Mountain Dew Kickstart: Energizing Strawberry Kiwi

Mountain Dew -- or Mtn Dew as it's now branded -- has two new coconut water-enhanced varieties as part of its Kickstart line of energy drinks. Both flavors are formulated with 10 percent juice from white grape juice and coconut water. They're also both sweetened with a blend of high fructose corn syrup, sucralose and acesulfame potassium. While we preferred the Strawberry Kiwi variety, both have a soda-like flavor that seems to have just a hint of Mountain Dew tang. That said, these products seem to be geared towards the brand's existing core of consumers. However, if you’re looking for coconut water flavor, you really won’t find it in this product. That said, the use of coconut water and juice seems more for marketing purposes than adding something tangible to the product. Functionally, the product is on the lighter end of the energy drink category. It has 68mg of caffeine per 12 oz. can, vitamin C, B vitamins, and phosphorous along with electrolytes. Visually, this product is extremely busy to the point where it’s hard to make sense of it all. The front panel features both the Mtn Dew and Kickstart brand names, and they seem to conflict with one another, while virtually every inch of the can is loaded with copy. The result is something that is far from a pretty package. Overall, this is a mainstream play that’s clearly trying to use coconut water to create an additional function (hydration). Unfortunately, this seems to be mostly a facade in what’s otherwise more of the same for Kickstart. Still, we do think it’s pleasing and for a 60-calorie carbonated soft drink, it’s definitely not bad.