Mello Yello vs. Mountain Dew: Differences & Which Is Better?
Both refreshing and energizing, Mello Yello and Mountain Dew can do a great job on a hot summer day or if you want a little summer during the winter. Sweet, zingy, and bubbly, both these drinks are known to contain significant amounts of caffeine and sugar. So, how are Mello Yello and Mountain Dew different, and which is better?
Mello Yello is owned by the Coca-Cola Company, while Mountain Dew is by PepsiCo, Inc. Mountain Dew contains more caffeine and sugar than Mello Yello. Mello Yello contains real orange juice, which Mountain Dew lacks. Mello Yello has a brighter color, while Mountain Dew is a bit dimmer.
While both are beloved by many and consumed in huge quantities daily, as similar as they are, Mello Yello and Mountain Dew are still different drinks. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the differences between Mello Yello and Mountain Dew, their nutritional value, ownership, and varieties.
Mello Yello Vs. Mountain Dew: Differences
Mello Yello and Mountain Dew differ in more than one way. They are products of two different companies, their compositions are different, and as similar as they taste, their flavors are different too.
Ownership
Mello Yello is owned by the Coca-Cola Company, while Mountain Dew is owned by PepsiCo. Both drinks are rivals; in fact, Mello Yello was introduced to rival Mountain Dew, making Mountain Dew the older one.
Taste
Because Mountain Dew is richer in sugars, it is sweeter-tasting than Mello Yello. Mello Yello is known for containing real orange juice, and therefore it has a stronger orange taste than Mountain Dew. On the other hand, Mountain Dew has a more lemony flavor due to the higher amounts of citric acid.
Both drinks are carbonated, which makes them zingy and fizzy with a nice kick due to the caffeine they contain. Both are sweet and refreshing and highly energizing.
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Variety of Products
Both Mello Yello and Mountain Dew come in various flavors and have diet counterparts. Mello Yello comes in cheery, peach, melon, grape, orange, redd, limeade, raspberry peach, strawberry orange, and citrus twist flavors. These flavors also come as a diet variant of the drink, containing zero sugar.
Mountain Dew comes in similar flavors as Mello Yello. Its varieties include orange, grape, melon, citrus, and raspberry. Mountain Dew’s flavors also come as diet variants, containing zero sugar.
Package Sizes
Well-adjusted for the consumers’ needs, both Mello Yello and Mountain Dew come in different sizes to accommodate the more and less thirsty.
You can find Mello Yello in different bottle sizes, 20 or 24 oz, as well as in 16 oz cans. You can also get them in bulk of four, six, or eight packs.
Mountain Dew comes in 16 or 20 oz sizes and 16 oz cans. You can buy multipacks of four, six, or eight packs.
Since Mountain Dew and Mello Yello are also available to buy on Amazon, there’s an even wider choice of packaging and number of bottles, or can you can purchase in a multipack.
Nutrition
Mello Yello and Mountain Dew are carbonated fizzy drinks containing significant amounts of sugar. Mountain Dew contains more sugar than Mello Yello, but not by much. [1] [2]
They both contain caffeine, whereby Mountain Dew contains a slightly more significant amount than Mello Yello. Still, the caffeine amount they contain isn’t that high compared to a Starbucks coffee of the same size. However, since it is natural for coffee to contain larger amounts of caffeine than a soda drink, the caffeine amounts in Mello Yello and Mountain Dew are far from negligible.
Both drinks contain citric acid, whereby Mountain Dew contains concentrated orange juice, and Mello Yello has been known to contain natural orange juice.
Mello Yello Vs. Mountain Dew: Which Is Better?
Since they both have similar tastes and colors, to say which is better based solely on that wouldn’t be accurate, as it all comes down to personal preference.
However, if we discuss them from a nutritional point of view, the odds would be slightly more inclined toward Mello Yello. What tips the scale is the lower sugar and caffeine amounts and the natural orange juice contained in Mello Yello.
Still, that doesn’t mean that Mountain Dew is a low-quality drink; on the contrary. The differences between Mountain Dew and Mello Yello are very subtle, which is why they have managed to gather such a large fan base and stay on the market as long as they have.
Did Mello Yello or Mountain Dew Come First?
Mountain Dew was developed in the 40s, while Mello Yello originated in the ’70s. Mountain Dew was created by Barney and Ally Hartman as a drink to mix with alcoholic beverages. Later, they sold the rights of Mountain Dew to Tip Corporation, which Pepsi bought in the 60s, acquiring the rights to Mountain Dew.
Since then, Mountain Dew has been a Pepsi product, while the Coca-Cola Company developed Melly Yello as a Mountain Dew rival in the 70s.
What Soda Is Similar to Mountain Dew?
There are many soda drinks similar to Mountain Dew. There’s Mountain Breeze, known as an off-brand Mountain Dew. Other brands include Mountain Loin, Mountain Drops, Fountain Mist, Mountain Yello, and many other similar-tasting sodas.
