When cost-conscious major cola manufacturers switched to high-fructose corn syrup in the ‘70s and ‘80s—notably new Coke, which innovated itself into infamy—rebel bottlers like the Dublin Dr Pepper plant refused to pull traditional cane sugar from their sodas. Now as agitated scienticians consider removing HFCS to the same possibly poisonous category as MSG and aspartame, colossal demand for the actual real thing makes the Dublin Dr Pepper plant consistently one of the busiest in the world. Actual bottles of Dublin Dr Pepper are difficult to find locally: an archaic franchising scheme limits their official distribution range to 44 miles of Last Picture Show territory in heartland Texas, and they have to be exported with moonshiner subtlety—pop shop Galco’s sells these bootleg bottles in LA and now Powell’s supplies Long Beach with a soda that predates rural electrification. Dublin Dr Pepper doesn’t have that sticky feel that comes from corn syrup; instead it’s got a strong and clear taste that reinforces the secret recipe (“fruit, spice and berry,” but explicitly not prune juice) with simple sugar and caramel. It’s also the main ingredient in Hot Dr Pepper—a morning coffee substitute that (with a Dublin base) sugars itself. After 20 years lapping up chemical substitutions, Dublin Dr Pepper offers—if not exactly something healthy—a pure and wholesome sort of rush.

POWELL’S SWEET SHOPPE 5282 E SECOND ST | LONG BEACH 90803 | POWELLSSWEETSHOPPE.COM

Tags: dr. pepper, Drink of the Week, second street, soda