just what is Dr. Pepper Flavor?
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The Weekenders
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KatieBell
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http://www.faqs.org/faqs/drink/dr-pepper/
Does Dr Pepper contain prune juice?
In a word: NO!
According to the Urban Legends Reference Pages at snopes.com: "It doesn't, but the rumor is remarkably long-lived, having been with us since about 1930."
In addition, Bottlecaps (the "Official Newsletter of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute") emphasizes in their Vol. I, 1999, issue: "Prune juice is not and never has been in Dr Pepper. The prune juice rumor is an old story that has been in circulation since the 1930s."
Also, the Dr Pepper company states on their website that "prune juice is definitely not one of the ingredients."
And, as if that wasn't enough, the site for Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. has offered two different assertions during the past two years: 1) "its unique flavor comes from the blending of 23 fruits, none of which are prunes" 2) "Dr Pepper is a unique blend of natural and artificial flavors; it does not contain prune juice."
The corporation also highlights this "Fun Fact" on its web site: "Contrary to popular misconception, Dr Pepper never has and never will contain prune juice."
Are we all clear on this now?
Okay, so what's in Dr Pepper?
On the label in the US, the ingredients are: Carbonated Water; Imperial Pure Cane Sugar [or "High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar," if you're not so lucky]; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Artificial and Natural Flavors; Sodium Benzoate (Preservative); Caffeine.
[...]
The Dr Pepper company had this to say in a pamphlet it published sometime in either the late 1950's or early 1960's: "Its unique flavor results from the blending of pure fruit flavors (gathered from throughout the world) with mystic spices, from far-off Madagascar, and clean, clear distilled sparkling water." You don't suppose one of those spices is vanilla, do you? On the company's web site today, they state the obvious: "It is a blend of many spices and flavor extracts. The color is supplied by caramel especially made for the product." In addition, the company also says the concentrate for Dr Pepper is kosher, and that "our products which contain High Fructose Corn Syrup may contain small amounts of corn gluten."
Max W, who "can't guarantee the accuracy of any of this," posted this interesting article (with a small caveat) on June 20, 1999:
Yes, I've heard the "23 fruit flavors" of Dr. Pepper [sic] for years. I can tell you this is nonsense! I can't reveal the source (he'd get fired), but here is a list of some of the real flavoring ingredients:
Vanillin (imitation vanilla)
Extract of almond
denatured rum (no joke)
Oil of orange
lactic acid (optional; once listed separately from "flavorings")
Max goes on to say: "None of this is will be confirmed by the PR people of the company, who reply with the evasive 'Dr. Pepper contains neither rum nor vanilla.' Substitutions are possible, depending on the bottler, so that Dr. Pepper in one part of the country might not taste quite the same as in some others. But denatured rum is universal to the formula." Take it for what it's worth.
Brian posted to alt.fan.dr-pepper on January 19, 1998 (and emailed me a correction on June 30, 1998), about his visit to the Dublin Dr Pepper plant, which I think definitively answers two questions at once:
"Just got back today from the Dublin bottling plant and museum. There has been a lot of debate on what flavor Dr Pepper really is, so I asked Mr. Kloster [Bill Kloster], the plant owner, who has worked in that plant for almost 60 years. According to him, Dr Pepper is a mix of 23 different fruit flavors. The original creator wanted to create a drink that tasted like the smell of a soda shop. When you walked into a soda shop in that day, you smelled all the fruit flavors of the different sodas all mixed into one. So he basically took a bunch of flavors and mixed them, and came up with Dr Pepper. He said Dr Pepper does not and has never had prune juice in it."
Alas, Brian may have been one of the last people to ask Bill Kloster that question. Mr. Kloster passed away on September 24, 1999, at age 81, having spent 67 of those years working for the Dublin Dr Pepper plant (minus two years off for service during World War II). His dedication to keeping pure cane sugar in Dr Pepper will be sorely missed.
Does Dr Pepper contain prune juice?
In a word: NO!
According to the Urban Legends Reference Pages at snopes.com: "It doesn't, but the rumor is remarkably long-lived, having been with us since about 1930."
In addition, Bottlecaps (the "Official Newsletter of the Dr Pepper Museum and Free Enterprise Institute") emphasizes in their Vol. I, 1999, issue: "Prune juice is not and never has been in Dr Pepper. The prune juice rumor is an old story that has been in circulation since the 1930s."
Also, the Dr Pepper company states on their website that "prune juice is definitely not one of the ingredients."
And, as if that wasn't enough, the site for Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. has offered two different assertions during the past two years: 1) "its unique flavor comes from the blending of 23 fruits, none of which are prunes" 2) "Dr Pepper is a unique blend of natural and artificial flavors; it does not contain prune juice."
The corporation also highlights this "Fun Fact" on its web site: "Contrary to popular misconception, Dr Pepper never has and never will contain prune juice."
Are we all clear on this now?
Okay, so what's in Dr Pepper?
On the label in the US, the ingredients are: Carbonated Water; Imperial Pure Cane Sugar [or "High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sugar," if you're not so lucky]; Caramel Color; Phosphoric Acid; Artificial and Natural Flavors; Sodium Benzoate (Preservative); Caffeine.
