Earlier this week, a Mountain Dew collector shared some unhappy information with the Mountain Dew subreddit: An enormous chunk of his assortment of sodas was ruined by a single leaky can. After he shared photographs depicting the aftermath of the leak, which broken a wall and destroyed 60 cans of Mountain Dew Thrashed Apple, a discontinued and sought-after variant, I reached out to the collector in regards to the state of affairs.
For many who aren’t conscious, amassing Mountain Dew is a well-liked interest among the many greatest followers of the soda. On the Dew Drinkers Discord and Mountain Dew subreddit, you may typically spot folks sharing photographs of their collections. As a result of there are such a lot of variants of Mountain Dew and a few of them are rarer than others, amassing all of them, simply the super-rare variations, or just one’s private favorites has grow to be an enormous a part of the group.
A few of these collectors empty the cans and bottles out, displaying them like collectible figurines or items of artwork. However others maintain the liquid within the containers, generally ingesting them years later with combined outcomes. And one among these collectors, West_Yogurtcloset497 on Reddit, had the worst factor occur to him not too long ago when a single, unnoticed leaky can induced a devasting chain response.
A Mountain Dew catastrophe
On March 9, West_Yogurtcloset497—who has been amassing Dew for about three years—checked on his assortment of Mountain Dew cans nonetheless sitting comfortably of their packing containers. What he found was horrible. The packing containers have been soaked and dozens and dozens of cans have been leaking.
“There was a pool of [Mountain Dew] Maui Burst on the ground,” West_Yogurtcloset497 informed Kotaku through DMs. “I believed my cat had peed there. I cleaned it up and went about my day. The following day, the [puddle] was there and I investigated.”
Nevertheless, it wasn’t cat urine that he had discovered. As an alternative, his assortment of Mountain Dew cans have been leaking soda throughout one another and the wall. In keeping with the collector, he’d had most of these cans for a few yr and had been storing them in his room whereas he went to school about two hours away, which made it arduous for him to verify on the gathering. And regardless of preserving the cans upright, a tactic utilized by many collectors to keep away from blowouts attributable to weight crushing the weaker sides of the cans, a leak ruined the whole lot.
“Presumably, one can from the very prime was defective out of the manufacturing unit, and leaked,” defined the collector. “The acid decayed the opposite cans inflicting them to leak, which exponentially killed an increasing number of cans over the months.”
After discovering the soda destruction—the collector says he misplaced about 100 to 125 cans—and cleansing up the sugary mess, West_Yogurtcloset497 posted photographs of what occurred on the Mountain Dew subreddit, including: “PSA Check out your cans regularly and ensure they’re saved accurately.”
Group reactions and the longer term
Within the feedback beneath, folks commiserated with the collector about his loss and shared comparable tales of occasions they have been screwed over by a leaky can or bottle. There have been additionally arugments about how lengthy soda cans can final and if it’s secure to drink them years later. One person replied:
“Again in January 2020 I drank a can of Halo 3 Recreation Gasoline from 2007. It tasted like metallic and obtained flu like signs a day after.”
I requested West_Yogurtcloset497 if he drank any of the leaky cans earlier than throwing them away. “Nah. No telling how lengthy a few of them have been open.” He did strive a few of the cans that survived the Dew-pocalypse and says they have been nonetheless carbonated and tasted “high-quality.”
Fortunately, as a consequence of chilly climate, his room wasn’t stuffed with ants or different bugs and there wasn’t a nasty odor. Nevertheless, he did affirm that his wall is ruined and can should be cleaned and stuck up. As for the longer term, the collector tells me that he’ll proceed to retailer cans, however has discovered a invaluable lesson in how to take action correctly.
“[I won’t] maintain the cans within the packing containers anymore,” mentioned West_Yogurtcloset497. “And ensure to verify on them regularly. I knew cans finally leak, however I had no concept {that a} single leaking can may kill most of my can assortment.”
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