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Sunday, January 9, 2000, brought quite an exciting event -- part two of my Dr Pepper and generic equivalent taste test! This year didn't have quite as many varieties as last time, but that was a good thing, because we felt a whole lot better this time around, much less gas and bloating. Once again, we judged the beverages on four criteria: Overall Taste, Similarity to Dr Pepper, Label Design, and Name Cleverness. The event was also supposed to feature my attempt at Dr Pepper jelly, from a web page of Dr Pepper recipes. But it turned out as less of a jelly and more of a gooey syrup. So much for that...

Who all was there and their various associations: (1) Texan (2) Archenemy Partner (3) Archenemy-Associated Band Member (4) Roommate (5) "Special" Friend (6) None of the above, but still special enough to come to the party

on to the results then, shall we? category winners are highlighted in red, losers in blue.

Dr. Riffic
This one was "bitter," "not so good," "perfumy," "smooth and a little spicy," "bitter and woody," "cherryish," and reminding Annie of "the perfume worn by old Dutch women when I was in rural Holland in 1986 -- but not in a good way." As for the label, it didn't really score so well, but I liked its starkness. It's Futura, it's clean and simple, and that's sort of refreshing in the soda-label world. Several people wondered if the "riffic" meant "terriffic" or "horriffic," but either way, it won for best name, and with good reason! It's the best name!

Dr. Perfect
The consensus on this one was that it was rather watery and tasteless. "All the grace of a broken arm." Nick is very cryptic. But Heather thought it was "yummy" and while Annie thought it was "vile," she admits "well, i like gross health food stuff, so there's a place in my heart for this." Sweet. As for the label, while it only scored a 6.01, the score it received among the graphic designers of the group, was a 9! I guess this says something about designers designing for other designers. Or maybe there's no accounting for some people's taste. Well, call me a design snob, this can was really cool! There was a funny picture of a guy! The type was restrained! It was consistent with brand identity! As Rick pointed out, "the only one they spent more than 10 minutes designing." Tony called it "Subway wallpaper design" but he gave it an 8, so I'm guessing he meant it as a compliment.

Dr. Radical
This was pretty flat. In all fairness, it has been sitting around for a while in a 2-liter bottle, and the only other 2-liter (Dr. Perfect) suffered a similar fate. Interestingly, it was compared to candy by both Nick (sour Jolly Rancher) and Annie (liquid cotton candy). Sean thought it was "Moxie-ish." The label and name were both pretty unremarkable. Nessie posed the question "who says 'radical' anymore?" Answer: ironic gen-Xers.

Diet Dr Pepper
We wanted to investigate their claim that it tastes "more like regular Dr Pepper." Well, it tastes more like it than everything except Dr. K. The diet-soda drinkers among the group (Sean, Rick, and Annie) liked it a whole lot. Some people just don't like Nutrasweet. It sort of works for me because I don't really drink all that much soda, I usually just have a sip of Sean's,and the first sip of diet soda always tastes really good. But I digress. Keith had a rather unpleasant reaction: "coats my tongue from tip to throat and then makes throat feel as if it's closing." Ouch. And I decided the Name Cleverness category was not really applicable here.

Dr. Becker
From one extreme "Tastes cleaner than the others. Very hygienic" (Keith) to another: "Tastles like a cat -- yuck!" (Annie)... It also gave Delilah a headache. It got rather favorable marks considering it's natural. It also got many compliments on its carbonation. People seemed to like the design a lot. Why? Blue! I guess because it's "Blue Sky" brand, and you wouldn't really think bright blue would work with the Pepper colors, but it's so distinctive. And best of all is a blue pull tab! Exciting!

Dr. Perfect
This was another yucky flat one. Sean called it "fukken gross," and you don't go spelling something with two Ks for nothing. It reminds me of "Dokken." But I digress. It was also called "gnarly" and compared to "undiluted ethyl alcohol." Some people liked the pretension of the name. Others didn't. The question raised here is, why did they call it "Dr. Perfect" if it's so clearly far from perfect? Were they trying to be ironic? (Probably not. Maybe they just have a thing for gross soda.And that could explain why it ended up in a dollar store in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.)

Dr. Rush
This seems to be something you either love or hate. It has ginseng and guarana. Six of the testers compared it to dirt. Although some of them meant it in a good way. Other flavors detected: "chocolate," "medicine," "licorice," and "coffee." Anyway, most people really hated it, although those that loved it were quite emphatic about it. For some reason, the label scored really well, I don't quite understand why. Maybe because of the claim "Get's (sic) you up." Do they mean that in the sexual sense? I guess so, because you'd assume it was a bunch of hippies making the drink, if they're putting ginseng and guarana in it. Anyway, as for the name, we only had one can of it, so we were not able to drink enough to actually verify the Rush claim. Or the getting you up claim. That one's probably best left alone.

Dr. K
This was some goooood stuff. Alas, like the winner of the last round, it also came from a faraway place (Tony got it from Virginia). Pretty much everyone liked this. And it was deemed quite close to Pepper, although I detected a hint of Pibb-ishness in it as well. (Which is a good thing.) Alas, the triumph of the taste was not matched by the label. Way too busy, with glaciers and ice and bubbles and many ugly scripty typefaces. Some people liked the simplicity of the name. Others were confused by it. Amy Lyon thought it was "dumb-ass." Scott thought it was "evil enemy from the future." (In a good way) Nessie thought it sounded "like a baseball pitcher." (In a bad way.)

Conclusion:

Well, I didn't have a fridge full of half-empty two liter bottles this time around. And I think I need a bigger living room. But heck, I'm really looking forward to the next time I can have another one of these parties (although I think everyone has to travel a whole lot more, because local supplies have pretty much been exhausted). Anyway, if anybody out there wants to discuss Pepper issues, or arrange a regional beverage trade, I'm all for it! E-mail me at liz@freezepop.net And check out another great pepper clone site! It's good to know I'm not the only crazy person out there...

4-14

just got a link to yet another pepper site... keep 'em coming!