Beverage Review: Kick Start by Mountain Dew

I have enjoyed doing some beverage reviews for my followers, so I figured I would continue this fun posting series.

Today, I am doing a review of Kick Start, by Mountain Dew. The flavor I tried is Black Cherry, so let’s get into the details.

The beverage is advertised as a “sparkling juice”, though it only contains 5% juice, and is a white grape juice concentrate. Given the name “Kick Start”, it has the name as well as the look and feel of an energy drink, which has taken the market by storm over the last 5-8 years. However, this is not an energy drink, as the 16-ounce beverage only contains 92 mg of caffeine, which is about the same as a standard cup of coffee. Aside from the caffeine content, perhaps the kick is due to the high fructose corn syrup, of which there is quite a bit, as it is the second ingredient listed after carbonated water.

Here is the review:

I am a fan of the Black Cherry taste, as it is bold and unique. In this regard, the Kick Start beverage in the Black Cherry flavor did not disappoint, as it was bold and tasted great. In addition to the Black Cherry taste, I did also get a hint of Mountain Dew, which is a good thing given it is a Mountain Dew brand. However, in drinking the beverage, it tasted much like a standard carbonated soda, so I am not sure the “sparkling juice” is an accurate representation, as it tasted fairly similar to many Black Cherry sodas already on the market. I also do not quite understand the “kick” in the name, as it not close to packing the punch of an energy drink and is not the sort of beverage you would drink early in the morning.

Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 Steem for taste/flavor, but a 2 out of 5 Steem for marketing/branding. This was an enjoyable beverage, but was more of a Black Cherry soda with hint of Mountain Dew than anything else. That would have been fine, except that it advertised itself as a beverage with kick and was a sparking juice, not a soda – both of which missed the mark, in my opinion.

Hope you enjoyed today’s review!

Brian