Mountain Dew Pitch Black brings citrus-grape flavour to UK shops

Mountain Dew is bringing Pitch Black to the UK as a citrus-grape soft drink, with an initial launch through Booker in October and a wider retail rollout planned for November 2026. The new UK release comes in a 500ml bottle and pairs dark purple liquid with space-inspired packaging. For shoppers, the key distinction is where to look first: the October phase is tied to Booker, while broader availability is scheduled for next month.

What is Mountain Dew Pitch Black?

Pitch Black combines grape and citrus flavours rather than offering a plain grape soda. Its dark colour and purple-themed pack set it apart visually from the familiar Mountain Dew range. Carlsberg Britvic, the company handling the UK launch, is positioning it as a single-serve choice for people looking beyond the brand’s core flavour.

The drink is being supplied in cases of 12 bottles for retailers. Its 500ml bottles are price-marked at £1.75, giving shoppers an on-pack price to look for as the product reaches stores. Availability may still differ between individual shops during the first stage of the launch: distribution through a wholesaler does not mean every retailer it supplies will stock the drink immediately.

Carlsberg Britvic has given October as the period for Booker availability and November 2026 for the national rollout. It has not announced a single date on which every UK shop will begin selling Pitch Black. Shoppers who do not find it during October may therefore have more options once the wider rollout begins, although the company has not identified which individual chains will carry it.

A new UK launch, not a new flavour worldwide

Pitch Black’s name will be familiar to some Mountain Dew fans outside the UK. The flavour first appeared in the United States as a limited-edition Halloween release in October 2004 and returned in later promotions. The current announcement concerns a UK retail launch; it should not be confused with the flavour’s original debut or taken as an announcement of a new US release.

That history also explains why the product may be described in different ways across markets and earlier releases. For this UK launch, the stated flavour combination is citrus and grape. Carlsberg Britvic has not presented the October release as a reformulation of a particular earlier US bottle, so the shared Pitch Black name alone does not establish that the recipes are identical.

The company says Mountain Dew generated £32.6 million in retail sales value over a recent 52-week period in Great Britain, and that sales rose by more than 11.5% year on year. Those are figures for the Mountain Dew brand, not sales projections or results for Pitch Black. The company is using the addition to give retailers another option within its flavoured soft-drink range.

For independent shops, the launch is accompanied by promotional materials including posters, window graphics and till-screen artwork. Those details are aimed at retailers rather than shoppers, but they indicate how the company plans to introduce the bottle in stores. The practical details for customers remain straightforward: a citrus-grape flavour, a dark purple appearance, a 500ml price-marked bottle, limited initial distribution in October and a wider UK rollout planned for November.