Dr. Pepper is, arguably, a strange drink. The name alone raises an eyebrow: is it medicinal? Is it spicy? Is it like Coca-Cola, the world’s most famous dark-brown soda? Who is this unnamed doctor anyway? The can’s label claims it’s an “authentic blend” of 23 flavors but does not clarify What a singular one. When I sip, I get mostly cherry with undertones of amaretto and licorice, and perhaps the biggest hint of cough medicine. With another sip, I second guessed myself. Drinking it leaves me with more questions.
You might expect such a drink to be an acquired taste from a specialty store, not found in millions of homes and major fast food chains. But what’s even weirder than the taste of Dr. Pepper is that we’re living through a Dr. Pepper renaissance. This year, it is Pepsi tied — regular version, not diet — as the second-best-selling soda in the U.S. behind Coke, according to data from Beverage Digest. About a quarter of American adults now drink it, according to a recent survey by the Consumer Research Institute Civic science That’s a big jump from 2020, when just 16 percent of the adult population was regularly consuming Dr. Pepper, the study showed.
It’s a sign that there’s never been a better time to have an unusual flavored drink. The Internet’s current obsession, after all, is Oreo Coke ZeroWhich is either disgusting or decadent depending on who you ask. A few years ago, Coca-Cola released a limited-edition flavor called Starlight that tasted like “space” (more likeMint cotton candy,” according to the Food Network); The same year, Pepsi unveiled a trio s’mores flavored Cola is intended to be mixed together. Not to mention that Millions of craft soda brands Those that have popped up in recent years, such as those mixed with rare flavors banana cream or Blood orange with a hint of jalapeño.
To be sure, we still live in a Coca-Cola world. One-third of Americans regularly drink Coke, which controls about 19 percent of soft drink sales, while other soft drinks scrabble for a distant second at about 8 percent of the market. But both Coke and Pepsi have slightly smaller market shares today than they did in 2020, when Dr. Pepper’s ticked up. Asking someone whether they prefer Coke or Pepsi — two drinks that some see as interchangeable — seems outdated now. People crave a wide range of fizzy drinks.
“The amount of products now available to consumers is almost mind-boggling,” says Duane Stanford, editor and publisher of Beverage Digest. “Consumers across the board like to try new things, like to experiment. Young consumers like to share their discoveries on social media.” The simple fact that Dr. Pepper isn’t Coke or Pepsi, in other words, might be exactly what draws new fans.
How a small soda brand saved a cutthroat industry
Like Coke and Pepsi, Dr. Pepper was invented by a pharmacist in the late 1800s, actually predating the famous colas. At the time, the pharmacy was a likely place to find a soda fountain: people had long thought the carbonated water could cure ailments or give someone extra energy. But plain carbonated water was boring, so pharmacists mixed different fruit syrups for customers, much like a barista might order custom coffee today, according to Tristan Donovan, author of Fizz: How Soda Shook the World. During World War II, Dr. Pepper ads even argued that people should try drinking soda Three times a day to maintain their strength. In 2015, a 104 year old woman Texas claimed that this exact regimen was part of the secret of its longevity.
According to Pepper Museum DrPharmacist Charles Alderton loved the smell of the concoction of sweet syrups used in drugstores in Waco, Texas, and until he created a soda that tasted like a pharmacy smell. The result is a tasteless potpourri known as Dr. Pepper. (Why is it called, Company An unrelated story cites that the owner of the pharmacy named it after the father of the woman he liked, but The museum doubts that this is true.)
Ironically, the soda prospered precisely because it was unusual
Dr. Pepper quickly enjoyed a strong fanbase in his home state of Texas and surrounding states, but by the mid-20th century, it was far smaller than Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Ironically, the soda prospered precisely because it was unusual. The two cola giants generally required their bottling plants to sign exclusivity agreements prohibiting bottling for any rival cola company. When a court ruled in 1963, Dr Dr. Pepper was not a cola — it contained no cola nuts — gave the green light for the company to use much of the same distribution system that Coca-Cola and Pepsi had already set up. These days, large restaurant chains often Just carry Coke or PepsiDepending on which company they have a deal with: McDonald’s is Coke’s territory, and Taco Bell is Team Pepsi. Dr. Pepper, however, can coexist with both at the restaurant soda fountain.
