Dr. Radical

January 4, 2011 12:49 PM

Fond of Dr. Pepper, but don't like to pay for the big name on the can? Chances are, you've stood in a store beverage aisle and seen one of these awaiting your purchase. Want a bit more information about each brand? Whatever you do, don't confuse the Dr. with Mr. PiBB.
posted by hippybear (162 comments total)

How many times do we have to go through this. It's "Dr Pepper." No full stop. He never earned the Sodanomics Ph.D. and just changed his name instead.
posted by griphus at 12:51 PM on January 4, 2011 [19 favorites]

I actually like Mr. Pibb a lot. That is all.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:52 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh man - I remember seeing that generic Pepper site at least 10 years ago - maybe linked from Memepool. Thanks for the intermemories.
posted by item at 12:53 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Dr Pepper is nectar of the Gods.
posted by punkfloyd at 12:54 PM on January 4, 2011 [9 favorites]

I am drinking a diet Dr. Pepper right now.

/true story
posted by shino-boy at 12:55 PM on January 4, 2011

"Mr. Pibb: ...delicious, refreshing, and totally lacking in pretension. He’s not one of those “Doctor” sodas, putting on airs and flashing around his Ivy League diploma." - American Dad
posted by Bromius at 12:55 PM on January 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

The three primary flavors of ice cream: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry.
The three primary flavors of soda: cola, lemon-lime, and... honorific?
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:56 PM on January 4, 2011 [13 favorites]

I live on Diet Dr Pepper. That is all.
posted by tommasz at 12:56 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I always understood Dr. Pepper flavor to be a mix of denatured rum and bitter almond, but i noticed that Mr. Pibb is now described as a 'cherry' soda. Tasting a Dublin Dr. Pepper recently, I get a strong taste of cherry as well.

Thoughts?
posted by mrstrotsky at 12:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

How many times do we have to go through this. It's "Dr Pepper." No full stop. He never earned the Sodanomics Ph.D. and just changed his name instead.

Clearly, at least one more time. The lack of dot in Dr is a branding/logotype thing. In voiceovers on TV and radio, the soda is referred to as Doctor Pepper.
posted by birdherder at 12:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

Notably absent! Does anyone remember Dr. Diablo? It was the Shasta version. I can't find anything on Google about it but I swear it existed when I was a kid in the 80s.
posted by Ratio at 12:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Flat Dr Pepper is a really, really good vodka mixer.
posted by griphus at 12:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

What I want to know is why NONE of my local Super Wal-Marts -- and I live within a short drive of several of them -- carry Mountain Lightning, the Wal-Mart version of Mountain Dew. This will not stand.
posted by Gator at 12:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love me some Dublin Dr Pepper, but I'll always have a soft spot for the "Cheapskate" at the now-defunct Frederick's Music Lounge - Mr. Pibb and Old Crow. Did the trick, by god.
posted by notsnot at 12:58 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ayup, it was a nice trip down memory lane when I saw these linked from Consumerist earlier. Stuff like this, the Twinkies Project, etc were a huge part of my early Web days.
posted by kmz at 12:58 PM on January 4, 2011

I didn't realize until living in Texas all the permutations of Dr. Pepper.

Diet Caffeine Free Cherry Dr Pepper? Really?
posted by mrstrotsky at 12:59 PM on January 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

In voiceovers on TV and radio, the soda is referred to as Doctor Pepper.

...and who buys that advertising time?

That's right: the Trilateral Commission. The very same Trilateral Commission who paid to have Herbert Pepper's name changed after his advisor noticed the blatant plagiarism in his thesis on the Cola Wars and had him thrown out of Mountain Dew Memorial University.
posted by griphus at 1:00 PM on January 4, 2011 [25 favorites]

In voiceovers on TV and radio, the soda is referred to as Doctor Pepper.

You mean they don't say Dee Are Pepper?
posted by fixedgear at 1:00 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

The SodaStream version of Dr Pepper is called Pete's Choice, which seems a bit too close to Sophie's Choice for a soda flavor.
posted by uncleozzy at 1:01 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Dr Pepper appeared in some shops here in Norway a few years ago. I was thinking "hmmm, isn't this like an American national institution or something? I'll buy a can to try!". But holy patron saint of soft drinks! That stuff is vile! Tastes like store brand cola infused with marzipan.

Put me right off my plan to sample Mountain Dew, it did.
posted by Harald74 at 1:02 PM on January 4, 2011 [11 favorites]

The very same Trilateral Commission who paid to have Herbert Pepper's name changed after his advisor noticed the blatant plagiarism in his thesis on the Cola Wars and had him thrown out of Mountain Dew Memorial University.

On orders from the Rand Corporation, in conjunction with the saucer people, under the supervision of the reverse vampires.

We're through the looking glass, here, people.
posted by Gator at 1:03 PM on January 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

I always enjoyed seeing Dr. Radical in the soda aisle at the grocery store.

He struck me as sounding like a second-rate comic book hero, especially when paired with his convenience-mart snack food sidekick, Chip Thunder.
posted by anthom at 1:07 PM on January 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Coca Cola went to town,
Mr. Pibb shot him down,
Dr Pepper fixed him up,
Now he drinks Seven Up!
posted by TedW at 1:07 PM on January 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Harald74: think of Dr Pepper as America's answer to, say, rakfisk. Both things to which one must become accustomed, and which are rarely viewed positively after only one taste.
posted by 1adam12 at 1:08 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Mello Yello 4 life!
posted by Ad hominem at 1:08 PM on January 4, 2011

I had a Dr Thunder rant a couple of weeks ago. My premise was this: "If you are going to appropriate the style and basic naming convention, why not do it right? Dr Thunder? Pffft, 'Professor Cayenne', 'Bell, MD', or my personal favorite 'Chili the Physician'"

Dr Thunder just sounds like flatulence in a can.
posted by quin at 1:09 PM on January 4, 2011 [10 favorites]

Dr Pepper is cherry coke from a degree mill.
posted by Joe Beese at 1:09 PM on January 4, 2011 [17 favorites]

i miss Mr Pibb.

