Extreme soda fact: Mountain Dew used to taste like 7-Up
How’s this for an extreme soda fact: the soda now known as MTN DEW used to taste like 7-Up.
You may know that Mountain Dew used to have a hillbilly logo and emphasized its connections to the rural South. There’s a reason for that—the company started in East Tennessee (which is also why there are mountains in the name). The trademark was first used in 1948.
But the early drink didn’t taste like the Mountain Dew we know today. When it started, the company emphasized the drink’s connections to local moonshine, including the soda’s use as a great mixer with whiskey. It mixed well with whiskey because it didn’t taste like today’s Mountain Dew. Early Mountain Dew was a lithiated lime soda similar to 7-Up.
Sadly, the 7-Up flavored Mountain Dew didn’t sell well, despite the moonshine-friendly marketing. The flavor we know today didn’t come into play until the trademark was sold in the late 1950s. Since then, Mountain Dew has been a lot closer to the sugary concoction hillbillies and non-hillbillies drink today.
