Kickapoo Joy Juice

I was immediately drawn in by the name of this beverage – Kickapoo Joy Juice. At first I thought maybe it was a tie-in to the failed Tenacious D film where Jack Black's character sings about being from Kickapoo with Meatloaf and Dio (This Song), but I did a little research and found that it is a tie-in, but to Lil' Abner, a popular comic strip from the 30s to the 50s. Huh? Let's take a look at sample of Lil' Abner.

LOL?

I don't get it either, but apparently the then-popular comic included two redneck poachers named (sigh) Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat, who were known for making their moonshine-like slurry known as Joy Juice. The creator of the comic strip, Andy Capp, also popular for making Andy Capp's Hot Fries, made a deal with a soft drink company instead of a liquor company, and the rest is history.

Appearance -

The bottle shows our good pals Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat (why is he lonesome when he's got Joe by his side?) toasting to another fine batch of Kickapoo Joy Juice. Great work fellas. They also inform us that this is the “Original Dogpatch Recipe.” Thank God because nothing gets my goat worse than a bunch of Dogpatch phonies trying to make a profit off us rubes. Finally, instead of an expiration date like all beverages are required to have (they've been making this since 1965, so I have no idea how old this actually is), there's a simple message explaining that “Kickapoo is Good 4 U.” Bad grammar and, at 45g sugar per bottle, an outright lie. Don't try to pull the wool over my face, Mr. Abner.

Smell/First Sip -

Smells like Mello Yello or Mountain Dew. Something tells me that's what it's going to taste like. (sips) Even

better/worse: it tastes like one of those grocery store knockoff brands of Mountain Dew that just didn't quite get the recipe right. Like my favorite knock-off: Mountain Holler. Sure they tried to get the formula right, but it's just not up to par with the original. I have a few more sips and notice a very low carbonation and almost metallic taste. If cheap were a taste, this would taste cheap.

Drinkability -

The novelty of it is fun. It's got a silly name, two rednecks toasting on the bottle and could be a great collector's item for all you Lil' Abner fans (anyone? anyone?), but in the world of delicious Mountain Dew available at pretty much every store in America, why would I go out of my way to search for a lesser-quality Dew knockoff? Sorry Kickapoo, you're neither a joy nor a juice.

Overall – Kickapoo is a one and done for me...until they perfect their dogpatch formula.