Dr. Pepper

[shadowfox]

That's "Dublin" Dr. Pepper, mind you!

A visit to the oldest bottling facility (1891) located near the Hill Country region of the Lone Start State of Texas.


* Yer out of line, pal!



* Kenny our tour guide and apparently manager of the facility



* At the ye'old-soda-shoppe



* Bottle roulette



* Capper



* Ah, the irony!

It's a fun little tour and we each even get a free bottle of "Dublin" Dr. Pepper (same formula, but with sugar cane, and way less carbonation).  The no-photo part of the tour was fascinating, it includes several room-fulls of vintage Dr. Pepper collectibles and trivia things; including an extremely rare (only 2 left in the world) of a 40's pin up poster that insurance companies won't even put a price on it.  And the guide told us that it's just 10% of the owner of the facility's collection.

They already purchased the building across the street to expand the museum/collection area.  Sounds like a re-visit is in order.

[radiophoto]

Awesome, Will!  Dr. Pepper is my son's favorite soda.  We've always talked about a trip to the Hill Country, maybe this plant could be part of that visit.  Thanks for the tour!

[br1078lum]

Do they sell Moon Pies in the soda shop?  Lovely effect on the photos, Will.  Bottling plants are always neat to go through.  When I lived in Columbus, OH, there was a Nehi plant where you could see the bottles go by in the front window, but I didn't get a tour before they shut the place down.  Thanks for showing these.

PF

[Hoosier_Rich]

Great shots Will! That looks like a heck of a trip, thanks for giving us a look.

[radiophoto]

Did somebody tell you why it's called "Dublin" Dr. Pepper?  I've had it with cane sugar and somehow it didn't taste like Dr. Pepper anymore -- I bought it somewhere in the South, outside of Texas, however.  All I could taste was the sugar, so it might just have been a bad bottle.

[jamesmck]

Nice story, Will.  Makes me recall the first time I tasted Dr. Pepper (DP).  It was 100F+ in the shade in Norman OK in mid-1956.  I sought out a vending machine, and DP was one of the choices.  I had never heard of it until then, having grown up in the northeast US.  The ice-cold, distinctive taste of DP has stuck with me ever since.  Whenever I taste it now I am transported back in time.

James

[shadowfox]

Pete, the plant is in Dublin, TX. It's a small town in that area bordering the Hill Country from my side (Dallas and North Texas in general).  We were camping near there last weekend with some families from the church.  It's funny that I heard the same comment re: sugar-tasting from my group especially the kids, they miss the strong fizz from the more common Dr. Pepper.  But this plant has stick to its original formulation since way back then.

Phil, you've been there? wow. I'm sure there's a moon-pie in there somewhere, I didn't specifically look and the shoppe was crowded with visitors.  The soda float was said to be awesome though.

Rich, I'm posting some shots that has a different look so y'all can see the plant at least in color

James, funny you say that, the first time I tasted Dr. Pepper in college (I just came to the US at that time) I thought I just drank a cough syrup.  But now I'm semi-addicted to it.


* In the Old Doc Cafe



* Busy staff, busy walls



* Blokes and Sheilas, Dr. Pepper style



* Mural outside

[LarryD]

We still have a Coke bottling plant here but it is just another Pole building in an industrial park. The original plant closed in the 50s and has been everything from a Car dealership to now an insurance company.

[br1078lum]

Phil, you've been there? wow. I'm sure there's a moon-pie in there somewhere, I didn't specifically look and the shoppe was crowded with visitors.  The soda float was said to be awesome though.

Nope, never even been to Texas, Will. But around these here parts, Dr. Pepper and Moon Pies are synonimus with each other.  Too bad I can't have either anymore, as that is a unique taste combination.

PF

[radiophoto]

Dublin, Texas, OK.  Now things are starting to make sense.  I believe the sugar-sweetened (and less-carbonated, too, now that I come to think of it) DP I had was bought at a filling station in one of the states between Louisiana and South Carolina.  It was a return trip to Texas from my son's wedding in SC.  It boasted of being sweetened with Imperial Sugar on the label.  I bought it because high-fructose corn syrup is so prevalent, but as I said, I was disappointed.

They don't sell the Dublin stuff down here, but we've got a bottling plant in the area, I think.

[Dennis Gallus]

Will,

An interesting topic, perfectly supported by your photography.   Don't know which I like better, the color or B&W, but the B&W definitely adds to the charm of seeing glass bottles again.

Dennis

[NancyB]

Is the first shot reversed?  Other than that, pretty cool shots, I love the last shot of the Dr. Pepper bottles in the Coke carton!  I notice that there is some discussion about sugar vs corn syrup, and our pop up here is made with sugar, and not high-fructose corn syrup.  Does it taste better?  I don't really know.

[shadowfox]

Dennis, thank you.

Nancy, you are hereby awarded the "Detective Eye" trophy here, I stared at that image for a long time, and I didn't realize it's reversed.

[NancyB]

Is there a cheque to go along with the trophy?  :-)