A documentation and review of limited time, special edition, or otherwise hard-to-find noms.
Products circa: Spring 2024
Laguna Lemonade: Tasty enough, but with a fake-tasting mango flavoring that pales in comparison to the Mountain Dew Mango Gem released a few years ago.
Point Break Punch: A fruit punch that's decidedly more "tropical" in flavor than the other million fruit punch Dews that have been made. But something is off with the balance of the sweetness... either there's too much sugar, or not enough acidic bite. But a nice change, overall.
Product circa: Spring 2024
Awful. Whatever buffalo flavor they have added here goes horribly with the "aged" cheese flavor base of the original.
Product circa: 2020 and onward, only at Dollar General stores
My hype for this one didn't help. Supposedly a pineapple Dew, the fruit flavoring here is so subtle that is tastes straight up bland. I'll be on the lookout for more to make sure it wasn't just the can I bought.
Product circa: Summer 2023
Not the first time a "rocket pop"-flavored soda has been released. Unfortunately this seems to have a quality about it that I can't help describe as a "deadness". It's missing something to make it lively.
Product circa: 2021, only at Kroger supermarkets
A bright green apple flavor combines with Dew's citrus base to create a tart-yet-sweet mixture.
Product Circa: 2017
Released alongside White Label, which I don't think I ever tried.
I'm not a fan of green apple, but the application here is subtle. Despite the zero-calorie sweetener added, this manages to taste refined, and surprisingly good. No kiwi detected.
Product circa: November 2023
A slightly sour fruit punch Dew to cross-branded with the video game Diablo IV. Not a particularly special fruit punch flavor, but for whatever reason, it tastes really great. One of the best Dews I've tasted in the last 5, or even 10 years.
Due to a tree nut allergy, I never got the courage to try these, even though it's unlikely to contain actual nuts.
Product circa: Summer 2023
Released along with Dew Baja Blast and Dew Baja Blast Zero Sugar as part of the "Summer of Baja Blast" promotion. As of this posting, Baja Blast is now tentatively a permanent product that can be found it stores, instead of only being found at the fountain in Taco Bell locations.
Baja Caribbean Splash: I can't remember where my baseline for "guava" flavor comes from, but this is definitely guava, and it pairs very well with the original recipe. Absolutely delicious and very tropical.
Baja Passionfruit Punch: Not bad at all, but overall has a generic fruity flavor that's hard to pinpoint. It tastes nothing like passionfruit, and has none of the tang that passionfruit usually carries with it.
Products circa: holiday seasons 2017 and 2018-2020, respectively
Holiday Brew: Evidently this is just a mix of regular Dew and Code Red... so it's just a "diluted" Code Red? It certain tastes like it.
Merry Mash-Up: I can detect cranberry in this, but otherwise it just tastes vaguely like a "red" Dew. I'd love to see them take another try at a cranberry Dew!
Product circa: 2017
A lightly cinnamony Pepsi with some spice that will catch you in the throat. Very good! But it doesn't compare to Cinnamon Coca-Cola or (THROWBACK) Pepsi Holiday Spice.
Product circa: winter 2023 re-release
Re-released repeatedly for almost 20 years, my nostalgia glasses insist that this stuff isn't as good as the original in 2004. I can't even remember the various levels of sweetness and sourness that has varied through the years... all I know is that the original was best.
The grape-soda flavor mingles with the bright citruses to create an almost fruit-punch-like effect that is greater than the sum of its parts. Luckily, all the re-releases are still delicious.
Product circa: winter 2022
All the flavors somehow manage to stay separate, here. The spicy ginger, the vanilla, the tangy citric acid... none of them meld, and the experience overall feels disjointed. I might like to see what a normal vanilla ginger ale might taste like.
Product circa: 2023
It was pretty tough to find these. These are a lot of fun! The flavors are identical to starburst, and the outside has a dry, pillowy texture. The chew is somewhere between a Starburst candy and the kind of "fruit snack" you would have in your elementary school lunchbox.
Product circa: Summer 2022
Mango is one of those flavors that doesn't really translate well to artificial flavoring. However, this stuff manages to capture the flavor of mango in a shockingly authentic way... perhaps it's how it combines with Dew's citrus base. One of the best Mountain Dews ever made, and perhaps the best mango soda I've ever had.
Product circa: Purchased in 2024
This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom.
Absolutely delicious. The strongly-flavored cereal is a great complement to the sweet white chocolate.
