Code Red

I've already raved about Mountain Dew. What I haven't told you about is my latest discovery and new soda-of-choice: Code Red.

Now I usually detest cherry-flavoured drinks of all kinds because they're generally sickly sweet. Code Red, however, although billed as cherry-flavoured Mountain Dew, doesn't taste anything like cherry, but is slightly tangy with an aroma that's a cross between cinnamon and vanilla (probably both). It's still got the same ridiculous amounts of sugar and caffeine as regular Mountain Dew and looks dangerously high on cochineal red, but hey, who's counting when it's this good?

Thanks to my neighbours, who drink Mountain Dew instead of coffee and actually start their day with a can or two and can thus safely be described as MD aficionados, I have also been introduced to a wonderful new mixer: Bacardi and Code Red.

No prizes for guessing what's standing beside me as I type these words.

Mountain Dew

Mountain Dew is America's fourth best-selling carbonated beverage after Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Diet Coke respectively. It's a sweet, citrus-flavoured, disconcertingly algae-coloured drink sold by Pepsi Co, originally named after a euphemism for moonshine, containing about 60% more caffeine than Coke (except in Canada, where non-cola soft drinks may not contain caffeine) and often incorrectly accused of causing infertility in men.  There's even an online petition to get Mountain Dew sold in the UK.

Just like Coke and Pepsi, there's no middle ground on Mountain Dew. People either love it or hate it. The first person I asked about Mountain Dew - and you know who you are - was extremely scathing about it, effectively equating it with inbred rednecks, if memory serves me right. The next respondent confessed to being more-or-less addicted to the stuff even though he was from way up north.

Having tried Mountain Dew for myself, I am definitely of the latter persuasion, not least because I was served my glass with a liberal dash of rum (or was it vodka?). Nevertheless, a more recent and more sober analysis has confirmed that Mountain Dew is indeed exceedingly drinkable, even without alcohol. That said, I must admit that it does make a great mixer, a fact confirmed by a cursory Google search, which turned up one site with an amazing 111 Mountain Dew-based cocktails.

But don't take my word for it. Try Mountain Dew for yourself - unless you happen to live in Britain, where you'll have to sign the aforementioned petition and hope it'll eventually be available in your local Sainsbury's.

In the meantime, I'll finish off my Bacardi 'n' MD. Cheers!