Tag: Mystery Flavor

REVIEW: Limited Edition 2022 Mtn Dew VooDEW

Marvo 30 Comments

Limited Edition 2022 Mtn Dew VooDEW Bottle

It’s specDEWlation time! It’s the annual Mtn Dew VooDEW Mystery Flavor Guessing Game! If the previous three years are hints, it’ll be candy. In 2019, it was candy corn. In 2020, it was Skittles-like. In 2021, it was Starburst-like. In 2022… it’s, well, let’s find out.

First off, this smells like Skittles. But there’s no way VooDEW will taste like original Skittles for a second time, right?

So it’s sour, and I taste lemon and some berry, which got me thinking it might be Sour Skittles. Or it could be Sour Patch Kids, although now that I think about it, it might not be because it’s not as sour, and the lemon and berry flavors don’t remind me of the candy. Um, kind of wondering if it could be Lemonheads and, um, Berry Lemonheads? Are berry Lemonheads a thing, and are Lemonheads considered a Halloween candy?

Sour and fruity. Kind of thinking it might taste like a roll of Smarties. It’s a standard Halloween candy because I remember getting it as a kid and putting it in the unwanted candy pile after a night of Trick-or-Treating. They’re usually given out by heartless people. That’s still the case, right? Let me think about what else this could be. Extra caffeine is needed beyond the 91 milligrams in this bottle to help me think. SweeTarts?

Limited Edition 2022 Mtn Dew VooDEW Pour

All right. After pondering, I will base my guess mostly on how it smells. I believe this year’s Mtn Dew VooDEW Mystery Flavor is…Sour Skittles. Oh crap! I forgot to hide my guess using primitive cryptography in the paragraphs above. Argh!

While I’m not 100 percent sure what this year’s VooDEW tastes like, I do know this is one tasty Dew. I love the 2020 version that tasted like Skittles and this one equally. I also love the sourness and how it reminds me of Mtn Dew Pitch Black (which is rumored to return this year).

Limited Edition 2022 Mtn Dew VooDEW History

I hope Mtn Dew never stops with the mystery flavors. It would sadden me if they did quit like other brands.

NOTE: This year’s VooDEW is also available in a Zero Sugar version.

Purchased Price: More than anyone should pay for a bottle of soda
Size: 20 oz bottle
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 270 calories, 0 grams of fat, 95 milligrams of sodium, 72 grams of carbohydrates, 72 grams of sugar (including 72 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Fanta What The Fanta Mystery Flavor

Jenna 26 Comments

Fanta What The Fanta Mystery Flavor Bottle

I should start off by explaining/apologizing for how, when I recently finished a thriller whose twist ending blew my mind, I was quickly informed by online reviews that I was the only person in the world who hadn’t seen it coming by the third page. Please bear that in mind when I tell you that I had no idea what to make of my first sip of Fanta’s What The Fanta Mystery Flavor. It smelled like Marshmallow Fruity Pebbles, looked like dishwasher detergent, and tasted like a sudden inability to remember a single other flavor to which I could compare it.

After a few addled attempts, I realized that it reminded me of Fresca, the zero-calorie drink known to me throughout my childhood as equally for its sparklingly synthetic taste as for its inexplicable presence at every gathering my dad’s side of the family ever held. Fresca was grapefruit-flavored, but I don’t think the same can be said of this blue beauty. I don’t drink much sugar-free soda, so that was just one of my few frames of reference for the bright, biting, and ever-so-uncannily artificial flavor that overwhelmed any other tastes I might detect here.

Still, “fruit of some sort” seemed like a promising start, and I kicked into detective mode to find more leads.

My first clue was a message on the bottle that read, appropriately, “Find Clues: #WhatTheFanta.” Attempting to follow those directions immediately led to me drowning in a sea of disgruntled Twitter users comparing this soda’s taste, with varying degrees of tact, to a rear end. (Fortunately, another recurring guess was the way more helpful — not to mention plausible — “orange creamsicle”).

Eventually, I made my way to Fanta.com, an oasis of information where, for the price of my email address and birthday, I was granted access to a secret world by way of QR code.

Spoilers ahead!

Fanta What The Fanta Mystery Flavor Glass

The QR code transports you to a mysterious website where you’re greeted by an array of images: first, there is just an innocuous blue Fanta bottle, which quickly reconfigures itself into an ice cream truck, a weird bluish blob that I initially parsed as an octopus but eventually realized was probably meant to be a stylized scoop of ice cream, an ice cream cone (okay, I thought I got it!!!), an ear of corn (never mind, I was confused again!!!), a carrot, a traffic cone, and finally some sort of reddish donkey-thing.

