Mountain Dew was a whiskey mixer that became a billion-dollar soft drink

In the 1930s, Tennessee soft drink bottlers Barney and Ally Hartman could not find a lemon-lime soda they liked to mix with their Old Taylor Kentucky bourbon. They decided to create their own. In the 1940s, they developed a clear, highly carbonated citrus-flavored soda that they called Mountain Dew — a slang term for moonshine. The drink was intended exclusively as a mixer for whiskey.

The Hartman brothers trademarked the formula in 1948 but could not turn it into a successful standalone product. The drink was too niche — it was a mixer, not a thirst-quenching soda. They sold the formula to Tip Corporation of Marion, Virginia, which hired beverage chemist Bill Bridgforth to reformulate it. The new version, launched in 1961, was sweeter and more carbonated, designed to be drank on its own.

In 1964, Pepsi-Cola acquired the Mountain Dew brand from Tip Corporation for an undisclosed sum. PepsiCo invested heavily in marketing, positioning Mountain Dew as an extreme, high-energy drink for young people. The 'Do the Dew' campaign of the 1990s turned it into one of the most recognizable soft drink brands in the world.

Today, Mountain Dew is one of the best-selling soft drinks globally, with dozens of flavor variants and a loyal fan base. The brand generates billions in annual revenue for PepsiCo. A drink created because two brothers could not find a mixer for their bourbon had become a global beverage empire.