Pibb Xtra is a pale fucking imitation, and the original is no longer available where i am.
posted by radiosilents at 1:10 PM on January 4, 2011

Can someone explain to me why Dr Pepper comes in a can?
posted by yerfatma at 1:10 PM on January 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Believe it or not, Diet Dr. Thunder, the Wal-Mart house brand, makes a spectacular cocktail when used as a mixer with a halfway decent cognac.
posted by Slap*Happy at 1:10 PM on January 4, 2011

The summer after seventh grade I went to a marine biology camp. There was a kid there that everyone called "D.D." because his names was Daniel and he was always trying to get people to play black jack with him. Anyway, on the weekly WalMart run he bought a whole shit load of Dr. Thunder, planning to sell them for a quarter, undercutting the machines' prices of fifty cents for a real one. His advertising slogan was, "Buy Dr. Thunder! It has less water!" Oh, he was cajun, so say it with a cajun accent.

He didn't take into account that no one wants warm Dr. Thunder for a quarter, though Dr, Thunder is much sweeter and indeed seems to have less water. If that were even a selling point.
posted by cmoj at 1:11 PM on January 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

My sister LIVES for Diet Cherry Dr Pepper, and would buy the caffeine-free version if it were commonly available. I'm a Cherry Dr Pepper, warm, girl.

Mr. Pibb is OK in a pinch.
posted by SMPA at 1:11 PM on January 4, 2011

A friend of mine swears "Dr. Thunder" is his gay porn name.
posted by JoanArkham at 1:12 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh, and Mr. Pibb is cherry, Dr. pepper is prune.
posted by cmoj at 1:13 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

That Dr. Becker is actually really good. That is all.
posted by lumpenprole at 1:13 PM on January 4, 2011

If you ever get the chance, swing by the Dr Pepper museum in Waco. First of all, you learn that Dr Pepper was originally called Waco, so that's what I call it now, as a sort of nickname. You also find out that its creator, Charles Alderton, was a pharmacist. Now, this back back in the 1880s, when pharmacies were basically herb shops that offered concoctions steeped in seltzer water and opium, and so they smelled like what they were: a warehouse for aromatic plants. Alderton would walk into work, and he'd take a whiff, and he'd think, my goodness, if I could make a drink that tastes like this smells, I'd be rich.

And so that's what he did. Most of our early soft drinks originated in pharmacies, as did our early cocktails, because they had the ingredients and were used to mixing them up. Some started as cures for various ailments, and people just got to liking the taste and kept drinking it. Some were just -- well, when you have a lot of time in the day, and you have a lot of ingredients, including soda water and ice and herbs and alcohol, you sometimes get to mixing stuff up just to see what happens. And so Alderton engaged in his pharmaceutical mixology and, in 1885, produced a drink that he felt was what he wanted. So that's the answer, when people ask what Dr Pepper is supposed to taste like. It's not some sort of plum drunk, or whatever people clai,

Dr Pepper tastes like a Victorian pharmacy smells.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:15 PM on January 4, 2011 [58 favorites]

A guy I knew in college drank it hot. Microwaved it. I never got up the nerve to try it.
posted by jbickers at 1:15 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

You can keep your Dr. Pepper, (although it's very nice.) When I want a peculiarly named soda with a hard-to-place taste profile, it's Cheerwine all the way. It's the North Carolinian in me, I guess.
posted by littlerobothead at 1:15 PM on January 4, 2011 [5 favorites]

I present you with the "Doctor Soda" subsite of comedy collective The Van Gogh Goghs for further research.
posted by retronic at 1:16 PM on January 4, 2011

> A guy I knew in college drank it hot. Microwaved it. I never got up the nerve to try it.

Now you owe me a new keyboard...because I just threw up all over this one.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:16 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

This post really makes me want to put on my Kangaroos, hike up my tube socks to just below the knee, tuck the left side of my t-shirt into my rugby shorts, hop on my Kuwahara and bomb down to the corner store. I have $2.00 in my pocket so that's enough for a Dr Pepper, three packs of hockey cards, an Astro-pop and ten 5-cent cola bottles. I'll sit on the curb, eat the chalky gum, look to see if I got a Mike Bossy before sorting out all the Hartford Whalers players to stick in my spokes so that it sounds like a motorbike when I leave to look for snakes in the field next to the house.
posted by jimmythefish at 1:17 PM on January 4, 2011 [25 favorites]

Dr Pepper hot with a twist of lemon.

Drank these after school at a local small-town soda fountain. Don't knock it till you've tried it. Then knock it, dear god KNOCK IT OUT OF THEIR HANDS SHOULD THEY EVER AGAIN APPROACH!
posted by hal9k at 1:19 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

I was always a fan of Doctor Smooth's Secret Recipe Soda, although I haven't seen one in years.

Dr. Becker is nice as well.
posted by brundlefly at 1:20 PM on January 4, 2011

> I'll sit on the curb, eat the chalky gum, look to see if I got a Mike Bossy...

Favourited because of all-too-rare reference to Mike Bossy!
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:22 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you drink a Coca-Cola and eat and apple at the same time, the taste of Dr Pepper engulfs your taste buds. You stumble upon the most bizarre things at age 13...
posted by arveale at 1:23 PM on January 4, 2011

Actually, I once invented a cocktail using hot Dr Pepper, called The Albion. It is as follows:

RECIPE: Three parts Dr. Pepper to one part fruity port wine. Add two whole cloves and one stick cinnamon. Heat and serve.

