Dublin Dr Pepper Straight from Dublin, Texas

Dublin, Texas is a little city with less than 4,000 inhabitants. You'll find it just about 2 hours drive west of Waco, about 2 hours drive southwest of Dallas. It is a quaint little place, the sort of town one would expect to find when visiting Texas.

But Dublin is a town like any other in Texas or in the world for that matter. Dublin Texas is the home of the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company. It is the oldest Dr Pepper bottling company in the world and is the only that has consistently used the original Dr Pepper formula to make the popular soft drink.

Dr Pepper was invented and born in Waco, Texas, just 80 miles from Dublin. After the original bottling company was formed in Waco, a business man by the name of Sam Houston Prim got a taste of it and knew that he needed to be selling this new drink too. He owned a bottling company already in Dublin and soon converted it to start selling Dr Pepper, the second Dr Pepper company in history and the oldest that still exists and operates today. It has been in the business of making Dr Pepper since 1891.

During the 1970's, soft drink makers across the country began movin away from the use of pure cane sugar for use in their drinks. With sugar costs continuing to rise, it was found that high fructose corn syrup was a much cheaper option. (Almost all soft drinks these days are made with high fructose corn syrup).

The Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company, however, refused to switch their formula. They stuck with the original formula which called for the use of pure cane sugar in the making of the drink, and continue to use pure cane sugar in the production of their Dr Pepper to this day, despite many calls to switch their formula over the years in order to save on costs.

It became increasingly difficult to find any sort of soft drink that still used cane sugar in its preparation, let alone finding Dr Pepper made with the original formula. Dublin Dr Pepper soon began to become somewhat of a legend for its status as the only Dr Pepper bottler still using the original formula. Unfortunately, it could only be purchased in the bottler's "territory" (the area of distribution for its Dr Pepper products so they don't interfere with other bottling companies). For Dublin Dr Pepper Company that territory was merely a 40 mile radius around the city of Dublin.

With such limited availability it has made Dublin Dr Pepper even more popular, and many Dr Pepper fans take a trip to visit Dublin, Texas to find the home of the last remaining true Dr Pepper and see the place where it is made. There is a Dublin Dr Pepper Museum in Dublin celebrating the history of Dublin Dr Pepper as well as a museum highlighting the general history of the area itself.

Dublin Dr Pepper is available these days over the Internet, but if you are interested in getting your hands on the real stuff you owe yourself a trip to Dublin. It is a beautiful little town filled with friendly people who all love their Dr Pepper.