Will the Mountain Dew and Trolli crossover worm its way into your heart?

Many, many years ago when I first got my driver’s license, I would drive over to the bank to deposit my paycheck from my job working at the public library, take out some cash and then head over to Wegmans where I’d inevitably buy a soda and a candy bar. A few years after that, I’d often start my shift at CVS by buying a soda and a candy bar.

What I’m trying to say here is that pairing a soda and a candy bar is like breathing to me. You buy one, you buy the other. (Am I supposed to drink water with my Snickers bar?) That’s just how the world works.

The folks over at Mountain Dew and Trolli understand this symbiotic relationship, teaming up to bring the world Mountain Dew Zero Sugar x Trolli Cherry Lemon and Trolli x Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers. (One is a Mountain Dew that tastes like Trolli gummi worms and the other are Trolli gummi worms that taste like Mountain Dew.) Don’t ever let anyone tell you we can’t still innovate in the year 2025.

Should we follow the advice of the tagline for this promotion and “Dew the Worm. Do the Dew”?

What they cost

I paid $6 for the Mountain Dew at Walmart (where it’s an exclusive), and it looks like the Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers are going for $3.79 on sites like Walmart and Target.

My thoughts

This might be the silliest packaging I’ve ever seen on a flavor of Mountain Dew. Look at those Trolli worms. What a bunch of goofballs. What the packaging for Mountain Dew Zero Sugar x Trolli Cherry Lemon is missing, though, is the usual large “Zero Sugar” branding that we see on flavors like, well, Mountain Dew Zero Sugar or Mountain Dew Baja Blast Zero Sugar. I’ve seen some complaints online that not only is the Trolli Mountain Dew not available in Zero Sugar format, it’s kind of hard to tell that this version is Zero Sugar itself.

But, hey, I’m happy that it’s Zero Sugar. My fingers are crossed that Taco Bell and Pepsi eventually introduce a Zero Sugar of Mountain Dew Baja Midnight.

“Mountain Dew is always innovating bold new flavors, making Trolli the ideal partner for a one-of-a-kind mashup. Together, we’ve combined two iconic brands to create the perfect sweet and sour taste experience that's truly irresistible,”  Michael Smith, VP of Flavored CSD Marketing, PepsiCo Beverages U.S. said in a statement. “We’re taking everything fans love about the Trolli Cherry Lemon Sour Brite Crawlers and translating that into a refreshing zero sugar experience that’s bursting with citrus kick flavor.”

Despite the fact that the Trolli Mountain Dew is supposed to be cherry/lemon flavored, I was instantly hit with a very specific flavor profile from childhood: Kool-Aid. Fruit punch Kool-Aid?

I offered my glass to my wife, and she confirmed that, yes, Trolli Mountain Dew invokes memories of Kool-Aid. It’s good, but whatever alchemy of cherry and lemon flavors they used over at the Mountain Dew factory (which I liked to believe is housed in an actual mountain) wound up coming together to create something different.

Also, if you’re like me and were hoping that the Trolli Mountain Dew’s cherry flavor would be close to finally getting Code Red in a Zero Sugar format, no such luck. This is its own distinct thing.

While the Mountain Dew half of this collaboration tried to go in a cherry/lemon direction, the Trolli Sour Brite Crawlers half is meant to invoke three flavors of Mountain Dew.

“Trolli stands for taking bold risks and creating unexpected flavor experiences, and pairing with Mountain Dew delivers on our consumers’ love of daring to think differently,” Chad Womack, brand director at Trolli, said. “When you combine the signature citrus kick of Mountain Dew with our soft, chewy sour gummy candy texture, you get something truly next-level tasty. These Trolli crawlers deliver that unmistakable Mountain Dew taste in a completely new way that’s going to surprise and delight fans of both brands.”

That “signature citrus kick of Mountain Dew” comes in Original Citrus, Original Citrus Cherry and Original Citrus Blue Raspberry. I’m pretty sure those three flavors are meant to invoke classic Mountain Dew, Mountain Dew Code Red and Mountain Dew High Voltage.

I’ve actually found myself eating more sour candy lately than I usually do, perhaps having my interest sparked by the Sour Skittles Gummies that I got along with my shipment of Skittles Gummies Fuego.

When it comes to gummi worms, my palette apparently isn’t refined enough to fully taste the difference between the three varieties of Mountain Dew Brite Crawlers. Maybe the blue one is a bit more sour? And maybe there’s a touch of cherry in the red one? They’re pretty addictive, though, I found myself repeatedly reaching back into the bag of them in front of me while I wrote up this review. I often find Sour Patch Kids to be sour to the point where I can’t keep eating them without becoming worried that I’m eroding the inside of my cheek, but that wasn’t the case with the Mountain Dew Trolli gummi worms.

Snack score

Mountain Dew Zero Sugar x Trolli Cherry Lemon: 🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)
Trolli x Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers: 🍪🍪🍪🍪 (4 out of 5 cookies)

All in all, this is a successful partnership, bringing together two brands that are known for having fun when it comes to new flavors. I’m happy that I tracked down the Mountain Dew Zero Sugar x Trolli Cherry Lemon soda — complete with its unintentional Kool-Aid throwback flavor — but I don’t think it’s a variety that I’d keep stocked at home. As for the Trolli x Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers, they’re a strong contender for becoming my go-to pick if I’m looking for sour candy at a gas station.

Trolli x Mountain Dew Sour Brite Crawlers were provided to Snackology for this independent review.