Product circa: winter 2021 (and perhaps later winters also)
Why do 7-Up variations always miss the mark? This tastes slightly sweeter than the original, but otherwise no discernible flavor change, basically. This feels like a lazy product.
Product circa: Halloween 2023
An overall cherry-heavy fruit punch Dew, very similar to even a previous year's VooDEW flavor. Reading further, it seems that this ended up being a cross-branded flavor, using flavoring from cherry Airhead candies. Spot on!
Product circa: 2022 re-release
One of a million “berry lemonade” Dews. Purportedly a raspberry lemonade, I’m getting more of a generic “fruit” flavor along with the fantastic lemon flavor. This stuff is also one of the more tart Dews that you’ll find as well. Sadly, for me, the flavor is actually a little too overbearing. If they dialed down the flavor while keeping the tartness, it’d be fantastic.
Product circa: Purchased online in 2022 as part of a re-release.
2019: Sweet orange, maybe vanilla? Delicious!
2020: Cheap tart candy (SweeTarts?) and a bit of fake grape.
2021: Fruit punch, heavy on the cherry. Supposedly it was meant to taste like "fruit chews", and if you think about cherry Starbursts, this is a dead ringer.
Product circa: 2018
The legendary mid-1990s product that was re-released in 2018 and 2022.
Just Pepsi without the coloring... but I swear this stuff tastes different than the real stuff, but in a way that's hard to describe. It's delicious, and that's because Pepsi is delicious. Anyone who says otherwise isn't being honest with themselves.
Product circa: 2022 (online-only)
Raspberry Coke? Hell yes! Whenever I come across a Coke Freestyle machine, making raspberry Coca-Cola is one of my first choices.
I'm sure this could be delicious, but being sugar-free, it just isn't. Sigh.
I recall buying this at Aldi in 2019, though it was available at other locations and in other years as well. Internet searches on the subject don't yield clear information.
This stuff is delicious. It's immediately apparent that the type of cinnamon flavoring used here is cassia, as if they got a stiff cinnamon stick and grated it into the beverage. I would buy this all the time if it were a permanent product.
Dragon Whispers- various fruits with cherry noticeable
Mermaid Songs- Fruity but synthetic?
Unicorn Kisses- Fruit candy, DELICIOUS
Yeti Mischief- citrus with additional fruits
Delicious, and while the beautiful indigo creme tastes a little different than the original, it's hard to describe why.
Milk chocolate and brown-sugar-flavored white chocolate. A bit tastier than the original.
Not bad. The typical white chocolate with Pop Rocks embedded. Suffers from the same issue of similar candies, where the Pop Rocks will pop when they are in your throat, and is very unsettling.
This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom, as it’s not clear if it’s a limited time product.
Product circa: Summer 2023
On the first bite, you’ll taste a sweetness that reminds of honey mustard. It disappointed me at first, but not for long. The flavor quickly turns into a pungent deli mustard, with the vinegary dijon-like “burn” that will really go to your head, if you’re not careful. These are tasty, but the flavor is so bold that a few chips go a long way... such that I wish I could eat more at a time. I’m inclined to rate these as “good”, but the fidelity to the mustard is so impressive, that it’s great.
Doritos Hot Mustard: NOM NOM NOM - Great
Original Doritos Nacho Cheese(for comparison): NOM NOM - Good
Product Circa: 2023
It’s nice to see more sandwiches being represented as snack flavors. But honestly, at this point, if any modern snacks are flavored like a food containing meat, it’s safe to assume that they will taste like the food, minus its actual meat products. What a shame.
Using this formula, these taste exactly as expected - like cheese, mustard, and dill pickle. Lay’s thinks that they can add savory ingredients like onion and garlic to mimic that savoriness of meat, but it’s just lame, in the end. And these… they aren’t even that tasty!
Lay’s Wavy Cuban Sandwich: NOM - Passable
Original Lay’s Potato Chips(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great
Products circa: 2018 (yes, I’m drinking years-old bottles here)
I don’t seem to sound like a Pepsi simp, but Pepsi could do way better with these flavors than Coke.
The raspberry one is tasty, but way too faint. I wouldn’t have recognized it as raspberry if I hadn’t known. It’s a shame, because my favorite option in a Coke Freestyle machine is Coke with a raspberry add-in.
The peach one is much more strongly flavored, with the classic peach candy taste that any processing peach product would have. It doesn’t go perfectly with the flavor of Coke, however.
Both of these have a slight medicinal flavor, which is something I’ve noticed with many “natural” or premium cola products that try to highlight the flavor of the kola nut. However, it’s not clear if Coke means to have the “cola” portion of these drinks taste different than the original.