It's beyond delicious, but the timid epicurean will never know.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:25 PM on January 4, 2011 [13 favorites]

Yeah, Cheerwine was (is?) the sponsor of a women's pro cycling team. 7-UP sponsored a team, as did Pepsi. To the best of my knowledge Dr Pepper has never been a sponsor.
posted by fixedgear at 1:27 PM on January 4, 2011

The lack of dot in Dr is a branding/logotype thing. In voiceovers on TV and radio, the soda is referred to as Doctor Pepper.

Surely you don't think "Dr" would be pronounced "Durr."
posted by Sticherbeast at 1:27 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Dr Pepper always reminds me of undergrad drinking. A younger me liked how well it masked the taste of cheap rum.

Y'know what I miss, though? Black Cherry Vanilla Coke. I'm sure I shaved three years off my life drinking that stuff, but damn it was tasty.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 1:28 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Did no one else notice that the Mr. PiBB URL as linked above is PiBBthug.com? Odd, given that MrPiBB.com is registered (but currently leads nowhere), yet MrPiBB.net is actually available, at least as of posting this comment.

Somehow an imitation soda brand and street toughs don't go together in my mind. At least, until now.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:31 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Can someone explain to me why Dr Pepper comes in a can?
Is this the beginning of a dirty joke? Or am I just a bad, bad person?
posted by pointystick at 1:31 PM on January 4, 2011 [9 favorites]

Somehow an imitation soda brand and street toughs don't go together in my mind. At least, until now.

If you consider Juggalos to be a gang, then Faygo fits this metric perfectly.
posted by Sticherbeast at 1:32 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

I quit Dr Pepper about the same time that I quit smoking, and for similar reasons.
posted by swift at 1:33 PM on January 4, 2011

Wait... wasn't there a Dr. Zeppa? You've gotta love it... it's like a crime syndicate ran their own bottling company and said "Let's just take the brand and change a couple of letters".
posted by crapmatic at 1:34 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nothing breaks a hangover for me like fountain Dr Pepper. The can version doesn't seem to do it though.
posted by Big_B at 1:37 PM on January 4, 2011

They call me MISTER Pibb!
posted by Splunge at 1:38 PM on January 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

I don't know about you cats but I personally am stuck on the URL for the Mr. PiBB site.

WE STRAIGHT THUGGIN
SIPPIN THAT PIBB
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 1:38 PM on January 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

Mountain Dew Throwback > Cheerwine > Dublin Dr Pepper > Dr Pepper > PiBB XTRA

One of my college friends drank a shitload of Dr. Thunder. I can still say say Dr. Thunder to a certain group of people and they'll know exactly who I'm talking about.
posted by infinitewindow at 1:39 PM on January 4, 2011

Can someone explain to me why Dr Pepper comes in a can?

Girls don't make passes at academics in glasses.
posted by griphus at 1:41 PM on January 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

One of my college friends drank a shitload of Dr. Thunder.

I feel quite certain that I know how you determined the unit of measurement.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:42 PM on January 4, 2011

It was originally called Dr Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

I shit you not.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:43 PM on January 4, 2011 [4 favorites]

Is this the beginning of a dirty joke? Or am I just a bad, bad person?

Could be both

DR. SHEKTER
posted by edgeways at 1:44 PM on January 4, 2011

I always figured that "Dr Pepper" was pronounced "der Pepper", since we all know it was invented by the Nazis.
posted by blue_beetle at 1:44 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

I thought I'd got around but excepting Mr Pibb I've never heard of any of these.
posted by scalefree at 1:45 PM on January 4, 2011

My wife and I pronounce is PIBB-stra (one word). I don't get it. If it was Pibb Extra, just call it that. Leaving out the 'E' seems unnecessarily pretentious for a guy who didn't even finish med school.
posted by snapped at 1:48 PM on January 4, 2011

Can someone explain to me why Dr Pepper comes in a can?
Is this the beginning of a dirty joke? Or am I just a bad, bad person?

Please don't bring this up. This "joke" was at the center of what was then the most mortifying conversation I had with my parents at the tender young age of 13 (admittedly, subsequent conversations probably surpassed it). I was totally and completely baffled by this joke and asked my parents over dinner if they could explain it to me. My mom went beet-red and eventually managed to stammer that my dad would explain it to me privately after dinner. Now completely clued in that I had inadvertently asked my parents to clarify a dirty joke to me, I had to sit through the longest dinner of my life in anticipation of the most awkward conversation ever. I could not think of any way to undo this horror, no matter how hard I tried. Even worse, the damn joke isn't even really funny.

Despite that, I love drinking Dr Pepper to this day and find the substitution of Mr. Pipp a horrifying affront to all right-thinking people.
posted by Lame_username at 1:50 PM on January 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

Trader Joe's used to have a knockoff, I am fairly sure it was just called Dr. Joe's.

Like so many things there to which one becomes accustomed, it simply disappeared one day, never to return.
posted by padraigin at 1:54 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb actually lived together during graduate school. Pibb just never finished his dissertation on the Cola Wars.
posted by pjdoland at 1:54 PM on January 4, 2011

fixedgear: You mean they don't say Dee Are Pepper?

I've been saying DURRR Pepper ever since watching some dude attempt to drink a case of it while sitting in front of the kick drum on stage at a Nerf Herder show in Tempe.
posted by carsonb at 1:55 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

If you drop a shot of amaretto into a beer (and set it on fire), you got yourself a flaming Dr Pepper. I had one at a bar when I was 17.
posted by Pax at 1:55 PM on January 4, 2011

It's kind of hard to make out what's on the Doc Holiday can. Looks like a rifle, a snake and a Vulcan skull wearing a bolo tie, and if that doesn't connote "DELICIOUS SOFT DRINK," I don't know what does.
posted by The Card Cheat at 1:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

There is some kind of crazy fucked-up irony that I just grepped this thread for "kibo" and came up empty.

