|
Caffeine,
carbonated water, and maltodextrin, among other things,
don’t occur naturally in citrus fruit, so it is homo
sapiens duty to put it there. Many years ago, Pepsico
produced a caffeinated (except in Canada) citrus soft drink
called Mountain
Dew. Since
that pioneering release, the Coca-Cola Company spat forth
Mello
Yello, Cadbury
spawned Sundrop
(which originally had cola in it, but does no longer), Royal
Crown dribbeled forth Kick,
and now the Coca-Cola Company is trying to put a dent in
Mountain Dew’s caffeinated citrus soda domination with
Surge. |
|
They
all contain mucho caffeine, but 12 ounces of any one of them
doesn’t exceed a cup of coffee’s caffeine content.
They also include various amounts of carbohydrates to
increase the calorie count, so shop foolishly. If
you’re out for maximum caffeine (and minimum carbos, as
it turns out), seek out some Diet Sundrop. It’s
distributed regionally, so you’ll have to head toward
Tennessee and northward to find it. For the most caffeine in any soft drink, Jolt still
leads the pack, but, it, too, is not widely available. |
|
Caffeine In 12 ounces |
|
|
beverage |
milligrams of caffeine |
|
Surge |
52.5 |
|
Mello Yello |
52.8 |
|
Mountain Dew |
55 |
|
Sundrop |
60 |
|
Diet Sundrop |
70 |
|
Jolt Cola |
71* |
|
coffee |
120-250 |
*This value was corrected thanks to caffeinated reader Jeremy Martin