The bottling plant in Dublin, Texas, is famous for making Dr Pepper with Imperial Pure Cane Sugar. (Bottlers buy the syrup, then add their own sweetener & water.) A while back, it was “bootlegged” in other Texas locations.
Robb Walsh, who wrote the Bootlegging article linked above, ran an unscientific test. His results: People who grew up with sugar soft drinks preferred the sugar version to the ones made with HFCS.
I do prefer a cane sugar Dr Pepper or Mexican Coke for an occasional treat.
Aren’t the only realistic options cane sugar and beet sugar? It’s not like they’re milking ant sugar.
Anyways the Heritage Dr. Pepper is fantastic. As is the Throwback Pepsi. The biggest difference is mouthfeel. The sugar stuff is not heavy and syrupy like the hfcs pop - which has a mouth coating feeling.
The Dr. Pepper “anniversary” packaging and the “heritage” sugar recipe are two separate things.
Well, corn syrup is a form of sugar. You can get crystalline fructose from fruit juice. There are many other possible sources of sugar. But if the ingredient list just says “sugar,” then cane and beets are the only legal sources.
In the United States, according to the FDA, “sugar” is defined as “sucrose…obtained by crystallization from sugar cane or sugar beet juice that has been extracted by pressing or diffusion, then clarified and evaporated.” An ingredient list may specify “cane sugar” or “beet sugar” under the same standard of identity, but this is not required.
“Real sugar” has no legal meaning that is any different from just “sugar.”
No. Corn syrup and HFCS are cheaper than cane sugar, at least with our present corn subsidies, and that is precisely why corn syrup is the prevailing sweetener in processed foods.
Reminded by this thread, I decided to grab a case of the real sugar Dr Pepper. I like it!
I happened to be driving by on 355 today so I stopped into Meijer’s …no luck 
The search continues!
I found some at the big Target store near where I live. If your Target has a grocery attached to it, you might check there.
No luck on the Dr. Pepper, or no luck on the throwback drinks in general? The Mountain Dew and Pepsi they had there on Tuesday, in the specials section in the aisle separating the food section of Meijer from the department store section. They were selling 12-can cartons at $2.50 each, limit 4. I didn’t see any Dr. Pepper, though.
Mexican coke, still made with cane sugar, still beats all the throwback flavors. For me, it might just be that Coke was my beverage of choice growing up, so it tastes “right” to me. About 2x as expensive than already pricey convenience store pop though.
Be sure to read the label. Some Mexican Coke is made with HFCS.
It’s widely available in grocery stores here in Houston. (The kind with sugar, that is; convenience stores are more hit & miss.) Still more expensive than “regular” soft drinks–but I’d rather have my occasional high-calorie treat be something I really enjoy.
They had the Mountain Dew, but no Pepsi or Dr. Pepper. I didn’t see the display at all and the Mountain Dew was in the regular soda aisle. I do my grocery shopping at a Super Target and I haven’t seen it there, either. Oh well, maybe I’ll get lucky eventually.
I asked my brother about the Dr. Pepper, and he got that in Indiana. Apparently, they don’t distribute it in this part of Illinois.
I didn’t like Dew Throwback when it first came out because it didn’t contain orange juice. (Yes, Mountain Dew contains orange juice. Look at the ingredients). Without that, it just tasted like over sweetened Sprite. But I just check Wikipedia and apparently the new version of Throwback does contain orange juice. So I might have to check it out.
Didn’t know Dr. Pepper was doing a throwback. Might have to take a look next time I’m at the store.
I’m not sure how I feel about the Dr. Pepper with Real But Unspecified Sugar. Certainly at first it tastes different in the sense that it’s like I’ve just put a spoonful of sugar in my mouth. Mind you, this effect wasn’t nearly as noticeable as it was with Jones Cream Soda, which was like tipping back a sugar bowl sprinkled with vanilla extract.
Overall, though, the Dr. Pepper didn’t taste all that different.
And then, when I ran out, I wished I had some more. Curious.
Ah crap, thanks for finding out, though. Now I can relax a little 