--> KIBO'S FAKE DR PEPPER ROUNDUP <--
posted by cortex at 1:57 PM on January 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

My favorite has to be Dr Perky.

Nudge, nudge.
posted by storybored at 2:02 PM on January 4, 2011

Berries and Cream Dr. Pepper is the freaking BOMB!!!

Also, I LOVE Dr. Wells.
posted by Saxon Kane at 2:02 PM on January 4, 2011

We used flaming shots of Bacardi 151.

See also: Not Quite What the Doctor Ordered

Diet Skipper is one of the worst drinks ever made.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:05 PM on January 4, 2011

Pax: "If you drop a shot of amaretto into a beer (and set it on fire), you got yourself a flaming Dr Pepper. I had one at a bar when I was 17"

Actually it's amaretto and 151 rum in a shot glass. Amaretto won't burn by itself, not enough alcohol. Flame the shot and then drop it into half a pint of beer.
posted by Splunge at 2:09 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Actually, I once invented a cocktail using hot Dr Pepper, called The Albion.

Yeah, and I once invented a cocktail called the Black Bolt consisting of Bombay Sapphire and Bosco. That doesn't mean you'd want to drink it.
posted by The Bellman at 2:09 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's a lot to ponder here (and I'm glad that someone else has plugged the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco so I don't have to) but what's tripped me up most (even more than PibbThug because I'm no longer tripped up by corporate advertising stupidity) is this quote from the second link in the original post, in regards to sites that tracked the phenomenon that is (or perhaps was) Generic Dr. Pepper collecting:

"A lot of sites were around back in the glory days. I traded with a lot of them. Thier [sic] offices are closed as well."

Why is this an idea that was super exciting once upon a time but has died out now? Is it the type of thing that was just waiting for something like the Internet and as soon as it had its first bubble everybody who would possibly be interested was satiated and tired of it by the late 90s? (aka Generic Dr. Pepper Collecting is like the Spice Girls) Or is it this thing that had been around already but it's increased popularity made it seem like it was having "glory days" in the 90s and now interest has just returned to its previous levels (aka Generic Dr. Pepper Collecting is like Ricky Martin)

Any opinions or knowledge about this would be greatly appreciated.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:10 PM on January 4, 2011

I always figured that "Dr Pepper" was pronounced "der Pepper", since we all know it was invented by the Nazis.

The original recipe contained Dolophine. True Fact!
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:11 PM on January 4, 2011

If you have a Harris Teeter in your neck of the woods, you can enjoy a Dr. Extreme. It's like Dr. Pepper, with a slightly lighter footprint. Very tasty stuff.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 2:12 PM on January 4, 2011

I wake up in the morning with the shakes until I get my first bottle of Mountain Dew Livewire.

Dr Pepper tastes like poison. I'd sooner drink water!
posted by double block and bleed at 2:15 PM on January 4, 2011

.
posted by sourwookie at 2:16 PM on January 4, 2011

I heard that Diet Dr. Thunder tastes more like regular Dr. Thunder.
posted by logicpunk at 2:16 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

...and who buys that advertising time?

That's right: the Trilateral Commission.

Mind blown. I haven't been able to keep up with the Trilateral Commission and Bilderberg Group after moving away from Austin and getting the treat of seeing Alex Jones on cable access.
posted by birdherder at 2:21 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Man, did I used to drink a lot of Dr Pepper. And then my students in a university course I taught commented on it one day before class. The comments were then followed by another student asking whether I liked it better from a can or from a bottle. As I was about to answer, another student asked, "There's a difference?" "Of course there is," I responded before going on to teach them instead about Latin gerunds. But the next day when I got to class, there was a 20-ounce bottle, a 2-liter bottle, and a can of Dr Pepper sitting with a few paper cups on the desk at the front of the room. The student who didn't believe there to be a difference between the Dr Pepper types wanted me to do a blind taste test to prove the point.

So in the end, I let the students blindfold me (not usually a good idea...), they poured the cups, and I took a drink and told them which type each drink was without any problem. Another student piped up and said, "See? That wasn't hard at all. Anyone who drinks Dr Pepper at all would know the differences." I agreed but then admitted that, yes, I probably drank way too much Dr Pepper since I was surely the only one in the room that could tell that the different tastes and carbonation also made it obvious that the can had come from a Dallas-Fort Worth bottling plant while the other two had come from the New York area and that when possible I avoided drinking Dr Pepper bottled on the East Coast.

I think their jaws hanging open made me realize for the first time just how sad my Dr Pepper habit was, and I quit cold-turkey. It's been about ten years since I've had one and my waistline is surely happy about that, but every time I drink a diet soda I still know that each taste is going to do little but remind me of just how poorly this particular drink compares to the heavenly nectar that is Dr Pepper.
posted by zeugitai_guy at 2:22 PM on January 4, 2011 [42 favorites]

Wow, I had just mentioned Dr Schnee (Vess brand, and St Louis thing) to my brother this weekend. Makes me wish someone would do a treatment of regional soda brands the same way that regional beers have been written about these past couple of years.
posted by cgk at 2:29 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Did someone say Cheerwine?
posted by sundrop at 2:32 PM on January 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

Mr. Pig was always my favorite. It tastes as great as it sounds.
posted by donpardo at 2:34 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, and I once invented a cocktail called the Black Bolt consisting of Bombay Sapphire and Bosco. That doesn't mean you'd want to drink it.

I would if it was delicious.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:36 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Mr. Pig was always my favorite. It tastes as great as it sounds.

