Welcome back to America’s Favorite Soda Blog! We’ve had some time apart and might have missed a few exclusive Mtn Dew flavors, but after a trip to my local Dollar General, I felt the pull to get back in the game. The Dew is aiming for the King of Summer crown once again and has a “new” flavor line to earn back that title. Can Summer Freeze rekindle our love of new Dews? Well there’s only one way to find out…let’s do the blue and crack open a new Dew.
Mtn Dew Summer Freeze is a blue colored nationwide release Dew that claims to be a mash up of all things summer time. As usual, the packaging and art work for the flavor is fantastic. For all the complaints about same-ness that I’m sure to make later on, the artwork remains unique for most flavors at least in the same calendar year. The idea of cute little rocket pops laughing and having a good time as they melt to death will always be amusing to me. Anyway, cracking it open and getting down to business is where things start to run together. Maybe it’s all in my head, but there’s not much variety between any of the blue Dews, and these comparisons come fast and furious right from the first sip.
Think of *all* the blue Mtn Dews we’ve had over the last couple years. For one, Voltage-a blue raspberry flavor that just had a bit of a re-branding, remains in rotation in the main Dew lineup. Liberty Brew, a supposed 50 flavor bonanza which once consumed my life, leaned hard into the blue-thing in design and flavor. The Walmart exclusive FrostBite claimed to be a melon flavor, but failed to separate itself much from its blue colored counterparts. None of these, nor the Summer Freeze are a “problem,” but the over saturation of the unique flavors is starting to take its toll not only in robbing the sense of occasion of a new flavor but the occasion of its potential taste as well.
The good news, no matter the palate confusion, is that Summer Freeze absolutely tastes like a summer drink. There’s no denying it, Freeze tastes like a State Fair, a fun auto race on a hot day, and a BBQ with friends all at the same time. The sweetness isn’t as bad as some of the other blue dews like Voltage, so you can enjoy this one outside on a hot day without destroying your insides. One of the first flavor notes that come to the front on this of blue cotton candy. It’s a familiar taste, but one that came without the food coloring. VooDew III from 2021 gave me a nearly identical experience, and while that was nearly two years ago, I still have some of it laying around. Let’s pour a quick one and see how far off it is…
VooDew III, released in 2021 was one of my personal favorites in the mystery flavor campaign. It was the easiest to drink, and left you the least “sugared out” after having it. The mystery flavor was claimed to be “fruit chew candies” officially, but I never could get the thought of blue cotton candy out of my head. This was the same feeling I had when trying the Summer Freeze just now. Cracking open the VooDew, the similarities are unmistakable. It’s not a pure copy, but there are very clear elements at play in the Summer Freeze mix that incorporates a great deal of VooDew III in its formula. This is not really a mystery nor is it a problem, and it’s good to see some past elements come back into the mix with new ideas and branding. Maybe that’s the positive aspect of having a new formula of Dew every fortnight: you can play with what works and really nail some of the future ideas. For that, I say well done.
Verdict: Mtn Dew Summer Freeze is a fun and satisfying hot weather drink that sets the mood for the season remarkably well. If you’re not all consumed with the variety and history of one-off flavors of Mtn Dew, you’re going to have a great time sipping this from Memorial Day all the way through beach season. If you’re a Dew nerd that’s looking for more than a collectible can with some awesome artwork, there’s not much need to seek out the flavor. If you’re already a connoisseur of the blue dew culture, you’ll have memories of the taste in your archives. Still, there’s a lot more to Americana than the semi-ironic patriotism we saw with Liberty Brew, and for those that are looking for a summer soda that speaks more to the innocence and good clean fun of this time of year, Summer Freeze could become an all-time favorite.
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