or MTN DEW Baja Gold stood out and they were both middle-of-the-pack flavors. Baja Gold had a pineapple flavor that refused to separate itself from Dollar General’s MTN DEW Maui Burst while Mango Gem was the vanilla ice cream of mango-flavored drinks in that it wasn’t bad, just nothing about it stood out.
4.) VooDew 4
In what’s now a Halloween tradition, MTN DEW kept its promise to deliver a new VooDew 4. If you’ve ever wondered what it’d be like to blend DEW together with Sour Patch Kids, VooDew 4 is probably your best bet at getting that flavor. It was super sour, almost to the undrinkable stage.
A few extra points were given because it was the first VooDew with a Zero Sugar alternative.
3.) Typhoon
After a years-long hiatus, MTN DEW brought Typhoon back as an exclusive to the DEW web store. It was the second of two DEW-related fruit punch offerings this year, but given its status as the Original Punch, Typhoon takes the cake over its Overdrive counterpart.
2.) Baja Deep Dive
Over the past couple of years, MTN DEW has mastered the art of the retailer exclusive. First it was MTN DEW Frost Bite, then MTN DEW Spark. The company even expanded to flavors exclusive to its webstore. This year, the brand kicked it up a notch and made its first giveaway-exclusive flavor. As a part of the brand’s Baja Summer promotion, Baja Deep Dive could only be obtained through redeemable codes included with Mango Gem and Baja Gold purchases.
Marketed as a mystery drink, the official flavor of Deep Dive has yet to be unveiled. Given its similarities to the iconic MTN DEW Pitch Black, however, that was enough for us to put the drink at our #2 slot.
1.) Purple Thunder
On paper, a plum MTN DEW shouldn’t work, but it does. And it works exceptionally well at that. Technically a Berry Plum flavor, this retail exclusive—available only at Circle K locations—debuted over the summer, featuring motorcycle-driving plums and berries as it mascots. It has sour notes but doesn’t push the line too far like VooDew 4, yet it’s not too sweet.
Even after taking away a few points because it’s a regional retail exclusive, MTN DEW Purple Thunder is still the best new flavor the citrus brand released this year.
