Mountain Dew's Baja Blast Gets the Alcohol Treatment
Published Jan. 31 2022, 8:46 a.m. ET
Rejoice! Mountain Dew's Baja Blast is getting the alcohol treatment. The beverage flavor, which was created as a fountain soda for Taco Bell in 2004, is the fourth and latest addition to Mountain Dew's boozy line HARD MTN DEW.
The lime-flavored soda joins the previously announced flavors of black cherry, watermelon, and original Mountain Dew. Keep reading to learn more about the new HARD MTN DEW Baja Blast, including where to buy it, and how the popular flavor got its start.
Mountain Dew adds popular Baja Blast flavor to its HARD MTN DEW lineup.
Given the immense success of hard seltzers and canned cocktails, it's no surprise that Pepsi has decided to create their own line of boozy Mountain Dews in collaboration with Boston Beer Company.
On Aug. 10, 2021, at the peak of summer hard seltzer enjoyment, the official Hard Mountain Dew account tweeted a photo of three of their new cans and their upcoming designs. A green eagle decorates the original flavor, while a bear is featured on the black cherry can, and a serpent slithers its way across the watermelon one.
On Jan. 28, the account followed up with a photo of a wolf-adorned HARD MTN DEW Baja Blast can. "Don't worry. We didn't forget," they tweeted to the great fanfare of over 50,000 likes and about half as many retweets.
Where will HARD MTN DEW be available?
Each 100-calorie can contains 5 percent alcohol by volume, plus, no added is sugar, and the beverage is caffeine. What else is there to know about the upcoming boozy drink? It comes out in early 2022, sometime between late February and early March, according to Reddit sleuths on the dedicated Mountain Dew subreddit.
As one user writes, the new release may begin to "trickle out into the wild in a handful of places" beforehand, "considering all the recent releases have shown up early to some extent."
The question of where HARD MTN DEW will be available remains a tricky one to answer. Mountain Dew states their spiked seltzer will be released "in a limited number of states," but doesn't expand further.
"None near me, I'm sure," despaired one Redditor. "My thoughts exactly," replied another. "Good luck to you and everyone on this hunt."
Mountain Dew's Baja Blast was first released in 2004.
Baja Blast made its debut in August 2004, and was conceived specifically for Taco Bell chains — marking the "the first time a beverage company and a fast-food restaurant have created a proprietary beverage," according to the Mountain Dew Fandom page, which notes that the lime-flavored soda was "specifically designed to taste best for [Taco Bell's] Mexican-inspired food."
The flavor — which was created "with the intent to increase drive-thru beverage sales" — quickly became a hit and gained a massive cult following. As a result of its popularity, the drink entered the retail market and released bottles and cans in 2014. Ever since, Baja Blast has been a recurring staple of Mountain Dew's retail flavors.