We Tried Mountain Dew Fruit Quake: Should They Bring It Back?

Sure, there have been a lot of exciting new Mountain Dew releases this year (such as the Walmart-exclusive Mountain Dew Dragonfruit), but what about the Mountain Dews of yesteryear? The releases that didn’t stick? I’ve decided to once again crack open my Discontinued Dew Vault. This time, we’re going back to the early 2020s when Mountain Dew celebrated a tradition of releasing a Christmas-themed flavor every holiday season to one of the most polarizing holiday-themed Mountain Dew flavors of all: Fruit Quake.

What is Mountain Dew Fruit Quake?

Mountain Dew Fruit Quake was (as you can probably guess) a fruit cake flavored Mountain Dew. After running through three other different Christmas flavors of Mountain Dew (Merry Mash-Up, Holiday Brew, and Gingerbread Snap’d), Fruit Quake had one limited time in-store release in November of 2022. The run ended and it has not seen the light of day since. Fruit Quake was one of the most polarizing flavors of Mountain Dew that I can remember in recent history—most fans of Mountain Dew either LOVED it or HATED it.

Today, we’ll find out which side of that debate I fall on, as I have a can of 2022 vintage Mountain Dew Fruit Quake for review.

Discontinued Dew Review!

Mountain Dew Fruit Quake (2022) Review

Pros: Mountain Dew Fruit Quake perfectly captures the essence of a fruit cake without what I consider to be everyone’s least favorite part of fruit cake: the texture. It has notes of cranberry and cherry and lots of different spices (ones you’d typically expect in a fruit cake like cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and so on). It’s honestly a wonder why folks were so hard on this flavor. I think it has a stereotypical “holiday punch” vibe to it in the best way possible. The mixing potential with this flavor feels limitless, too. I’ve also got to shout out the incredible artwork on this can, which features a vehicle that has literal fruit cakes for wheels and a fruit cake road.

Cons: I’d almost like to see the folks at Mountain Dew lean even heavier into the spices. The spice flavor is great and making it heavier might make the drink even more polarizing, but I think it has the potential to make a great holiday flavor of Mountain Dew even better.

Credit: Liv Averett / Dollar General

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Verdict: BRING IT BACK!

I think it’s high time that Mountain Dew starts spreading Christmas cheer again. We need another holiday-themed flavor of Mountain Dew on the shelves to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’d love to see Fruit Quake have another shot at it.