Anyway, this page is not about the obvious merits of being a Pepper, but rather to be a guide to extended world of Pepper-dom.  Lately, along with my hobby of excessive use of profanity, I have taken up sampling all those fake Dr. Peppers out there.  You would not believe how many there are - tons!

This page is not only a tribute to Dr. Pepper and the image it helps me project, but also a tribute to those out there who aid me in my image building by trying to be as close to a clone of Dr. Pepper as they can.  My mission here is to rate their progress.

My scale is a simple one.  On one side of the spectrum, there is Dr. Pepper - the standard of excellence to which all other must be compared.  On the other end is Dr. Crap - stuff so bad it tastes like crap.  Since I've never had anything that bad (except maybe Thumbs Up), I'll cut a bit off that end, at Dr. Sugar-n-Water.  We could also call it Dr. Lame, but I'd rather stay away from such subjective terms.

Dr. Joe's   [8-7-98]

Do you know who Joe is?  All I know is that he's a trader, and I got a six of this stuff at his store in Alameda or Oakland.  One plus for it - it doesn't have caffeine.  Some could care less about this fact, but to caffeine sensitive people like me such info is important.  What do you do when you want the refreshing taste of individuality and it's 2 hrs. before you go to bed?  If you go for Dr. Pepper or some other it could spell sleeping trouble.

For occasions such as this Dr Joe's is perfect.  But, how about the taste?

On the taste front, I started out a bit skeptical - on the side of the can it says "All Natural Spicy Soda."  This had me fearing the worst (Thumbs Up).  But, Dr. Joe's turned out to be not that bad.  Not great, but pretty good for a no caffeine version.

Flavor -  Quite cherryish and slightly spicy, but don't let that scare you.
Crispness -  Sorely lacking.
Ingredients -  Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, carmel color, phosphoric acid, natural flavors (cherry, citrus oils, spices).

This is another non-caffeinated Doctor. While this is not the space to discuss the relative merits of herbal threapies, homeopathic medicines, acupuncture, and helaing stones versus those of alopathic medicines, this is the place to discuss great alternative-to-cola flavor. This though is bit lacking. Dr. Becker has a case of The Cherry Syndone, and has nothing very unique or particularly refreshing about it. It doesn't have the interesting spice of the Dr. Joe's non-caffeine variety. But, I suppose I must salute its attempts to go all natural.

Flavor -  Cherryish.
Crispness -  Nope.
Ingredients -  Purified carbonated water, high fructose corn sweetener, natural flavors (from fructose) and tartaric acid (from Grapes).