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The Cavalcade and Nerd Lunch dine like kings on the KFC Double Down

Here we all are. Part 3 of my road trip to Tallhassee to visit my blogging brother Carlin Trammel of Nerd Lunch. After experiencing the religious experience that is the Tallhassee Auto Museum, we decided that while our spiritual selves are full, our physical selves are now empty. What do we do to replenish our famished bodies?

I’ll tell you what we do. We go to KFC and dine like victorious gladiators on Double Downs. Tonight, we dine IN HELL!!! (or a ghetto KFC; 6 of one, half a dozen of another)

You should know, right before this trip, I found out KFC has started offering a 64 ounce (one half gallon) Mega Jug of soda. So, being the bad ass that I am, I decided I needed to drink one. And since I was going to be at KFC anyway I needed to order a Double Down in order to have something the 64 ounces of soda could wash down into my gullet. So Carlin and I swagger into KFC like gunfighters prepared to place our manly orders in very loud voices so everyone would know that some sh*t was about to go down. Maybe they might want to evacuate the women and children.

I cooly glance up at the menu for dramatic effect, and I don’t see either the Double Down or the Mega Jug. What? No Double Down? Holy balls. I am going to have to burn this joint TO THE GROUND. Que Wolverine Berzerker Rage. Right before I start tossing tables and bustin’ skulls, Carlin suggests I just ask if they have it. I struggle to comprehend what Carlin means by his crazy talk. Why would that work? So I ask the lady if they still have the Double Down and Mega Jug soda fully expecting to punch her in the face when she denies me.

Punch

She says yes, narrowly escaping the Five Fingers of Doom, heads into the back for like 5 minutes and when she comes back she hands me the biggest cup I’ve ever seen in my life. I pay for my goods and try to put soda into what can only be described as a bucket.

Check this out. The Mega Jug takes up THREE SPOTS on the soda fountain. That would make getting a suicide easier. So, I sit there for about 10 minutes while I fill the bucket up with Diet Pepsi. Then I become concerned because I’m not entirely sure a human bladder is designed to house 64ozs of Diet Pepsi.

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Mt Dew Pitch Black’s Glorious Return to Store Shelves

Posted in Mountain Dew, Pepsi, pop culture, soda with tags Mountain Dew, Pepsi, pop culture, soda, sodapalooza on May 23, 2011 by Paxton

Back in March I mentioned that Pepsi was re-releasing the original Mt Dew Pitch Black to store shelves this Memorial Day. I was surprised they weren’t going to do it for Halloween, but whatever, that means we get Pitch Black back into our lives and there’s nothing more important than having that Black Grapey goodness back inside me.

Well, you may have heard the girlish screams coming from Jacksonville this weekend, because I found brand new 12 packs of the 2011 Pitch Black.

As a matter of fact, I’m drinking one of them right now. And it’s delicious. It tastes exactly as I remember. Mt Dew citrus + black grape = toe curling awesomeness. And the design of the 12 pack/cans are nearly identical to the original release. Pepsi really only updated the logo. Check it out compared to the original Pitch Blacks I and II (left to right).

I love that they kept the design of the can so close to the original. Even including the silver Limited Edition label.

I thought I would let another, possibly more impartial, person taste the new drink to see if it is, in fact, still tasty. In a bid for parent of the year, I decided the impartial judge will be my 8 month old son, PJ. He was certainly up to the task and tore into the can like he was Teen Wolf and Pitch Black was a can of beer.

I’m sure Pepsi will be thrilled that they passed the “8 month old boy” taste test with flying colors.

Like I said, it tastes awesome and I look forward to finishing my 12 pack. I’m going to stock up on these like a case of fine French Bordeaux because I don’t know how long they’ll be around. Maybe Pepsi plans on re-releasing Pitch Black II later in the year? We’ll see. Hopefully Pitch Black can be an annual release every year much like Cranberry Sierra Mist (which is also awesome).

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Mt Dew Pitch Black to return in 2011

Posted in Mountain Dew, Pepsi, pop culture, soda with tags Mountain Dew, Pepsi, pop culture, soda, sodapalooza on March 14, 2011 by Paxton

Yes, according to Mt Dew on Facebook, the fan favorite Mt Dew Pitch Black from Halloween 2004 is returning to store shelves in 2011. Being a soda dork this, for me, is like the announcement of another Back to the Future movie or The Fat Boys releasing a new album. This is EPIC.