Wow. Does it pinken your teeth as you drink?
posted by Gator at 2:36 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

God I love Dr. Perky.
posted by whimsicalnymph at 2:37 PM on January 4, 2011

Knock-off brand sodas like Dr. Thunder and Mountain Lightning will always remind me of summers in my early adolescence, from about age 12 to 14.

Those days are oddly distorted in my mind: overbright yellow days where the air smelled of hot dogs and asphalt; long trips from California to Utah to visit family, pulling in to rest stops nestled in Nevada's sun-parched landscape to sip lukewarm sodas from a cooler that hadn't seen ice since Barstow, pumping quarters into Walmart vending machines and feeling smug because it was such a deal compared to the fifty cent Coke machines, listening to Ace of Base in the minivan because it was the only thing everyone could agree on until Dad got bored and switched to Yanni's Greatest Hits, fighting over the last, tattered Mad-Libs notepad...

I could go on. That age was difficult, especially during school, but the summers were totally unparalleled in my mind, and Dr. Thunder played a major role. I've since moved on to Dr Pepper, and in fact I even wear Dr Pepper pajama pants several nights a week.
posted by jnrussell at 2:37 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

This site misses the fake Dr Pepper from the local chain supermarket where I grew up -- 'Country Doctor'. Always got a laugh out of that name.
posted by statolith at 2:40 PM on January 4, 2011

Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too?

Apparently so.
posted by SomeTrickPony at 2:53 PM on January 4, 2011

This website has refreshed my memories of the Winn-Dixie generic soda brand, Chek. There was Chek Cola, Chek Orange, Chek Grape, Check Lemon/Lime (what, no Chek Up?), and, yes, Dr. Chek. Chek Cola is the only one I have any real experience with - didn't taste half bad if I recall correctly.

Which further reminds me of the Winn-Dixie brand of cookies, "Big Sixty". Sort of an off-brand Oreo, but they did much more business with the vanilla/vanilla than with any of the chocolate permutations.

There is a possibility that I would pay money for a two-liter of Check Cola and a pack of Big Sixty vanilla with lemon "creme".

And we pretend that the USA is one big homogeneous country...
posted by Sara C. at 3:14 PM on January 4, 2011

Dr Pepper does not now and never has contained prune juice. It doesn't taste much like it, either, so I'm not sure where that rumor came from. When I was a wee lass in North Carolina (land of Pepsi Cola), it always seemed like anti-Dr Pepper propaganda delivered by Pepsi fans. It was usually the old folks, too, which I always found funny.

If you are a total soda dork like I am, The Legend of Dr Pepper/Seven Up by Jeffrey L. Rodengen and Karen Nitkin is a pretty interesting look at the brand's history, and The Road to Dr Pepper, Texas: The Story of Dublin Dr Pepper by Karen Wright is a good one, too, just a little more specific to the Dublin Dr Pepper plant, one of the few places that still made Dr Pepper with cane sugar until the anniversary/throwback editions started coming out.
posted by rhiannonstone at 3:18 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

My favorite has to be Dr Perky.

Nudge, nudge.

Even more than Dr Pepper, Dr Perky is an acquired taste, a lot like Dr Pepper, but just a little off. Back in Middle School, when I was on the 2 Liter of soda a day kick that has kept me squarely in the "just not quite obese" BMI range ever since, I was mostly drinking Dr Perky. I have no idea if I could stomach the stuff now.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:19 PM on January 4, 2011

I always felt sort of obliged to participate in the fiction that Dr. Wells was a perfectly good doctor in his own right who had a distinguished career of his own.
posted by anazgnos at 3:20 PM on January 4, 2011

The summer after seventh grade I went to a marine biology camp. There was a kid there that everyone called "D.D." because his names was Daniel and he was always trying to get people to play black jack with him. Anyway, on the weekly WalMart run he bought a whole shit load of Dr. Thunder, planning to sell them for a quarter, undercutting the machines' prices of fifty cents for a real one. His advertising slogan was, "Buy Dr. Thunder! It has less water!" Oh, he was cajun, so say it with a cajun accent.

cmoj, there is a very strong possibility that we went to the same summer camp.
posted by Sara C. at 3:21 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

When I was a wee lass in North Carolina (land of Pepsi Cola), it always seemed like anti-Dr Pepper propaganda delivered by Pepsi fans. It was usually the old folks, too, which I always found funny.

I grew up in the town where Pepsi was fucking invented, and I've never understood any allegiance to it. It's alright, but Cheerwine is obviously the North Carolina soda of choice.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:28 PM on January 4, 2011

cmoj, there is a very strong possibility that we went to the same summer camp.

Neither one of these camps was in Wilmington, NC was it? I went to Marine Biology camp as well, and my camp had a cajun guy, but I don't remember anything with Dr Thunder, just that we kept making him do his weirdo pronunciation of pecan.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 3:30 PM on January 4, 2011

Why oh why hasn't Jones Soda made a batch of Dr. Jones? YOU CALL HIM DOCTA JONES! I mean, come on, the advertising writes itself.

Hm? What lawsuit?
posted by xedrik at 3:30 PM on January 4, 2011 [3 favorites]

Local soda? It's gonna be hard to top the straightforward Frank's.

"Is it Frank's? Thanks."

That's advertising. Also, black cherry Wishniak.
posted by fixedgear at 3:33 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

harald74: Put me right off my plan to sample Mountain Dew

Yeah, Dr. Pepper is vile. Mountain Dew is decent, though. It's just a fairly typical lemon-lime cola with an assload of caffeine.
posted by Malor at 3:35 PM on January 4, 2011

Previously
posted by the_bone at 3:35 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

cmoj, there is a very strong possibility that we went to the same summer camp.

Neither one of these camps was in Wilmington, NC was it?

