I wonder if you can guess what the best-selling soft drinks in the US are (at least in 2007)? I don’t think I would have guessed #4.
1. Coke
2. Pepsi
3. Diet Coke
4. ??
5. Diet Pepsi
6. Dr. Pepper
7. Sprite
8. Fanta
Can you fill in the blank? The official answer is here or in non-pdf format here.
I live a few miles from the international headquarters of Dr. Pepper/Snapple. A few weeks ago our family went to the Dr. Pepper Ballpark, where they sell no cola products whatsoever. In Texas, you can buy Caffeine-Free Dr. Pepper, but you have to go to Illinois or Iowa to buy Caffeine-Free Mountain Dew.
I nice place to take the family for vacation would be Dublin, TX, home of the oldest Dr. Pepper bottling factory. There you can buy Dr. Pepper still made with Imperial Cane sugar, and believe me, you can taste the difference.http://www.dublindrpepper.com/
Standing in the checkout line at Fry’s a few days ago, I saw a six pack of Dublin Dr. Pepper. Unfortunately they wanted $8 for a six-pack. I’ve heard it’s good.
I’ll second the comment on Dublin Dr. Pepper. You also can go to the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, which is where the drink originated. They have an old-fashioned soda shop there. The stuff tastes great and they do brisk business shipping it. It is $16 for a case of 24. It’s worth it an occasional splurge. Experts say there is no difference between the cane variety and the corn syrup variety. I beg to differ. Pepsi just put out its throwback stuff. If you want something really good, get Mexican Coke. Of course, when it comes to Coke, nothing beats Israeli Coke. I finally learned why — it’s made with sugar in Israel, not corn syrup. Now wonder I loved that stuff so much when I was there.
Get some of that Dr. Pepper though. Smooth and you can cook with it too (there is a cook book for it).
As for Mt. Dew — I hear that stuff is all the rage in the South (Kentucky, West Virginia, through Appalachia, the whole coal mining region and such). 20/20 or Dateline had a story awhile back about the serious addiction to the stuff and the problems that result such as tooth decay and hyperactivity. I really can’t stand the stuff. Blech.
The one thing I love about Texas was that Dr. Pepper was everywhere. It didn’t matter what fast food joint you went into. Every restaurant had it. Our friends from Texas were coming out West once. They were at McDonald’s, asked for Dr. Pepper, and received Mr. Pibb instead. Talk about culture shock. Pibb is wannabe Pepper.
Sadly, you cannot find caffeine-rich Mountain Dew in Canada.