A Death in Dublin

I can still here the jingle on my family's black and white TV

I'm a Pepper, he's a Pepper, She's a Pepper, we're a Pepper, Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper, too? Be a Pepper. Drink Dr Pepper.

I can remember the "Dr." encouraging us to enjoy the beverage "at 10, 2 and 4"
And my husband's grandmother did! A native Texan, Mamaw couldn't stay awake in church on Sunday if she hadn't had her Dr. Pepper.

Sadly, Dr. Pepper is no longer alive and well in the little Texas town of Dublin.

Dr. Pepper is truly a “native Texan,” originating in the 1880's at Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store in Waco. It is the oldest of the major brand soft drinks in America. Like its flavor, the origin of Dr Pepper is out-of-the-ordinary. Charles Alderton, a young pharmacist working at Morrison's store, is believed to be the inventor of the now famous drink. Alderton spent most of his time mixing up medicine, but in his spare time he liked to serve carbonated drinks at the soda fountain. Inspired by the way the drug store smelled, with all of the fruit syrup flavor smells mixing together in the air. He decided to to create a drink that tasted like that smell. He kept a journal, and after numerous experiments he finally hit upon a mixture of fruit syrups that he liked.

The formula was eventually purchased by the Snapple company (more history here), and has been bottled by various plants around the country, one of which has been the plant in Dublin, TX. As a result of the outcome of the June law suit filed by Snapple, as of this month, the Dublin plant has been forced to stop production and distribution of their lead product. So much for holding on to tradition and individuality. Apparently the "sticking point" was that the Dublin bottling works identified the product as Dublin Dr. Pepper, rather than generic Dr. Pepper as all the other bottling plants do. They did this to emphasize the fact that the product produced at the Dublin plant used only pure cane sugar, not corn syrup. Other plants also use sugar, but don't label their product as being unique from others.

These changes at the bottling plant mean Old Doc's Soda Shop, which is a part of the bottling works, is having to change it's way of doing business. They're in the process of changing their website to reflect those changes now. They still offer tours of the bottling plant, where they produce  popular flavors such as Big Red.

This recent news article explains the impact on the whole town of Dublin, (map) where people really are viewing it as a death. Many folks are angry, and swear they'll never drink Dr. Pepper again. Jeff Kloster, vice president of the bottling works, became teary-eyed during an interview when asked if he'll still drink the soda. "Of course," he said, "I still start every day with a Dr. Pepper, but it's not the same."The Kloster family has owned the bottling works since 1991.

It's really too bad some other solution couldn't be reached as not only has the bottling plant had to lay off employees, this change will undoubtedly have an impact on the numbers of tourists which a lot of businesses depend upon for their livelihood. While the product continues to be available it will never be the same for the folks in Dublin.