I was shocked to learn this week that Dublin Dr. Pepper will no longer be bottled and sold under the Dublin logo and name. Before you panic, a pure cane sugar version of Dr. Pepper will be bottled under the Dr Pepper Snapple company, but will no longer bear the history nor nostalgic face of Bill Kloster that we've all come to know and love.
For my non-Texas readers, the small town of Dublin, Texas has been bottling a recipe of Dr. Pepper containing Imperial Pure Cane Sugar for the last 121 years. That's pretty impressive considering that's only six years shy of Dr. Pepper's original debut in Waco, Texas. After all this time, a dispute between Dublin Dr. Pepper and the Dr Pepper Snapple company has led to the settlement that Dublin will no longer be bottling their special recipe of Dr. Pepper under their name.
Being from Texas, Dr. Pepper has always been my 'coke' of choice, but Dublin Dr. Pepper was always my favorite. I don't drink soda often, however my rare soda cravings are always for a Dublin Dr. Pepper. My mom and aunt would periodically make the three-hour road trip from Austin to Dublin just to load up on the pure cane goodness and thankfully were always kind enough to share. Cases have been both shipped and hand delivered to us all the way in California over the past few years to make up for the fact that it wasn't readily available here. I could kick myself for finishing off the two cases brought to us back in August, but we had no way of knowing what was to come.
This isn't just about losing a soft drink; as I said previously, the recipe will now be bottled under the Dr Pepper Snapple Company. This is about losing a piece of history and the all too familiar tale of small town America being taken over by big corporations. I'm heart broken to learn that the Dublin name will also be removed from billboards, t-shirts and signs surrounding the nostalgic town of Dublin, as if the past 121 years never happened.
Dublin, Texas drew almost 100,000 visitors annually. Most, like us, visited simply to stock up on their beloved soda. Tours of the soda shop, museum and bottling plant were also a hit to visitors. Thank you to the lovely town of Dublin for all of the road trips and all of the memories over the years; you will not be forgotten.
My aunt is holding on to her last case of Dublin Dr. Pepper to fund her retirement; please feel free to direct any offers our way - serious inquiries only. Okay, okay, in all seriousness; I can speak for my entire family when I say that the original Dublin Dr. Pepper will sure be missed.
3 comments:
Why was the company so willing to get rid of the history on the can? Seems a little strange, considering corporate America's penchant for wanting their products to appear "small batch" made. I've never been a Dr. Pepper person, but I really appreciate the company's heritage. Sad.
Kimmie, I was about to panic that Dr. Pepper was no longer available period! That would be AWFUL since I can't even get it over here unless I pay a song at the commissary!!!
Because they let Dublin Dr Pepper exist for so many years, it must come down to the opportunity for profit Dr Pepper/Snapple now sees due to HFCS backlash. After all, when sugar was the devil, why bother, right? They did "heritage" Dr Pepper successfully a year or two ago so I bet they figure they should just take over the Dublin brand. Boooo!
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