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Dr Pepper is now America’s second favorite soda. Here is a ranking of Dr Pepper’s wackiest flavors
How do limited-edition Dr Pepper flavors stack up to the original?
Published: June 5, 2024, 2:53 p.m. MDT
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By Margaret Darby
Dr Pepper just climbed to America’s No. 2 favorite soda, stealing the long-held crown from Pepsi, as reported by CNN Business. The 193-year-old soda brand still sits behind Coca-Cola, which retains its coveted position as America’s favorite soda.
While “Dr Pepper has been gaining, (Pepsi) has been declining, and they’re meeting in the middle,” said Duane Stanford, editor of Beverage Digest, in an interview with CNN.
Dr Pepper’s spicy taste comes from “a signature blend of 23 flavors.” The soda company has never come forward with what these flavors are, but fans suspect the drink contains flavors such as black licorice, ginger, prune juice, tomato juice and more, per The Washington Post.
Since the early aughts, Dr Pepper has been releasing wacky, limited-edition flavors that offer a twist of the soda’s original taste. Some of these flavors, such as Cherry Dr Pepper, have remained market shelf staples, while others were archived.
The most recent limited-flavor, Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut, caught my attention.
I was offered a Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut at a party last week. Reluctantly, I cracked open the can to see how it stood up to previous Dr Pepper flavors.
As a fan of Utah dirty soda, I was skeptical of the soda brand’s ability to replicate a staple dirty soda flavor in a can. But I was impressed. Taking inspiration from Utah’s soda empire might be one of Dr Pepper’s most rewarding moves yet.
How do Creamy Coconut and other alternative Dr Pepper flavors stack up to the original?
Here is a ranking of the wackiest Dr Pepper flavors.
What are the best — and wackiest — Dr Pepper flavors?
7. Birthday Cake (2019)
As someone who scrapes most of the frosting off of birthday cakes, this flavor is not for me.“It’s as if Dr Pepper took the rich vanilla frosting on a cake and found a way to mix it with their regular Dr Pepper beverage,” described a Dr Pepper reviewer.
Liquefied birthday cake frosting combined with spicy, carbonated Dr Pepper is as bad as it sounds. It’s a no from me.
6. Dark Berry (2019)
Honestly, Dark Berry smells like cough syrup. And kind of tastes like it too.If you can get past the smell, it’s basically a grape Dr Pepper.
5. Cherry (2009)
Cherry Dr Pepper is smoother than the soda’s original flavor. Which sounds nice, but its smoothness comes at the cost of crispy carbonation. It tastes flat, like a soda you left out overnight and finished in the morning (I hesitate to admit I have done that).Dr Pepper describes the variation as “so amazingly smooth you just have to try it. A kiss of cherry makes it the smoothest Dr Pepper ever. Drink it smoother.” I’m afraid they took the smooth thing too far on this one.
The cherry flavor is nice, but the drink loses points for being watery and flat. I’ll pass.
4. Strawberries & Cream (2023)
Strawberries & Cream isn’t the worst Dr Pepper variation, but it certainly isn’t the best. I’ve tried it once. I have no motivation to ever have it again.It’s got that artificial taste that reminds you you’re drinking chemicals — which isn’t pleasant. The creaminess is nice, but the strawberry flavor just isn’t it.
Give me strawberry puree and I’ll make this drink 100 times better at home.
3. Dr Pepper & Cream Soda (2020)
Mixing Dr Pepper with any form of cream flavor has proven to be nearly fail-proof. Mix Dr Pepper with cream and fans come running. It has a way of balancing the drink’s “spicy” flavor without overpowering it, but it does make the drink a lot sweeter.I’m neutral toward Dr Pepper & Cream Soda. It tastes good and offers a nice changes from the typical soda. But is it better than the original Dr Pepper? No.
If I’m in a pinch and craving something sweet, I’d take Dr Pepper & Cream Soda roughly a quarter of the time. The reality is, I’d rather pour real cream in an original Dr Pepper than drink the canned Dr Pepper & Cream Soda.
2. Berries & Cream (2006, 2022)
Berries & Cream was introduced in 2006 as part of a Dr Pepper initiative to bring unique flavors to the soda’s original taste. The drink stayed on the market for roughly a year and a half before getting archived, per Best Products. Fans instantly missed the drink’s raspberry-blueberry-vanilla-cream flavor.In light of 15 years of popular demand, Dr Pepper renewed Berries & Cream in 2022 for a brief moment. It was just as good as longtime fans remembered.
Like most Dr Pepper variants, Berries & Cream is sweeter than the original taste and tastes more like a cream soda than a Dr Pepper. It’s tasty, unless you’re averse to cream soda. In that case, you might not enjoy it.
1. Creamy Coconut (2024)
Before officially tasting the Creamy Coconut Dr Pepper, I suspected it would taste like sunblock. I was wrong. It’s delicious.Creamy Coconut doesn’t crowd out the original taste of Dr Pepper but enhances its taste with subtle, sweet hints of coconut. The cream flavor softens the soda’s “spicy” flavor without overpowering it. Is it better than the original Dr Pepper flavor? Maybe.
Dr Pepper nailed down the quintessential taste of summer in a can. Hopefully they keep it on the shelves through the season.
Which is the best Dr Pepper flavor? A ranking of Dr Pepper’s wackiest flavors
How do limited-edition Dr Pepper flavors stack up to the original?
www.deseret.com
I bought a dope shirt with some kinda Asian-like script. And they gave out free ice cream floats at the end 