[...]
The Dr Pepper company had this to say in a pamphlet it published sometime in either the late 1950's or early 1960's: "Its unique flavor results from the blending of pure fruit flavors (gathered from throughout the world) with mystic spices, from far-off Madagascar, and clean, clear distilled sparkling water." You don't suppose one of those spices is vanilla, do you? On the company's web site today, they state the obvious: "It is a blend of many spices and flavor extracts. The color is supplied by caramel especially made for the product." In addition, the company also says the concentrate for Dr Pepper is kosher, and that "our products which contain High Fructose Corn Syrup may contain small amounts of corn gluten."
Max W, who "can't guarantee the accuracy of any of this," posted this interesting article (with a small caveat) on June 20, 1999:
Yes, I've heard the "23 fruit flavors" of Dr. Pepper [sic] for years. I can tell you this is nonsense! I can't reveal the source (he'd get fired), but here is a list of some of the real flavoring ingredients:
Vanillin (imitation vanilla)
Extract of almond
denatured rum (no joke)
Oil of orange
lactic acid (optional; once listed separately from "flavorings")
Max goes on to say: "None of this is will be confirmed by the PR people of the company, who reply with the evasive 'Dr. Pepper contains neither rum nor vanilla.' Substitutions are possible, depending on the bottler, so that Dr. Pepper in one part of the country might not taste quite the same as in some others. But denatured rum is universal to the formula." Take it for what it's worth.
Brian posted to alt.fan.dr-pepper on January 19, 1998 (and emailed me a correction on June 30, 1998), about his visit to the Dublin Dr Pepper plant, which I think definitively answers two questions at once:
"Just got back today from the Dublin bottling plant and museum. There has been a lot of debate on what flavor Dr Pepper really is, so I asked Mr. Kloster [Bill Kloster], the plant owner, who has worked in that plant for almost 60 years. According to him, Dr Pepper is a mix of 23 different fruit flavors. The original creator wanted to create a drink that tasted like the smell of a soda shop. When you walked into a soda shop in that day, you smelled all the fruit flavors of the different sodas all mixed into one. So he basically took a bunch of flavors and mixed them, and came up with Dr Pepper. He said Dr Pepper does not and has never had prune juice in it."
Alas, Brian may have been one of the last people to ask Bill Kloster that question. Mr. Kloster passed away on September 24, 1999, at age 81, having spent 67 of those years working for the Dublin Dr Pepper plant (minus two years off for service during World War II). His dedication to keeping pure cane sugar in Dr Pepper will be sorely missed.
To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions. -Keen
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Steamwalker
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susnfx
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I've always said Dr. Pepper was what we referred to in our little town in the 60s as a "suicide." If you ordered a suicide the high school girl working at the Arctic Circle would put ice in your cup (either small or large: 15 or 25 cents, as I recall) and then run it under each faucet in the soft drink machine--anything they happened to have: coke, lime, orange, root beer, etc. It was not my cup of tea--and neither is Dr. Pepper.
Susan
Susan
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KatieBell
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Susan,
We called them suicides as well. It was a great joy to be able to get them as a child. Don't think I would like it very much today.
There is a big taste difference between the high fructose and sugar versions of Dr Pepper. The sugar one is much smoother and doesn't have as much of a bite.
They have the syrup in Dublin, TX and it tastes great on vanilla ice cream. They bottle orange, grape, Big Red, and it seems like something else there with the pure cane sugar. The Big Red is my favorite.
Some people like to drink hot Dr Pepper in the winter months. It gets rave reviews, but I can't bring myself to try it.
We called them suicides as well. It was a great joy to be able to get them as a child. Don't think I would like it very much today.
There is a big taste difference between the high fructose and sugar versions of Dr Pepper. The sugar one is much smoother and doesn't have as much of a bite.
They have the syrup in Dublin, TX and it tastes great on vanilla ice cream. They bottle orange, grape, Big Red, and it seems like something else there with the pure cane sugar. The Big Red is my favorite.
Some people like to drink hot Dr Pepper in the winter months. It gets rave reviews, but I can't bring myself to try it.
To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions. -Keen
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Walden
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The original idea was to make Dr. Pepper like a "suicide", that is, a mix of the various soft drink syrups available, however it was found that they didn't all mix well together, and so some experimentation was undertaken.
As for 23 flavors... that's what it says on the front of the can.
And the high fructose corn syrup was developed by the chemists at Royal Crown Cola (now owned by Dr. Pepper-7up, which is itself owned by Cadbury-Schweppes) as a less expensive alternative to sugar, which is subject to high tariffs in these United States. Most American bottlers use the corn sweetener. It artificially keeps the corn farmers happy.
As for 23 flavors... that's what it says on the front of the can.
And the high fructose corn syrup was developed by the chemists at Royal Crown Cola (now owned by Dr. Pepper-7up, which is itself owned by Cadbury-Schweppes) as a less expensive alternative to sugar, which is subject to high tariffs in these United States. Most American bottlers use the corn sweetener. It artificially keeps the corn farmers happy.
Reasonable person
Walden
Walden
