Dec. 2: Why I like Dr. Pepper

One Christmas morning when I was in my early 20s, I opened my bedroom door and found 12 cases of Dr. Pepper waiting for me. Santa Claus, evidently, did not believe in diabetes. 

I don't know when I discovered a love for Dr. Pepper. It has become my soft drink of choice (though I admit that as I get older, I also enjoy the humdrum taste of flat ginger ale.) Dr. Pepper is best served cold and best served from the fountain. You want it to fizz. You want to smell that cherry flavour. Can you dig it?

When I see someone else drinking a Dr. Pepper, I almost always comment on it. We have an impromptu conversation that usually goes something like this:

Me: You're a Dr. Pepper drinker too!!!

Them: You bet.

Me: Me too. Coke and Pepsi are too boring.

Them: Tell me about it.

And then we go our separate ways.

I am told that the Dr. Pepper brewed up here does not compare to the Dr. Pepper made in the southern United States. I agree, but I don't know why.

I do know that Dr. Pepper is the oldest soft drink in the United States and that it was invented by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton at his Texas drug store. He named the drink after Charles Pepper, a Virginia doctor who was probably delighted to have a largely unhealthy beverage named after him.

I won't lie and pretend that Dr. Pepper is good for me. It rots my teeth and probably gives me cancer and makes me fat. I don't drink one every day. I didn't have one today. I had one yesterday.

In 2015, my Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a dozen hot chicken wings and a bottle of cold Dr. Pepper. I did not feel jealous of anyone sitting down to turkey and taters and gravy. I had it all, my friend.

Evidence:


 

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