FYI- (this is just a little outdated) Dublin DP bought another distrubutor a few years ago and they are making Imperial Cane Sugar DP. HEB Stores in Houston sell it for 5.99 a 6 pack for 8oz bottles or 7.99 at HEB Central Market in Central Houston. I have found it in Fredericksburg, Texas at the
Walmart for under $3.00 for a 12oz can 6 Pack.
How can I get some cane sugar Dr Pepper?
You can either:
a) Visit the plant in Dublin, Texas--the oldest Dr Pepper bottling plant in the world and the only plant in the U.S. which is allowed by the Dr Pepper corporation to still manufacture the soda with cane sugar. The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company is located at 221 South Patrick, Dublin, Texas 76446, one block south of the intersection of US377/67 and TX6. The plant is open Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm; Saturday, 10am-5pm; and Sunday, 1-5pm. You can also call them at 1-254-445-3466 for tour information, etc.
b) Visit most stores within a 50 mile radius of the plant--which is the territory covered by it.
c) Call up Old Doc's Soda Shop in Dublin at 1-888-398-10-2-4, or 1-254-445-3939 and they can tell you how much it costs to have "The Real Thing" shipped to you. You can even order it online right now! Click here and all will be revealed.
Be forewarned that no matter how you buy it from Dublin, there is a 25 case limit. Any more than that sold to a single person could violate franchise agreements (because you could be "dealing" if you have more than 25 cases in your possession and transport them into another franchise's territory).
d) Visit the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas, in person (see question 3.4 for their address), and you can buy loose bottles and cans of the cane sugar soda in their gift shop--but not at their soda fountain. The way they explain it, the museum is not allowed to sell the soda "to drink" at their fountain with all their other sodas, but they are allowed to sell it "closed" at their gift shop, as long as they only sell it in person to museum customers. I telephoned the museum and asked: "Does that mean you can’t drink it anywhere on the premises?" "Well, our customers can do whatever they want after they buy it," the kind woman on the other end responded. The museum does not ship the cane sugar product anywhere, which may be why you never heard of it on their web site.
e) And, if you want to drink some cane sugar Dr Pepper with your meal, you can safely do so at Love & War in Texas, a restaurant located at 601 E. Plano Parkway in Plano, Texas. A member of their staff confirmed for me that they do serve "the genuine article" every day for lunch and dinner. How do they get it? They drive up to Dublin and buy a few cases, like everyone else. They even have a web site at loveandwarintexas.com, where you can view their Texas-themed menu up close--or as up close as you can get on the web. Their phone number is 1-972-422-6201, and if you’ve got nine friends coming with you, they’ll even let you make reservations.
f) If you want to get some groceries along with your cane sugar Dr Pepper, you can find both at Central Market in Dallas, Texas, located at 5750 E. Lovers Lane at Greenville Avenue. You can email them at
cox.michael@heb.com or call them at 1-214-234-7000 for more detailed information. They even cater!
g) If you’re in Seattle, Washington, you can drop by Real Soda, a store that specializes in selling soda in glass bottles, soda with cane sugar (such as the aforementioned cane sugar DP), soda in long neck bottles, soda imported from Europe and Mexico, and so on. Their street address is 459 N. 36th St., and their phone number is 1-206-633-1092. If you don’t feel like traveling there in person, there is an affiliated web site where you can order the soda at
www.sodaking.com. However, if you only want to discuss the soda, there are (or will be soon) message boards for that at
www.realsoda.com. And you thought I had too much to say on the subject?