I reviewed all three of the different iterations of Mt Dew Pitch black in my AWESOME-tober-fest 2008 article here.

Here are some pics of the original Pitch Black:

Box from a 12 pack of Pitch Black cans

Label from a 20oz bottle of Pitch Black.

ICEE version of Mt Dew Pitch Black sold in Target during Halloween 2007.

(via xpectations)
The fairly rare Canadian Pitch Black which was caffeine free. The Pitch Black in the states, as far as I know, was not offered without caffeine.

(via Valeri-DBF)
Mt Dew Pitch Black as a lip balm. For the last few years, this was the only way you could get Pitch Black. Notice that it uses the newer Mt Dew logo (well, newer than the 2004 cans and bottles).

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New Coke turns 25 years old this month

Posted in 80s, Coca Cola, New Coke, pop culture, soda with tags Coca Cola, New Coke, pop culture, soda, sodapalooza on April 28, 2010 by Paxton

Coca-Cola officially released New Coke on April 23, 1985. Which makes it 25 years old this month. Hard to believe that whole reformulating Coke debacle was over two decades ago. I was eleven years old.

Go back and read about the history of that troubled beverage in my 3 part retrospective on New Coke called Misunderstood.

Let’s take a look at some “New Coke” commercials.

This commercial was originally for regular Coke, but was changed after the release of New Coke. It features the slogan Coke Is It! I’ve always liked that jingle.

Bill Cosby was one of the big celebrities who helped launch New Coke. Here he is introducing the reformulated Coke in 1985.

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Reviews of 5 brand new sodas in stores now

Posted in Mountain Dew, Pepsi, reviews, soda with tags Mountain Dew, Pepsi, reviews, soda, sodapalooza on April 27, 2010 by Paxton

There have been some new soda flavor releases recently. I’ve picked up a bunch of them and I’m going to review them for you right now.

Mt Dew is back doing the whole Dewmocracy voting thing. If you remember, back in 2008 Mountain Dew released three test market flavors nationwide (SuperNova, Voltage and Revolution) and had people vote on which one became the new permanent Mt Dew flavor. This resulted in Mt Dew Voltage winning a permanent spot on the nation’s shelves. Well, Mt Dew is doing this whole thing again with three new flavors for us to try and vote on. They were released to stores this April and they are Mt Dew Distortion, Mt Dew White Out and Mt Dew Typhoon. Let’s see if they are any good.

Mt Dew Distortion – This flavor is a lime-blasted Mt Dew. The taste is very similar to the Taco Bell exclusive Mt Dew Baja Blast. This Dew is a little bit more bitter on the aftertaste than Baja Blast, mainly because Baja Blast has pineapple in its flavor to tone that down. I like lime, I like Mt Dew, so I like this flavor. However, the coloring and label are too similar to the original Dew and it doesn’t stand out enough for me. A good flavor that may get lost in the shuffle.

Mt Dew White Out – Unlike Distortion, this flavor does stand out. The bright white and blue packaging and disconcertingly white liquid color make this stand out from the drink cooler in every way. How is the taste? Well, it’s labeled as a “smooth citrus” Dew and it doesn’t lie, it is definitely smooth tasting. A light, sweet Dew with very little aftertaste. I’m just wondering how this smooth citrus is different than the regular Dew citrus? Once again, confusion with the existing brand. I can see this getting votes on it’s mild taste and eye-catching design.

Mt Dew Typhoon – This is a tropical Punch infused Mountain Dew. I love the blue/red color combination and the bright red liquid color (but, that too is very similar to Mt Dew Code Red). The taste is very good. It has a nice fruit punch flavor that works well with the normal Mt Dew citrus. The taste actually reminds me of the limited edition Halo 3 Mt Dew Game Fuel from 2008. I would say that this is my favorite flavor so far, with White Out second and Distortion a close third. However, unless they make these in diet, I really won’t be drinking them. Which is a shame, because I like all three of these flavors. I actually think all of these flavors are much better than the Diet Mt Dew UltraViolet they released last fall. If they made any of these in diet I would regularly drink it.