I was recently traveling through the southern Appalachians, and, as is
my wont, sampling the Dr Pepper at the fountains. I found a
particularly nice formulation in the northwestern North Carolina (Mount
Airy)/southern Virginia region. It reminded me a bit of some I'd had
in Utah, with some bright fruit-notes, but this wasn't quite as
overwhelmed with "cherry-ness", and so I think it was more true to the
classic Dr Pepper taste. I believe it's distributed by Pepsi, as the
fountains I found it at all had Pepsi products. I recommend trying it
if you're in the area.
Also in that region you can sometimes find Dr Pepper in 12 oz glass
bottles. While not as "bright" as the fountain product, it's probably
some of the best bottled/canned D.P. I've tasted in years. It has a
"clean" sweetness and a fullness of flavor that I imagine is due to
their using sucrose rather than high-fructose corn syrup.
-Doug Elrod (dre1@cornell.edu)
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