You gotta be kidding me. It was at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort.
posted by cmoj at 3:35 PM on January 4, 2011

My summer camp was not in North Carolina, but Louisiana. It also wasn't strictly a marine biology camp, but a university summer program with a lot of different options for your nerdery of choice. I tend to refer to as "Shakespeare Camp", because that was my nerdery of choice. But there was also astrophysics, marine biology, robotics, Latin, photography, and tons more.

But the notion of the cajun kid, the weekly jaunts to Walmart, and the urge to do totally stupid shit like that (not to mention the overarching meme of "being a huge nerd and a seventh grader") strongly reminds me of my days at ADVANCE.
posted by Sara C. at 3:38 PM on January 4, 2011

It's just a fairly typical lemon-lime cola

There is no cola in Mountain Dew.
posted by hippybear at 3:39 PM on January 4, 2011

(My summer camp was also affiliated with Duke, via the TIP Talent Search dealio. So maybe there's a whole genre of these camps all over the south?)
posted by Sara C. at 3:39 PM on January 4, 2011

ONE TIME I INVENTED DR PEPPER AND SOLD IT TO JESUS!
posted by dougrayrankin at 3:39 PM on January 4, 2011

Mr. Pig was always my favorite. It tastes as great as it sounds.

I would hope it tastes like bacon. Anything less would be a disappointment.
posted by cazoo at 3:48 PM on January 4, 2011

Dr Pepper tastes like poison. I'd sooner drink water!

You mean like in the toilet?
posted by mikelieman at 3:48 PM on January 4, 2011 [7 favorites]

H-E-B's store brand is named "Dr. B" and the grocery chain is named after Howard Edward Butt which means that Dr. B the soda is really Dr. Butt.
posted by mudpuppie at 3:50 PM on January 4, 2011 [6 favorites]

Mr. PiBB always gets a chuckle out of me. I can't help seeing it as Mr. Pißß. Cracks me up every time.
posted by bonehead at 3:52 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

My brother and I have a holiday trade route going; I import canned Pibb XTRA to Arizona (where it is fountain-only) and he exports canned Caffeine-Free Regular Dr Pepper to the SF Bay Area (where it is unknown). The Caffeine Free Dr Pepper is only found in a Wal-Mart and a Safeway in a small mining town 90 minutes from the Phoenix metro area; we hauled back 10 twelve-packs of the stuff in the car.
posted by JDC8 at 4:02 PM on January 4, 2011

H-E-B's store brand is named "Dr. B" and the grocery chain is named after Howard Edward Butt which means that Dr. B the soda is really Dr. Butt.

I love Dr. B!

(My summer camp was also affiliated with Duke, via the TIP Talent Search dealio. So maybe there's a whole genre of these camps all over the south?)

There's loads of academic summer camps all around the country. Duke TIP has a big directory of them, but I think most of them don't have an affiliation beyond that. I went to a science camp in St. Cloud, Minnesota in middle school, and then math camp at Southwest Texas State in high school (and into college, as a counselor). Math camp was fucking awesome.
posted by kmz at 4:03 PM on January 4, 2011

There is some kind of crazy fucked-up irony that I just grepped this thread for "kibo" and came up empty.

I was a bit surprised too. I just wanted to post this line from his review of Dr. Zeppa:

...nearly as bad as getting fermented shrimp paste up your nose in zero gravity while using Windows 3.1.

posted by the duck by the oboe at 4:05 PM on January 4, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh, I know there are lots of academic summer camps all over the country. But some of the specific details sounded almost too similar to be coincidental. I was maybe wondering if Duke has some kind of SOP advising that all campers be brought on weekly visits to Walmart, or something.
posted by Sara C. at 4:10 PM on January 4, 2011

Diet Dr Pepper (especially the cherry vanilla kind) is about the only diet pop that tastes like it's supposed to. Carbonated cough syrup with almonds and something else, but delicious regardless.
posted by biscotti at 4:14 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

> A guy I knew in college drank it hot. Microwaved it. I never got up the nerve to try it.

Now you owe me a new keyboard...because I just threw up all over this one.

I remember this ad as a child. Yes, they advertised it.

Dr. Pepper is nearly as nasty as cilantro. *ptui*
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:14 PM on January 4, 2011

Dr. Zeppa makes me think of Frank Zappa selling his own weird soda concoction. He would have had all his kids singing "I'm a Zappa, He's a Zappa, She'a Zappa, We're all Zappas! Wouldn't you like to be a Zappa too?" while Frank and the band take Barry Manilow's jingle down through the Rabbit Hole and straight into Wonderland musically.
posted by KingEdRa at 4:29 PM on January 4, 2011

fixedgear: "Local soda? It's gonna be hard to top the straightforward Frank's. "

Challenge accepted. I give you the most racist soda in existence, Cherikee Red
posted by namewithoutwords at 4:30 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

1. Did you know that, according the can, "Dr. B" was registered in 1905?

2. No one really says "Pibb Xtra," right? I assume we're all on the same page here, but I fear for the kids.
posted by designbot at 4:39 PM on January 4, 2011

And where the heck did all the Heritage Dr Pepper go? It was everywhere this past summer it seemed, and then, pffft: dried up, gone!
posted by steef at 4:48 PM on January 4, 2011

PansPantry on etsy makes Dr. Pepper jelly with Dublin DP. To die for, I say.
posted by ifjuly at 4:50 PM on January 4, 2011

The generic listed on that page that was available in my neck of the woods Mr. Aahh. How my sister and I loved that name.

"What do we have to drink?"

"Coke, Sprite, Mr.....(pregnant pause, great bravado) AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

"He must've died while carving it!"

