Dr. Pepper - Varieties - Flavor Variations

Flavor Variations

• Dr Pepper Red Fusion (2002–2004) was available only in the US. The predominantly cherry-flavored, red-colored Red Fusion was the first new flavor added to the Dr Pepper family of beverages in the company's 122-year history. Its production was essentially canceled less than a year later, although in certain areas it was available until late 2004.
• Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper (began 2004) was released in some areas on October 15, 2004. The beverage tastes similar to Dr Pepper, but has stronger cherry and vanilla flavors added. Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper was the first drink in the planned "Soda Fountain Classics" line of beverages from Dr Pepper, a range of drinks designed to taste similar to popular soda fountain drinks from the 1950s. It is now only available in select areas of the US. It was available in Canada for a short time, but it ceased production as of mid-2007. It became available again in mid-2008 after Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper ceased production.
• Dr Pepper Berries and Cream, (2006–2007) and its diet version, were released in most US locations in April 2006. It is the second beverage in Dr Pepper's "Soda Fountain Classics" line of drinks. In Canada, the diet version of the drink was available approximately from May 2007 to August 2007 and the nondiet version was available from September 2007 to December 2007. Berries and Cream and Diet Berries and Cream have also been discontinued.
• Diet Cherry Chocolate Dr Pepper (2007–2008) was introduced as a limited edition flavor on November 21, 2007. It was discontinued in April 2008. It became available in Canada in early January 2008. A nondiet version was never created. The taste is similar to Canfield's Diet Cherry Chocolate Fudge Soda, but with the distinctive Dr Pepper flavor. It was featured in the song "Cherry Chocolate Rain" by YouTube celebrity Tay Zonday. Upon ceasing production, it was replaced by Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper.
• Dr Pepper Cherry (began 2009) was released in some areas around February 2009. The beverage tastes similar to Dr Pepper, but has stronger cherry flavor added. Variety comes in both regular and diet versions. Gene Simmons of the band Kiss was chosen to be the variation's spokesman, with a commercial circulating on television in March/April, 2009 featuring Kiss's song "Calling Dr. Love" ("Trust me, I'm a doctor" claims Simmons in the commercial).
• Heritage Dr Pepper (or Dr Pepper Heritage) (began 2009) became available around November 2009 in various outlets around the United States. As its name implies, it is a "re-release" of sorts of Dr Pepper's original formula, which uses real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, which Dr Pepper and other brands of soft drink started to use around the early 1970s. The formula of Heritage Dr Pepper and Dublin Dr Pepper are assumed to be one and the same, but Heritage Dr Pepper is a larger scale, national release aimed at capturing the same marketing essence as the Pepsi and Mountain Dew throwbacks.
• Dr Pepper "Made with Real Sugar" was released to commemorate the drink's 125th anniversary during the summer of 2010. It featured the use of "real" sugar which was likely a mix of cane and beet sugar as opposed to its usual high fructose corn syrup. This version of the soda featured six collectable 12-oz cans and a 20-oz plastic bottle decorated with Dr Pepper's old slogans and images from the 1960s.
• United Kingdom's version of Dr Pepper, along with various other countries, is manufactured with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup (much like Heritage Dr Pepper in the US, as mentioned above). Along with Sprite and Fanta soft drinks, a "Zero" version was introduced, meaning no added sugar/low calorie, but maintaining a taste more in line with regular Dr Pepper than its diet variant.