Dr. Pepper Made With SUGAR!

I am what you may call a long time, die hard Dr. Pepper fan. Dr. Pepper has been my favorite kind of soda since the first time I tried it, as a child at a fast food restaurant while on vacation with my family. My brother and I were only allowed to drink pop without caffeine at the time, and my mom mistakenly thought there was no caffeine in Dr. Pepper. I was hooked from then on! I've been famous among all of my friends and acquaintances for my love of Dr. Pepper. In fact, at every job I've had, when there was a gift giving occasion, at least one co-worker gave me a case of Dr. Pepper.

One day I read about Dublin Dr. Pepper. I don't understand all the rules of bottling companies, but here's as much as I understand: A bottling company in Dublin, Texas was one of the first to bottle Dr. Pepper. Bottling companies for a large company like Dr. Pepper were independently owned and were each allowed to sell, and profit from, the soda they made, within in a certain radius. In the 1970's and 80's, most companies began using high fructose corn syrup in their products instead of actual sugar. There were a few holdovers, including the Dublin Dr. Pepper company. The Dublin company used their use of real sugar as a marketing point, which ended up drawing in more business than just within the radius they were allowed to sell it in. People were even able to order Dublin Dr. Pepper through the mail. I did it a few times, and it was pretty awesome!

The Dr. Pepper company created a new "Heritage Dr. Pepper" that used its use of real sugar in their marketing plan, although they used beet sugar instead of cane sugar. It didn't take off as planned. So they ended up suing Dublin Dr. Pepper and stopping them from selling any Dr. Pepper outside of their allotted area, including through the mail. I read one article that said you can still buy Dublin Dr. Pepper in at the bottling company, under the name "Dublin Original." I must someday get to Dublin, Texas!

Anyway... Dr. Pepper now, once again, sells a retro type of Dr. Pepper It comes in green cans and says "Made With Sugar" on the front. I was happy to give it a try!

First, I thought I might compare the ingredients of Dublin Dr. Pepper, Made With Sugar Dr. Pepper, and Dublin Dr. Pepper. I found a partial image online of the back of a Dublin Dr. Pepper bottle, which helped me do so. Lets take a look.

Ingredients of Made With Sugar Dr. Pepper: Carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine.

Ingredients of regular Dr. Pepper: Carbonated water, High fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine. Basically the same thing, except for the high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar.

Ingredients of Dublin Dr. Pepper: Carbonated water, imperial cane sugar, caramel color, phosphoric acid, artificial and natural flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine. Here, the big difference is that they specify "imperial cane sugar," whereas the Made With Sugar kind just says "sugar." This may mean that they still use beet sugar instead of cane sugar. I don't really know what difference that would make, but the Dublin company found it important enough to call out.

Okay. now it was time to taste test it. I was happy to oblige.

It definitely tasted different from regular Dr. Pepper. It is hard to describe the taste. I would describe it as fuller, perhaps, and the words "darker" and "lower" come to mind, if that makes any sense. It has almost a mild rum taste to it. If you've ever had a Coke or Pepsi in a glass bottle from a Mexican grocery store, or if you've ever tasted sarsaparilla pop, you might understand what I'm talking about. However, compared to my memories of Dublin Dr. Pepper, it is not quite as different as Dublin Dr. Pepper was.

I wish so bad that Dublin Dr. Pepper still existed so I could compare them more closely! It is actually possible to find it on Amazon for about $250 for a six pack, but the price is a little steep... plus I'm not sure I want to drink antiquated pop.

For now, if given the choice between regular Dr. Pepper and Made With Sugar Dr. Pepper, I'd probably choose the Made With Sugar kind. I tend to prefer things that are more genuine, or things that are older, over things that are newer or cheaper. And it does taste more real. If you try it, please let me know if you agree!

Here is my Made With Sugar Dr. Pepper as part of my complete lunch!