Dr Pepper museum has lots of ‘pop’
Students at SMU may or may not have heard that Dr Pepper isconsidered by some to be the drink of Texas. It was originallycreated and bottled right here in Texas. One bottling division isparticularly unique. At a bottling plant in Dublin, Texas, DrPepper is still created using Imperial Pure Cane Sugar init’s bottled drinks and uses turn of the century equipmentfor their processes.
“In the 1990’s, many beverage companies chose to usecorn syrup in their mixes instead of sugar,” said KarenWright, a public relations official for the bottling company.
“It was not because it was a healthier thing to do, oranything like that. In fact, it is less healthy as many people haveproblems with corn products or ‘sodas’. The reason somany companies switched was because Imperial [Sugar] raised theirsugar prices. The costs of other ingredients were rising, but sugardoubled and almost tripled for the beverage companies. So theyswitched in order to keep down costs and maximize profits whileremaining competitive on their prices to the public,” Wrightsaid.
When the other bottling firms made the decision to use cornsyrup, the management refused to change, saying,”that’s not how Dr Pepper should be made.”
Two other companies located in Waco and Temple, Texas agreed.Any Dr Pepper made with sugar is called Dublin Dr Pepper, sinceDublin headed the move to remain true to the recipe. These threebottling companies are the only ones in the United States thatstill use sugar.
Pharmacist Charles Alderton invented Dr Pepper in 1885 whileworking at Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco. WadeMorrison, the owner of the drug store where Alderton worked, namedthe drink after Dr. Charles Pepper who gave Morrison his first job.Pepsi was created in 1898, and Coca-Cola in 1886, making Dr Pepperthe oldest soft drink in the country.
In 1969 Coca-Cola sued Dr Pepper for patent infringements ontheir recipe, and Pepsi joined in. Judge Sarah Hughes insisted onseeing the formulas for each beverage to determine if there was aviolation.
She ruled that the drinks were in no way similar; in fact therecipe for Dr Pepper was so unique and was really a food item sinceit is made from different fruit juices and sugar, not caramels.
To date, Hughes is the only living person known to have seen allthree formulas in their complete context.
Dublin Dr Pepper was shared with Russian troops on the frontlines during World War II and is now consumed by fans around theworld. It can be ordered on the Internet atwww.dublindrpepper.com.
If looking for something interesting and fun for the holidays,try stepping back in time at the oldest bottling company inTexas.
Tours are given at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. and cost $7.Visitors can see how the drinks are made and tour the museum whiletasting the original recipe.
