Two Tin Cans, One Marketing Stunt
At this point I nearly set the jar down and walked away, but since my roommate and his girlfriend were staring at me intently -- no doubt wondering exactly how I scored a job that entailed drinking the liquid embodiment of combustive neon -- I gave into peer pressure. I took a drink.
Remember when my nose warned me of impending burning? Turns out that my nose doesn't lie. Not only does the Horde Red Game Fuel contain the same burning sensation present in all carbonated beverages, it also proudly bears the tart burning sensation present in sour candy. Thankfully that passed after a few seconds, after which I finally tasted the actual drink.
As if to taunt my senses Horde Red Game Fuel tastes nothing like its color would suggest. When you look at it you imagine an orange flavor or perhaps a cherry flavor if you squint and turn your head sideways. What you actually get though is a combination my notes describe as "SUGARRRRR!!!!!" followed by a simple equation of "80% lemon + 15% cherry + 5% pine needles = The antithesis of anything natural."
Despite my notes' seeming confusion and rage over the experience I wasn't entirely put off by the drink, and could definitely see caffeine fans enjoying the stuff while slogging through the wilds of Azeroth.
That was before the aftertaste.
It's one thing to have a drink so proud of its flavor that it seeks to remind you that you drank it for moments after you've actually swallowed the fluid, and it's something else entirely for a beverage to cling to every organic surface in your mouth like an unfit mother terrified that you're here to snatch her babies from her. 15 minutes and a half bottle of water later I finally got the taste out of my mouth, but I remain wary that at any moment I might burp and resurrect the angry ghost of a thousand fluorescent red orcs.
Somewhat cautiously I peered down at my second drink, the Mountain Dew Game Fuel Alliance Blue. Remembering my fondness for all things sugary and azure, I said a short prayer to St. Joe of Bazooka (the patron saint of flavors) and lifted the second jar to my nose.
"Hm," I said to absolutely no one, "this almost smells like ... like ... blue? Yes! This smells like blue!" Realizing I should probably offer a better comparison for those non-synaesthestetics in the audience, I quickly jotted down that the smell reminded me of all those blue candies and frozen treats I loved as a kid. Blue Otter Pops, blue Blow Pops, blue popsicles -- anything blue and sugary has a distinct smell and flavor that our American diet of junk food has ingrained in anyone whose parents weren't of the patchouli and granola set. Hoping this scent might bode well for the drink's flavor, I cautiously drained the jar into my mouth.
Though Alliance Blue shares the sharp initial bite of Horde Red, it fades much more quickly than the latter into something akin to slightly tart blue Kool-Aid. You can definitely taste the Mtn Dew influence in Alliance Blue much more distinctly than in Horde Red and in a surprising twist the former has much less of an aftertaste than its ruby counterpart. Despite my aversion to caffeinated novelty drinks I actually slightly enjoyed this version of the Game Fuel and would recommend it to anyone with a compulsion toward these sorts of marketing gimmicks.
Realistically, if you're the sort of person who drinks Mtn Dew on a regular basis, these beverages are going to appeal to you, if only to try something new and different. Though I was off put by the almost aggressively sugary drinks, regular caffeine junkies will have no problem enjoying the two Game Fuel flavors and those hardcore World of Warcraft fiends have already shelled out cash for much less practical, much more expensive promotional tie-ins -- again, I've got way too many baby polar bears and baby Murlocs clogging my WoW account.
Given how terribly wrong some soft drink experiments have gone in the past -- Crystal Pepsi, I'm looking at you -- Mountain Dew Game Fuel is, at best, an enjoyable diversion, and at worst, isn't entirely offensive.
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At this point I nearly set the jar down and walked away, but since my roommate and his girlfriend were staring at me intently -- no doubt wondering exactly how I scored a job that entailed drinking the liquid embodiment of combustive neon -- I gave into peer pressure. I took a drink.
Remember when my nose warned me of impending burning? Turns out that my nose doesn't lie. Not only does the Horde Red Game Fuel contain the same burning sensation present in all carbonated beverages, it also proudly bears the tart burning sensation present in sour candy. Thankfully that passed after a few seconds, after which I finally tasted the actual drink.
As if to taunt my senses Horde Red Game Fuel tastes nothing like its color would suggest. When you look at it you imagine an orange flavor or perhaps a cherry flavor if you squint and turn your head sideways. What you actually get though is a combination my notes describe as "SUGARRRRR!!!!!" followed by a simple equation of "80% lemon + 15% cherry + 5% pine needles = The antithesis of anything natural."
Despite my notes' seeming confusion and rage over the experience I wasn't entirely put off by the drink, and could definitely see caffeine fans enjoying the stuff while slogging through the wilds of Azeroth.
That was before the aftertaste.
It's one thing to have a drink so proud of its flavor that it seeks to remind you that you drank it for moments after you've actually swallowed the fluid, and it's something else entirely for a beverage to cling to every organic surface in your mouth like an unfit mother terrified that you're here to snatch her babies from her. 15 minutes and a half bottle of water later I finally got the taste out of my mouth, but I remain wary that at any moment I might burp and resurrect the angry ghost of a thousand fluorescent red orcs.
Somewhat cautiously I peered down at my second drink, the Mountain Dew Game Fuel Alliance Blue. Remembering my fondness for all things sugary and azure, I said a short prayer to St. Joe of Bazooka (the patron saint of flavors) and lifted the second jar to my nose.
"Hm," I said to absolutely no one, "this almost smells like ... like ... blue? Yes! This smells like blue!" Realizing I should probably offer a better comparison for those non-synaesthestetics in the audience, I quickly jotted down that the smell reminded me of all those blue candies and frozen treats I loved as a kid. Blue Otter Pops, blue Blow Pops, blue popsicles -- anything blue and sugary has a distinct smell and flavor that our American diet of junk food has ingrained in anyone whose parents weren't of the patchouli and granola set. Hoping this scent might bode well for the drink's flavor, I cautiously drained the jar into my mouth.
Though Alliance Blue shares the sharp initial bite of Horde Red, it fades much more quickly than the latter into something akin to slightly tart blue Kool-Aid. You can definitely taste the Mtn Dew influence in Alliance Blue much more distinctly than in Horde Red and in a surprising twist the former has much less of an aftertaste than its ruby counterpart. Despite my aversion to caffeinated novelty drinks I actually slightly enjoyed this version of the Game Fuel and would recommend it to anyone with a compulsion toward these sorts of marketing gimmicks.
Realistically, if you're the sort of person who drinks Mtn Dew on a regular basis, these beverages are going to appeal to you, if only to try something new and different. Though I was off put by the almost aggressively sugary drinks, regular caffeine junkies will have no problem enjoying the two Game Fuel flavors and those hardcore World of Warcraft fiends have already shelled out cash for much less practical, much more expensive promotional tie-ins -- again, I've got way too many baby polar bears and baby Murlocs clogging my WoW account.
Given how terribly wrong some soft drink experiments have gone in the past -- Crystal Pepsi, I'm looking at you -- Mountain Dew Game Fuel is, at best, an enjoyable diversion, and at worst, isn't entirely offensive.
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