“Most Dr. Pepper is actually distributed in the U.S. by Coke and Pepsi bottles,” says Stanford. “So they’ve got really good distribution, and as a result they’ve got good awareness.”
In 1986, Coca-Cola tried Buy Dr. Pepper But there was Blocked by the FTC. Today, the brand is part of Keurig Dr Pepper, whose portfolio includes the popular Keurig coffeemaker as well as beverages such as 7Up, Snapple, Schweppes and A&W.
Doc P’s church worships his weirdness
To devoted Dr. Pepper fans, the underdog that it is is a plus, an alternative to the Coke-or-Pepsi binary. Donovan compared it to voting for the “third presidential candidate” of the two-party soda system. “I don’t think it’s going to be the soda that takes over the world, but it’s carved a good niche for itself,” he says.
Perhaps because it doesn’t have quite the cultural or economic footprint of Coke and Pepsi, Dr. Pepper’s fans tend to be hyperbolic when extolling its virtues: it is The best sodaNo one else, say something. unbeliever Only Palestinians, others explain; A true leader (and Texans in general) has always understood the artistic secrets of the drink. Its followers can be more fans; D Dr. Pepper subreddit There are more members than this of coke or Pepsi’s. It has at least one famous superfan: author John Green, who argues that soda’s invention was groundbreaking because it had a “flavor profile that had no analog in the real world.” As such, it was not a lemon-flavored fizzy drink, but a unique combination of artificial flavors.
Dissecting its unusual smell is a constant discussion among fans. something formula Claims Dr. Pepper is multi-fruit flavor (even tomato), its sweetness mixed with spices and herbs like nutmeg, juniper, cloves and ginger. one Comment A Reddit post describes the flavor as “a sexy battery.” You have some people claiming that pepper is one of the 23 flavors, although it doesn’t taste remotely peppery to me. (The brand rolled out a limited-edition drink last year called Dr. Pepper is hot (which was intended to be spicy.)
Never before has there been a time when people had so many choices to quench their thirst. The grocery aisles are nearly cluttered with beverage options. There’s flavored water, flavored sparkling water, hard seltzer, and prebiotic soda, just to name a few relatively recent trends.
There are offbeat flavor combinations, which are a win for Dr. Pepper
This constant churn of innovation is driven in part by the engine of social media, which helps people discover ways to to eat And drink, or at least watch other people eat and drink. There are offbeat flavor combinations, which are a win for Dr. Pepper. The brand recently released a head-scratching coconut-lime-flavored creamer with Coffee-Mate meant to be mixed with the drink,”dirty soda” Tiktok trend that usually mixes a soda with flavored syrup and coffee creamer. Creamer has been one Utah special injuryWhile Dirty Soda has long been popular and has recently become more widely known thanks to Hulu’s popular reality show The Secret Lives of Mormon WivesAs the nondrinking cast makes soda a lifestyle. Another TikTok meme involves ordering people around Pepper with pickles At the drive-thrus for an extra bite. Like other major soda brands, Dr. Pepper has also launched Different flavor variants In the past few years, strawberries and cream have been the big drivers 12.7 percent sales bump The brand enjoyed a strong first quarter last year.
Its strangeness has become its strength. According to a Latest report from Tracksuitwhich measured brand sentiment, Dr. Pepper was often thought of as “unique” and “different” among the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, while distinctive keywords associated with Pepsi included “okay” and “traditional.”
A Keurig Dr. Pepper spokesperson told Vox in an email that its soda is so successful because it offers a “one-of-a-kind treat,” largely thanks to “original 23 flavor recipes that define its unique, delightful taste.” The company didn’t answer Vox’s question about what, exactly, the soda might taste like, but that’s not surprising — it owes a lot to it. Mohan And it has grown in popularity in recent times to the point that it cannot be easily categorized. After all, when you think about it, how does Coke or Pepsi taste? A cola is usually described as a Sweet, caramel-y drink With notes of vanilla, cinnamon and even citrus, but it’s quite unusual. It’s just that colas are so ubiquitous, so ingrained in our taste buds, that we now unquestioningly describe other things as Coke-flavored.
Dr. Pepper has not yet reached that stage of cultural saturation. You can taste it and still think, “What is that?”
