American Profile magazine posted an effervescent story about the Dr Pepper plant in Dublin, Texas — the only Dr Pepper bottler left that still uses Imperial cane sugar from the original 1885 recipe instead of the now-common corn syrup.
It’s called Dublin Dr Pepper, and folks drive from many miles around to get it because its distribution area is less than a 50-mile radius.
But folks in central Oklahoma can slake their thirst for Dublin Dr Pepper by buying it by the bottle or from the soda fountain at POPS, in Arcadia.
At Pops, home of a 66-foot-tall steel soda bottle sculpture, manager Marty Doepke loves to stroll the store’s aisles and listen to baby boomers reminisce about long-forgotten labels—Bubble Up, Dog n Suds, Frostie, Kickapoo Joy Juice, Nesbitt’s and Sun Drop.
“They’ll see those sodas and remember being at grandma’s house,” says Doepke, 38. “They’ll say, ‘I drank those back then. It was a real treat.’”
Dublin Dr Pepper remains one of POPS’ biggest sellers of more than 500 brands it offers, and is one of the many reasons the Route 66 convenience store and restaurant continues to pack ’em in.