Coca-Cola California Raspberry: NOM NOM - Good
Coca-Cola Georgia Peach: NOM NOM - Good
Original Coca-Cola(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great
Product circa: 2022+ (contemporary as of this posting)
An exclusive of Circle K stores, this product can be found there in bottles, and even occasionally on the fountain.
A sweet, slightly sour blackberry or grape, with a character just like Pitch Black - or at least, with a tartness somewhere between the original Pitch Black (2004) and its sweeter re-releases. Thinking hard, I can maybe find other fruits in the flavors that I’m tasting. This stuff is supposedly flavored as “blackberry plum”, but the similarity to Pitch Black is undeniable. It’s a bit more deep and bitter, and judging by the ingredient list, it might even have more caffeine.
This stuff is delicious, and it’s a privilege that it’s available on a semi-permanent basis in certain regions.
Mountain Dew Purple Thunder: NOM NOM NOM NOM - Outstanding
Original Mountain Dew (for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great
Product circa: 2023
This is a Presumptive Ephemeral Nom, because we do not know if it’s only for a limited time.
What a fitting cross-branding! But sadly, these don’t stack up.
You might get the slightest of maple syrup flavoring, but I’ve had Pop-Tarts with more maple flavoring than this. Aside from that, it’s almost like an unflavored sugar filling. It’s probably the blandest Pop-Tarts variety I’ve ever tasted.
Pop-Tarts Eggo: NOM - Passable
Original Pop-Tarts Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great
Product circa: post-2020 springtime seasons
Seemingly seasonal and only available in fun size. I always tend to welcome the white chocolate Kit Kats. This one here is white chocolate with a yellow-tinted and lemon-flavored coating, and that’s basically the only thing that is different. But damn, despite this variation being very simple, its flavor is incredible. The lemon uses the white chocolate as a perfect vehicle, and it ends up being the slightest bit tart and even refreshing. It all goes great with the wafers in a perfect balance.
Kit Kat Lemon Crisp: NOM NOM NOM NOM - Outstanding
Original Kit Kat(for comparison): NOM NOM - Good
Product circa: summer 2023 (contemporary as of this posting)
This product is a presumptive Ephemeral Nom, as it is not clearly a limited edition.
While I think that most ketchup-flavored chips are very tasty, in my opinion they usually end up tasting like tomato powder and spices.
Not these. The tomato flavoring on these evokes the sweet fruitiness that tomatoes can lend to a fresh ketchup. Enough vinegar powder is added to really give that ketchup taste. You have the savory flavors lightly backing everything up, like onion, garlic, and paprika. In the end, these are the most faithful ketchup-flavored snack I’ve ever tasted. I’d rate it higher if I were a ketchup freak… but I’m not.
Doritos Tangy Ketchup: NOM NOM NOM - Great
Original Doritos Nacho Cheese(for comparison): NOM NOM - Good
Product circa: Summer 2023
Product circa: 2022
Promoting the release of the 2022 film Jurassic World Dominion, we have a generic-sounding variation of Dr. Pepper.
It’s only when I try very hard that I detect a notable fruit flavor when tasting this stuff. Less of a dark berry, and more dark fruits in general. And because a few of Dr. Pepper’s 23 flavorings are such fruits (blackberry, plum), I wonder if they just dialed down the spicy ingredients instead of adding more fruit?
Anyway, it’s almost impossible to discern that this is different from the original without having them side-by-side.
Dr. Pepper Dark Berry: NOM NOM NOM - Great
Original Dr. Pepper(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great
Product circa: Halloween 2022
Pepsico makes another Halloween release of VooDEW for this year 2022. It is a mystery flavor, as VooDEW usually is. The flavor of this stuff hasn't been released yet officially, and it is normally done on the day of Halloween. Evidently the first year of VooDEW (2019) contained a mix of Dew that was flavored like candy corn. I must have missed it that year, because DAMN I would have loved to try that.
Anyway, this stuff rocks. I'm fairly confident that this year's flavor is blue raspberry, a flavor I love. This is also more sour than your usual flavored Dew, which is welcome. Each year the VooDEW flavor seems to simulate Halloween candy, and so this one is fitting. I definitely remember eating sour blue raspberry candy as a kid, and the flavor of this soda really brings me back. Well done, Dew.
Mountain Dew VooDew 2022: NOM NOM NOM NOM - Outstanding
Original Mountain Dew(for comparison): NOM NOM NOM - Great
