Off Brand Mountain Dew Review
As a child, the Mountain Dew soda was legendary. It had a cool factor not associated with any other soda. It had this marketing and perception that was only matched by the leading energy drinks. Maybe this was because all the caffeine content and the unique yellow color. Or the lime green bottle that definitely it made it stand out. The question today is does Safeway’s off brand Mountain Dew provide all the same things?
Off Brand Mountain Dew Names
There are many Mountain Dew knocks offs. Practically every store offers their own take on the classic drink. Some of the most common include:
- Signature Select Mountain Breeze
- Great Value Mountain Lightning
- Big K Citrus Drop
- Mighty Rain Citrus Boost
- Mountain Holler
Safeway Mountain Dew
I am huge fan of Safeway Seltzer water, so why not take a look at their off brand soda. For starters, the price is right. I paid $0.99 for a 2 liter. If you pay attention, you can stock up and get it on sale for much less. All of the Safeway soda varieties are available in 2L bottles and 12 oz cans. The cans come in a 12 pack for around $2.99. For everyday drinking, I prefer the single cans because it keeps the beverage better carbonated. For the purposes of this review, I went with the cheaper option. I am Off Brand Guy, what more can I say.
Mtn Dew Knock Off
As usual, I will start with the packaging. The 2L bottle design is actually pretty simple. If you look at the packaging for the cans it is a different story. The “Mountain Breeze” text is in what I would describe as extreme lettering. Definitely trying to mimic the whole Mountain Dew vibe.
Mountain Breeze Soda
I don’t think Mountain Breeze is the right name for this soda. I get they want to keep “Mountain” in the name so people recognize it. But breeze is a better world for a lemon lime Sprite type product.
Citrus Flavored Soda
The taste is okay. It clearly doesn’t have the edge that the real Mountain Dew brings to the table. In my opinion, a lot of off brand sodas are kinda bland. It’s as if you can taste the syrup being dumped into the carbonated water. As the packaging states, it is a standard citrus flavored soda.
Mountain Dew Rip Off Review
I opened the bottle and poured a glass of the Safeway Signature Select Mountain Breeze for this review. Freshly poured the color is either a lime green or neon yellow. The carbonation lacks the intensity of the name brand soda. The flavor is light and underwhelming. It tastes more like a lemon soda than Mountain Dew, if that was such a thing. All in all, I would say it is not worth the calories. The beverage goes down easy because the flavor is bland. Did it come out of the factory this flat? It doesn’t have that edge or kick that the real Mountain Dew does. The more I think of it it reminds me of lemon Gatorade over anything else.
Knock Off Mtn Dew Ingredients
- Carbonated Water
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Citric Acid
- Natural Flavor
- Sodium Benzoate (preservative)
- Sodium Citrate
- Caffeine!
- Gum Acacia
- And the list goes on…
Best Off Brand Mountain Dew Caffeine Content
The Safeway knock off Mountain Dew has 45mg of caffeine per serving. This is a pretty sizeable. In comparison, the Safeway Dr. Pepper has only 12mg of caffeine per serving. If you are curious the name brand Mountain Dew comes in at 54 mg per 12 fluid ounce serving. According to the Caffeine Content Hub, this is considered a moderate amount of caffeine.
Fun Facts
- Did you know Mountain Dew has been cool since 1964?
- Mountain Dew has been banned in some countries due to the Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) ingredient
- According to Over Caffeinated, Mountain Dew contains 4.60 mg of caffeine per ounce
Baja Blast Mountain Dew
To be fair, I am not a huge Mountain Dew guy. Even with the name brand stuff. If I am going to drink soda it is usually a coke type of product (off brand coke as well). But the one thing I can not get enough of is the Baja Blast Mountain Dew at Taco Bell. It’s refreshing, mild, sweet and highly carbonated all at the same time. Nothing goes better with Mexican food. I would go crazy to find a knock of version of this flavor!
Walmart Off Brand Mountain Dew
Stay tuned for a future review of the Walmart off brand Mountain Dew. For as much as I cover Walmart products, I have yet to try their store brand sodas.