(I'm interested in more non-North American impressions of Dr. Pepper and Mountain Dew, if people are willing to share)
posted by mreleganza at 5:05 PM on January 4, 2011

Damn you hippybear. I'll be craving DP for weeks now and my local import source hasn't had any for months.
posted by romakimmy at 5:10 PM on January 4, 2011

Safeway store brand: "Dr. Dynamite". 75 cents for a 2 liter bottle, if you buy four bottles.

One of the things I learned growing up in Texas, is that straight Dr Pepper makes a great beef marinade and tenderizer. Just pour it on and let it soak overnight.
posted by Xoebe at 5:10 PM on January 4, 2011

I remember when me and my collage friends got out first off campus apartment we christened our tiny bachelor pad by getting crazy on glass after glass of “Dr Awesome”.
(Dr Pepper and vanilla vodka that is).
posted by Widepath at 5:28 PM on January 4, 2011

Wow. Does it pinken your teeth as you drink?

No, but Cheerwine does!
posted by jammer at 5:38 PM on January 4, 2011

Does anyone besides me remember Dr Pepper gum? It was one of those gums with the liquid center that squirted in your mouth when you bit into it. And I remember thinking that it didn't really taste like Dr Pepper; I think the carbonation really helps Dr Pepper not be disgusting.

Dr Pepper in glass bottles is the best kind of Dr Pepper.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 5:43 PM on January 4, 2011

I'm trying very hard to think of a way in which Cherry Dr Pepper isn't redundant.

Or delicious.
posted by sonika at 6:08 PM on January 4, 2011

If you ever happen to be in Dublin, Texas, visit the Dublin Dr Pepper Museum. It used to be the only place you could get Dublin Dr Pepper (made with pure cane sugar, not corn syrup) and I knew people who would drive there just to get a case of the real thing.
posted by tamitang at 6:25 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

On my recent honeymoon in Japan, I stopped dead in the street near Shibuya when I saw Dr Pepper in a vending machine.

I had a SLIGHTLY less puzzled reaction to something that appeared to be corn soda (JapaneFites: is that REALLY A THING or what?), but it was one of happiness.

I used to idolize Mr. Pibb, possibly due to its slight rarity, until I did a recent taste test with the Dr at a theater - man, I was wrong.

Being wrong can be an awesome revelation later in life.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 6:29 PM on January 4, 2011

I just tried Dr. Pepper hot (microwaved) for the first time. It's surprisingly good! The soapy dried-fruitcake-fruit-mix aftertaste is gone. The flavours just... make more sense, somehow.
Not that I'm going to try it again, though. I liked it more than cold Dr. Pepper, but I haven't touched the stuff in years.
posted by Pruitt-Igoe at 6:45 PM on January 4, 2011

No one really says "Pibb Xtra," right?

Only young, harried waitstaff whose clients have just asked for Dr. Pepper to drink.
posted by infinitewindow at 7:19 PM on January 4, 2011

I encourage you all to sample Dr Pepper flavored Jelly Belly jellybeans. They even manage to make them taste carbonated.
posted by Wild_Eep at 7:49 PM on January 4, 2011

I had a SLIGHTLY less puzzled reaction to something that appeared to be corn soda (JapaneFites: is that REALLY A THING or what?), but it was one of happiness.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:29 AM on January 5 [+] [!]

I've seen corn soup in Japanese vending machines (in a little can and everything), but never corn soda.
posted by gc at 7:52 PM on January 4, 2011

I love my Dr Pepper Lipsmacker. I (permanently) borrowed it from my daughter when I realized it made my lips soft, tasty and ever-so-tastefully tinted red.
posted by jeoc at 8:00 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yay for inadvertent puns.

Also, I have lived in North Carolina for almost three years, and I'm afraid to try the ubiquitous Cheerwine.
posted by jeoc at 8:01 PM on January 4, 2011

You should try Cheerwine. What is there to be afraid of? It is wonderful and delicious and has everything soda should have: caffeine, sugar, fizz, hideous artificial color...

It is about the only thing I miss about living in North Carolina. Fortunately, Cheerwine Finder shows a store only eight miles away.

I am happy to continue the Cheerwine derail. Because, fuck Dr Pepper. I can't stand that funky tasting shit.
posted by Cookiebastard at 8:19 PM on January 4, 2011 [1 favorite]

(As I observed recently on my Twitter,) Diet Dr. Perky does taste more like regular Dr. Perky.
posted by Mael Oui at 8:51 PM on January 4, 2011

I used to drink Dr. Pepper pretty much exclusively. And constantly.

It's not possible to do that without wrecking your insulin producing abilities after a while, so the only time I drink the real deal these days is when I can get my hands on some Dublin Dr Pepper with real sugar. This is a rare occurrence but not out of the range of possibilities, with TX being right across the border. Fortunately, we do have a decent supply of Coca Cola in glass bottles made with real sugar at the supermarkets, although I do have to be disciplined about it. Real sugar tastes better than corn syrup, but both are simple carbs which burn up very quickly, and too much of that is not good no matter which kind it is.

I agree with some others who have said that Diet Dr Pepper is very close to the non-diet version, but unfortunately whatever combo of newfangled alcohol sugars they use as a sweetener wreaks havoc on my stomach, far more than any other type of diet soda. So, other than water, I stick to A&W diet root beer, which actually is pretty decent, and it doesn't cause any digestive problems for me. I admit Mug in diet version is superior, but it's also much more expensive at the one store here which carries it. Not sure why this is the case, as they're both made almost entirely of carbonated water and are insanely cheap to produce compared to the retail price. I'm about ready to convert to one of those soda making things so as to save money and not to produce so much waste, but if I can't find a decent diet root beer syrup, not sure if I could stick to it ...
posted by krinklyfig at 9:00 PM on January 4, 2011

I've made chocolate cake using Dr Pepper; Just take some instant cake mix (like Duncan Hines) and add one can of Dr Pepper. Mix and stick in the oven. Delicious!
posted by KingEdRa at 1:08 AM on January 5, 2011

Convenience stores in Australia have started selling American import sodas. A&W Root Beer is beautiful, the corn syrup sweetening (unusual to our tastebuds!) making it just a little more unctuous, which cuts through the high sharp flavour very well. The Vanilla Cream soda is okay, but sort of a honking trumpet of flavour. Dr Pepper is okay: I'm not normally a foe of medicinal flavours - I love Taiwanese pearl tea with almond syrup, for instance - but the overwhelming corn syrup magnifies the cloying flavour. Somewhat difficult to drink; a rare treat. I'll stick to amaretto sours.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 2:09 AM on January 5, 2011

I've seen corn soup in Japanese vending machines (in a little can and everything), but never corn soda.

