For a summer road trip this year a buddy and I are on a quest to find a restaurant with RC Cola on tap in or near Wisconsin. We grew up in RC households so it’s a nostagia thing . . .
I found a somewhat similar thread on “generic” colas from February 2022 but I’m looking specifically for the RC brand, specifically on tap (not bottled/canned), and hopefully within 2 to 3 hours max from Wisconsin. I tried googling and found that Dotty Dumpling’s Dowry in Madison used to have it but they now serve Coke products, and I emailed RC (now a Kuerig Dr Pepper brand, learned something new!) but was told that while they can tell me retailers in my area with cans/bottles they don’t release lists of locations purchasing fountain syrup.
Anyone know of a specific restaurant (or multiple!) or even a gas station with RC on tap in or near Wisconsin? If so, please let me know and thanks for your assistance!
I think the OP is phrasing it wrong. They want fountain RC Cola, not “on tap” like beer.
Working in food service a few years ago the syrup comes in a “bag-in-box” that gets pumped to the fountain head and mixed with the soda water at that point, this is called “post-mix”. Years ago you would get the pop in stainless steel cylinders with the pop already mixed (so I guess like a keg) and this was called “pre-mix” but I haven’t seen tis style in years.
The only soda pop I have seen in actual kegs is 1919 Root Beer where it is served out of a tapper just like beer,
Yes you’re right, sorry for the incorrect terminology. I am indeed referring to the boxes of syrup mixed with carbonated water by an establishment and served out of a soda fountain. When I was googling in an attempt to find such a location, I came across a few blogs where people had mentioned this as “on tap” but I can see where that may be misleading.
Thank you to all who have responded, it’s good advice for the quest!
You can buy your own home soda fountain machine, with CO2 cartridges and flavor syrup and your own tap water, and produce soda ‘on tap’ (‘fountain’) in your own home bar. Heck, you can get them at Wal-Mart.
Unless we are taking about coca-cola at McDonalds (and I realize that the OP was asking about Royal Crown). Coke syrup is delivered to McD’s in stainless steel containers, which is supposed to keep it fresher.
McDonald’s gets syrup in stainless steel containers and is post-mix.
Pre-mix is/was in a thin walled container about 10-12” in diameter and about 3’ tall, holds maybe 5 gallons. The pop is already mixed at the proper ratio and you could drink it straight from the container.
The OP could try contacting the local Dr. Pepper/Snapple distributor and see if any of their customers get RC BIBs for fountain dispensing.
I’m checking mail and watering plants for an out-of-town friend and noticed they have a case of RC cans in the kitchen. I don’t drink much pop and never the sugared stuff but I cracked one open, anyway. Holy smokes, I was instantly rocketed back in time 30 years. I used to down a 2 liter of RC every day or two at my after school job and one taste put me right back at that time and place. It’s neat how a tiny tickle in one part of the mind unlocks vivid memories like that.
Mission accomplished! My buddy and i went up to Door County WI this past week and ended up at a bar at the corner of Hill St in Fish Creek where I ordered an old fashioned and he ordered a rum and Coke. But as I was walking away I heard the bartender say to him “Is RC OK?” and thought to myself, “oh wow, this may be it!”
So for the next round I just had to ask, “did I hear that you have RC on the soda gun?” and sure thing, we got ourselves a couple refreshing glasses of fountain RC! It was everything I hoped for; I find the flavor of RC preferable to both Coke and Pepsi so I wish more places offered it.