The three pieces of ice cream imagery and the two iconically orange items lend a lot of credence to the orange creamsicle theory, but I must admit I still have no idea how the corn or donkey play into it. I guess if the cerulean color for an ostensibly orange flavor is any indication, Fanta isn’t above throwing in a few red (or blue) herrings (or donkeys).

So, that’s the mystery of the flavor resolved (probably). What about the resolution of this review? Unfortunately, the tinny tang that comes along with the “zero sugar” label meant that I regrettably found the QR code caper more compelling than the actual beverage that inspired it. Drink this if you’re thirsty for a good case to crack, but perhaps not if you’re thirsty for a good soda.

Update: We also tried the Burger King Frozen What The Fanta! Click here to read our review.

Purchased Price: $2.19
Size: 20 oz
Purchased at: Wawa
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 bottle) 0 calories, 0 grams of fat, 65 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert

Sean 22 Comments

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Tub

Mystery flavor Doritos in plain silver bags marked only with test numbers. Mystery flavor Mtn Dew VooDEW that creeps around for Halloween. That one time Oreo made a mystery flavor that turned out to be Fruity Pebbles with a chocolate cookie. These are some of the many notable mysteries in junk food history, and to kick off the new year, we have a game-changing mystery on our hands — mystery ice cream.

Never, in all my years of scooping, have I heard of a mystery flavor ice cream. For 2022, Turkey Hill invites customers to grab this 48-ounce container of its finest frozen dairy dessert, scan the QR code (or visit www.turkeyhill.com/mysteryflavor), and try their hand at solving the creamy puzzle for a chance to win free Turkey Hill ice cream for life. If you want to go down this rabbit hole yourself, it’s time to turn away because detective Sean has arrived, and it’s spoiler season.

Technically this isn’t ice cream. Due to its lower milk fat content, it’s considered frozen dairy dessert, but I’ll refer to it as ice cream in this review because that’s how most people view it. Since it’s lower fat and far lighter than anything with any premium tag attached, the texture is a bit airy and fluffy. Although fluffed out, it has a decently lush mouthfeel, with a smooth creaminess that intensifies the more it tempers. Sometimes frozen dairy desserts have a wateriness and lack any depth of flavor, but that’s not the case here, and I’m pleasantly surprised.

So what IS the flavor?

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Top

It’s a bit of a letdown. It’s a white base with a blueberry swirl, and that’s it. When I say “white base,” I mean that it’s kind of hard to nail down because it’s not jumping out with anything notable. Again, it has a pretty decent mouthfeel that reminds me of something richer than it is, like cream cheese or even cheesecake, but it isn’t too tangy. It’s also not floral like a proper vanilla bean, so the base flavor lacks character beyond its surprising texture.

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Top 2

The swirl is just okay. Slightly tart with a fruit-meets-candy blueberry taste that reminds me a bit of Pop-Tarts without going fully processed. My issue with the swirl isn’t in the taste though, it’s in the quantity and texture. There isn’t nearly enough of it, both in terms of density and actual thickness, to bring any real textural character to the decent but un-exciting base. There are some denser pockets towards the middle of the container, but in those thicker slabs, a more noticeable iciness comes through, a common problem with fruity swirls that take away from the smoothness.

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Middle

So the answer to the mystery is — blueberry? Maybe blueberry cheesecake? Blueberries and cream? Having only one swirl is a massive missed opportunity from Turkey Hill to make something more complex and fun. Add in a graham cracker swirl and a slightly more complex base and this could be a fantastic low cal Blueberry Cheesecake. Amplify the vanilla and add in a regular crust or streusel swirl and it’s an excellent Blueberry Pie a La Mode. But as it stands? It’s a really fun idea that falls flat to deliver on the excitement it promised via the cool and mysterious magnifying glass on the carton.

Turkey Hill Mystery Flavor Frozen Dairy Dessert Scoop

Update 3/16/22: The mystery has been revealed. Turkey Hill announced that the mystery flavor is…Blueberry Pancake.

DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from Turkey Hill. Doing so did not influence my review.

Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 48 ounces
Purchased at: Received from Turkey Hill
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (2/3 cup, 90g) 150 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 95 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 21 grams of total sugars, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW

Holly 71 Comments

Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW Cam

“This is, as you may recognize, a review for a mystery flavor beverage. That means the author will most likely try to explain what flavor they experienced and it might influence you to taste that flavor. If you don’t want to be spoiled, turn back now. Consider this your spoiler alert warning. Otherwise, proceed with caution or you might just be the next person in The Impulsive Buy Zone.”