They are all corn sodas, at least in the US. Gimmie that HFCS!
posted by fixedgear at 4:18 AM on January 5, 2011

As an Englishman, I never cease to be astounded by the fervour that fizzy drinks and discussions thereof, can elicit from Americans. Even more than tea.
posted by jan murray at 4:34 AM on January 5, 2011

Tea comments so far - 198.
Fizzy comments - 148.

I was wrong - but insist on remaining astounded.
posted by jan murray at 4:39 AM on January 5, 2011

Big Red is also from Waco. Yuk.
posted by Daddy-O at 5:33 AM on January 5, 2011

I never drink fizzy drinks, but I would make an exception for Frostie's. Unfortunately it's very expensive and very seasonal in the UK.
posted by mippy at 6:10 AM on January 5, 2011

Is champagne a fizzy drink?
posted by jan murray at 7:49 AM on January 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yep, I remember Dr Pepper gum (but, I preferred Gatorade gum).

I also really like Dr Pepper Chocolate cake. You really have to make it from scratch and make the icing with it too.

There is a cooking with Dr Pepper and 7up cookbook (I think it may be out of print) or you can just find some recipes online
posted by nimsey lou at 9:05 AM on January 5, 2011

A&W Root Beer is beautiful, the corn syrup sweetening (unusual to our tastebuds!) making it just a little more unctuous, which cuts through the high sharp flavour very well.

It's a long shot, but be on the lookout for Barq's root beer. Especially if you like quirky, spiced, medicinal flavors. Not sure how you'll feel about the corn syrup vs. sugar thing, but Barq's is so good it's the only soda I still have strong cravings for.
posted by Sara C. at 9:11 AM on January 5, 2011

I suddenly want a birch beer, which I haven't had since I was a little kid and I don't think actually exists anywhere in the American South. My mom used to make what I think she called a "black and white cow," consisting of a scoop of chocolate ice cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass, with birch beer poured over it all, served with an iced tea spoon. I haven't thought about birch beer in years and had pretty much forgotten it existed until all this talk of fizzy drinks and root beer.
posted by Gator at 9:25 AM on January 5, 2011

Yeah, Dr. Pepper is vile. Mountain Dew is decent, though. It's just a fairly typical lemon-lime cola with an assload of caffeine.
posted by Malor

Not true! Sprite is a lemon-lime soda. Mountain Dew is a lemon-lime-orange soda. It has a small amount of orange juice in it which changes the flavor profile immensely (more in line with a sweeter Orange Dry soda or San Pellegrino Aranciata overall). When Mountain Dew Throwback first came out I was incredibly excited (real sugar soda being almost always better) but they had (I assume) gone back to a pre-orange juice recipe and it was NOT the Mountain Dew I knew and loved, it was just sort of watery and lifeless compared to the regular Mountain Dew, however, when they rereleased Throwback in 09, they'd correct their mistake and added the key orange juice back in!

This reminds me of another thing, sodas with cherry flavors like Dr Pepper and Cherry Coke hold up better to the lameness of HFCS than others. Mexican Coke is a revelation, whereas the sugared varieties are certainly better than their HFCS counterparts, they aren't nearly as great a leap towards greatness.
posted by haveanicesummer at 10:43 AM on January 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

Cheers to this thread, for informing myself the recent expat that Dr Pepper is indeed available in the UK. Now I must get some.

Seconding the love of Dr Pepper Lip Smackers, my favorite go-to chapstick.
posted by Gordafarin at 2:24 PM on January 5, 2011 [1 favorite]

wait - there's a Dr. RC??
posted by ericbop at 3:48 PM on January 5, 2011

Dr. Smooth is the only Canadian brand represented here. Then again, Loblaws is the only supermarket in Canada and there's only one of them. In Toronto.
posted by tehloki at 9:18 PM on January 5, 2011

Damn you hippybear. I'll be craving DP for weeks now and my local import source hasn't had any for months.

Is it too late to make my nomination for "Funniest Out of Context Comment of 2010?"

Because, well, yeah. That.
posted by rokusan at 7:32 PM on January 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think it'd only be eligible for 2011.

Shit. And now that the clue-by-four has been applied, my childhood just became a little more warped, as calling the Dr. by his initials was a frequent occurance in our household.
posted by romakimmy at 2:26 AM on January 8, 2011

> Shit. And now that the clue-by-four has been applied, my childhood just became a little more warped, as calling the Dr. by his initials was a frequent occurance in our household.

A few winters ago I gave all my friends said jams and jellies as holiday tokens and I gave my favorite foodie pal the "Dublin DP" one. He took one look at the label and was all "wat" and when I explained he was like "oh, ok...because, you know, I see 'DP' and that's not the first thing that comes to mind."
posted by ifjuly at 11:31 AM on January 8, 2011

I should mention this guy is usually pretty straitlaced and classy, so it was a little eye opening.
posted by ifjuly at 11:32 AM on January 8, 2011