Sugar in your favorite beverages

by Elizabeth Harper, Posted Oct 21st 2006 @ 5:27PM

It's nearly a pity to find beverages that are sweetened with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup -- I can't help but give them a try, and often I find I like them. High-fructose corn syrup -- cheap and readily available -- is what you'll find in all of the mass brands of soda, and it's hard to avoid in any pre-packaged beverage product. Diet versions, of course, will not have high-fructose corn syrup, but instead Nutrasweet or Splenda, both sweeteners with their own unique taste. But there's nothing quite like the taste of sugar, which provides such a pure note of sweetness to a drink. I'm not quite old enough to remember Coca-Cola before high fructose corn syrup became the norm, but I have located a peculiar offshoot of Dr. Pepper (a favorite of mine) known as Dublin Dr. Pepper. Sold in tiny 8 ounce glass bottles, this variety offers the "original formula" of the soda, and includes pure cane sugar. But I have to warn you -- if you like it, it may be hard to go back to the old standard.

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Filed Under: Ingredients, Drink Recipes
Tags: dr pepper, dr. pepper, Dr.Pepper, DrPepper, hfcs, pure cane sugar, PureCaneSugar, soda, soft drinks, sugar

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

10-21-2006 @6:12PM Nick said... Here in Texas, not only can we get Dublin Dr Pepper fairly easily (at least in my part of the state); but Coke imported from Mexico, in all its cane-sugary goodness, is available at pretty much any grocery store.
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10-21-2006 @7:20PM David Schloss said... Oh, do I remember the coke "debacle" where they switched to New Coke. Marketing experts still debate if the whole thing was set up so that Coke could transition to corn syrup without an uproar. Cane sugar Coke is MUCH better than current Coke.

Though I suspect people said that when they took the cocaine out of it too.
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10-21-2006 @7:32PM Helen said... When my brother used to live in the Bay Area, he and his mates would always go to the local Mexican grocery store to buy their Coke as it was made with cane sugar as opposed to the corn syrup coke at the local grocery store.
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10-21-2006 @7:46PM Aooogah said... I love Dublin Dr. Pepper! It's a shame it's so much more expensive than regular Dr. Pepper, though. Otherwise I'd get it every chance I have!
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10-21-2006 @11:26PM lauren said... Dublin Dr. Pepper is wonderful. As an ex-Texan now living in New York, I just have to point out that you can have it shipped anywhere if you order it from their website (The Dublin website, not the general Dr. Pepper). It's not cheap, but it is worth it.
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10-22-2006 @5:14AM James said... I guess many of are missing out on cola's like Red Rock Cola which in fact came out before Coca Cola. Red Rock Cola is still made with sugar instead of HFCS.

You might want to try http://www.galcos.com/ to find those hard to get sodas in your part of the country.
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10-22-2006 @3:38PM Josh said... Coke with real sugar tastes so much better. You should know though, it is still possible to get in stores!

Once a year, around April-May, Coca-Cola produces classic Coke with yellow bottle caps instead of the regular red ones. These contain real sugar instead of corn syrup.

They do this because of the holiday of Passover, where corn products are prohibited. I have heard of people stocking up at this time of year.
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10-22-2006 @6:08PM random said... Whole Foods' brand of soda is formulated with cane sugar. And they're reasonably priced compared to the organic Blue Sky brand.

Mexicokes and Dublin Dr Peppers are pretty easy to find around Austin, too. The closer you get to Waco (and Dublin), the easier it is to find Dublin Dr Pepper in its many forms (8 oz bottle, 12 oz can, 20 oz bottle). The Dublin Dr Pepper website is overpriced. Especially if you know you can buy them for $1.99 for a six pack of cans at the Belton, TX HEB. I make my sister, who goes to the college there, bring me 2 six-packs every time she visits me. I'm spoiled. ;)

If you live in an area with a large Jewish population, then grocery stores will usually start carrying kosher cokes for Passover.
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10-23-2006 @5:01PM Michael Schmitt said... One can also get cane sugar sodas across the border in Canada. They're GREAT, and most of the name brands you recognize here are in the sugar version up there. I've got a friend that lives 15 minutes from the border in WA state.
Just a word of warning when buying the soda. Try not to be too forthcoming when making a quick run for soda. I went up, bought some Coca-Cola, came back. When asked how long I was in Canada, I told US Customs "Oh, maybe 30 minutes." They then asked what I did in Canada for 30 minutes. "Oh, just buying some Coke."
Yeah... wrong answers. Then I had to explain why I was buying Coca-Cola from Canada, that I was a food scientist, and that we could do a taste test. Luckily, the high-fructose corn syrup version the US has is of a syrupy-sweet taste, and the sucrose-laden one from Canada has a light, crisp sweetness to it.
I made it through with only 1 can missing from the 3 cases I bought.
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11-16-2006 @1:40PM Hazel Blears said... Oh no! You tempt me! I'm afraid to try it. I believe that once I do, there would be no turning back. Sometimes we have to sacrifice the best things in life. I'm not so health conscious but I tend to over-indulge. So better to stay away. Thanks for sharing the experience. I'll just take your word for it.
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