-Rod Sterling (probably)

Normally when I write reviews, I will do extensive history searches for the item(s), but I wanted to go in absolutely blind with this. Googling anything risked me being spoiled.

Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW Grim

The first thing that caught my eye was the can’s design. Despite being a Halloween item, the cool blues and yellow accent felt oddly out of place. The art with the grim reaper looks very cool with lots of little easter eggs of the number 3 all over. Mtn Dew has nailed a really cool and cohesive brand design these past few years.

Opening it and taking a sniff, I was slapped with (what my brain perceived to be) fruit punch smell. Taking a sip, however, yielded a whole other experience. The initial sip was a sugar shock. I don’t drink a ton of sugary beverages, so when I do it takes my taste buds a few seconds to move past the first sugar rush. After a moment, I was able to start working through the flavor. It was so familiar and at the tip of my tongue.

I poured the rest into a cup with ice and sipped it while trying to distract myself. It was here that I noticed its cloudy white color. The lack of color made my brain even more confused as to what it was tasting. I figured if I wasn’t actively TRYING to figure it out, it would come to me. Then, as if I discovered a new element, I exclaimed, “BLUE RASPBERRY!”

After being more or less sure of this, I sought out some history on the previous versions of this mystery beverage. The first release in 2019 was revealed to be candy corn and 2020 was fruit candy explosion (Skittles). It was also then that I learned the packaging had given hints in previous years as to what the flavor was with its color scheme.

Limited Edition 2021 Mtn Dew VooDEW Glass

Once again, I had an epiphany: the flavor is blue raspberry taffy. Three reasons I believe this to be right: The pattern of the flavors seem to be candy, the can itself is supposed to give a hint (and it’s blue raspberry blue), and going with the theme of three’s the name Blue Raspberry Taffy is three words. Okay, the last reason might be a little odd but I’m sticking with the pattern of threes here.

My only real complaint is that initial overpowering sweetness, but that’s totally a me thing. Putting it over ice allowed me to really taste the flavor, not just the sugar. I’m so excited to see more people try and share what they taste because I just know that it’s probably going to be all over the board. However, we’ll find out on October 31st what the flavor is from Mtn Dew. I will save a can to (hopefully) cheers my being right.

Purchased Price: $4.98 (12-pack)
Size: 12 oz can
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 can) 160 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 44 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Yoplait Go-Gurt Mystery Flavor

Mike 9 Comments

Yoplait has introduced a mystery flavor Go-Gurt. A staple of school lunches everywhere, I applaud Yoplait’s efforts to add some mystery and wonder for kids who bring home lunches. Why should kids who line up for the cafeteria’s Tuna Surprise be the only ones to question what they’re really eating?

Yogurt is so ubiquitous on supermarket shelves these days that younger readers may not know how much of a fringe food it once was. The only person who knew about it was your granola-eating aunt, who maybe smelled a bit weird. These days she’s busy brewing her own CBD-infused kombucha. It certainly wasn’t something kids would want to eat.

However, load it with sugar, artificial flavoring, and put it in a fun delivery mechanism, and kids will love it! And parents will think it’s a healthy treat. Which is all to say that Go-Gurt was an innovative product when it was first introduced.

I haven’t seen a tube of yogurt in my lunch since grade school, so I don’t know what to expect from this. The white color doesn’t aid me in guessing the mystery flavor, which is frustrating because I’m going to need all the help I can get. I squeeze some out onto a spoon and am surprised to see that there’s enough modified corn starch and gelatin to keep its tubular shape. I take a taste and ponder the mystery.

Mint cotton candy?

Gosh, I’m bad at this. It’s not a typical fruity flavor, so I’m at a loss for a few moments, then it hits me: bubblegum! My pack-a-week gum habit saves me! It’s odd to have a flavor so specific to one product in another, but I’m fairly sure of my guess. I’m also sure that it doesn’t work as a yogurt. There’s not enough tang to balance out the taste, so it seems flat.

These days the market is crowded with a multitude of yogurt options, from Greek to Icelandic to Bulgarian, and even kids varieties tend to claim they’re organic, or with less sugar, or naturally flavored, or something. I’m a bit confused but also impressed that the full sugar Franken-yogurt of my childhood has lasted this long. But then again, what is yogurt but milk persevering?

I tried the Strawberry flavor as well, which tasted more like the yogurt I remember. Go-Gurt is a solid product, but the bubblegum(?) flavor doesn’t work as a yogurt flavor.

Purchased Price: $3.96
Size: 32 oz box (16 tubes)
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (3 tubes) 150 calories, 1 gram of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, less than 5 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 22 grams of sugar, 18 grams of added sugar, and 6 gram of protein.

Click here to read our previous mystery flavor product reviews.