Dr. Beverages Page

Hello and welcome to the most important page on the internet. First let me tell you a bit of history about this site:

About two years ago, my friends and I noticed a plethora of imitation Dr. Pepper drinks hitting the market. Most of these are store brands, but some well-known companies hit with their own versions as well. I was struck by how sudden all of these flooded the marketplace (or perhaps on how quickly I noticed this) and began keeping tabs on the names-after all, some of them were quite funny.

And so it progressed from this idle interest to quite a side hobby. I'm trying to collect the various cans of these sodas, which can be difficult, considering some of them don't seem to manufacture cans. In any case, I shall not keep dallying; here is the extent of my collection:

Dr. Pepper Of course, the original soda that started it all... Dr. Wells This one is also apparently quite old, although its origin seems slightly silly, since it is not very different from the Pepper, but costs more. Doc Shasta A slight variation on the Dr. moniker, this one is also widely available. If memory serves, it is also more red than the other sodas.

Dr. Thirst This is the first generic one I noticed, and it really struck me because it had a very funny name. It is made by Marquee Premium and available at Abco grocery stores. Dr. Slice This one also seemed very funny since I thought Slice would be too reputable name to rip off an actual soda (anything goes for the generics, of course). This is pretty widely available; I've even seen it in standard vending machines. The cans bill it as "the Wild One." Dr. Right A Preferred Selection, we found this in New Mexico at a store I don't remember the name of. It is also available in Tucson, but I don't remember where.

Dr. Smooth Made by President's Choice and available at Smitty's, this one is billed as a "secret recipe soda." This one also went through a facelift, and I don't have the original can, as that was discontinued before I began my collection. Its new design is unusual because it discards the standard red coloring of most of these sodas. Dr. Smith's The Smith's "Original" brand. Dr. Starr An "American Premier" soda, available at Osco Drug.

Dr. K The Big K variation, available at Fry's. The basketball allusion would be more clever if it had any depth; I'm sure it was just chance and keeping with the philosophy that many stores just adopt the word "Dr." and add it to whatever their sodas may already be called. This has a mostly white can, like all the Big K sodas. Dr. A+ Made by A+, the Albertson's brand. Real Dr. Unusual syntax, but a similar drink, although this is the only one in my collection I have never had the pleasure to taste. It's made by Sunny Select, and I am indebted to my friend Tivon Jacobson for retrieving this from a store in California I no longer remember the name of.

Dr. Becker A Blue Sky soda, a "natural" variation on the theme, available at the more health-oriented groceries, like Reay's Ranch Market and the Food Conspiracy. Dr. Joe's Another healthy one, from Trader Joe's. Both of these are unusual in that they have no caffeine, showing that the appeal of Dr. Pepper-like sodas goes far beyond the "pep" the caffeine would give you.

Dr. Furr's The Furr's home brand, another one we found in New Mexico. Dr. Topper This one was just brought to me from a supermarket I don't remember the name of in Lubock, Texas, and is made by the Hy-Top company. Dr. Kist This one comes from a truckstop in Lordsburg, New Mexico, thanks to the Jacobson clan (mentioned below). A picture is forthcoming. Dr. Chek Information and picture forthcoming. Dr. something-else I can't remember As you can see I need some updating here. When I get my pictures developed, these will be corrected and brought up to date.

That concludes the actual cans in my collection. Here is a list of sodas that are rumored to exist, or I can't find in cans. I'm very interested in any information that can confirm their existence, and would be really grateful if anyone could get me a can of them.

Dr. Cheaper A classic name for a drink apparently nobody has seen. My friend Keith Turausky swears he saw a truck with this painted on its side, but nobody I know has been able to find one. Does it exist, or was Keith on drugs? (Or both, that may be most likely.) Dr. Diablo Quite frankly I have no idea where the rumor of the existence of this soda came from, but it is another stumper. My friend Josh Ostrander claims he has a bunch at his parent's house, but I have yet to see evidence of this. Does it exist, or is Josh a liar? Dr. Zeppa Available in New York somewhere, according to my friend Matt Buchholz. Unfortunately he was unable to find a can. Dr. Lariat Unfortunately this one I think may only be available by bottle. I have seen it, though, so at least I am sure of this one's existence.

And then, finally, of course there are those sodas that are too good to join the medical practice, starting with Mr. Pibb (another old classic), but also including Skipper (from Safeway), Mr. Aah (or something like that, from Pennsylvania or something), and Southern Lightning (from Wal*Mart).

Well, if you've made it this far then you must be mildly interested in this topic at least (or amazed at how anyone could waste this much time) and will contribute to our search for the elusive remaining doctors yet to be uncovered. If you can contribute, please do, send me an email immediately leading to the conquest of this strange beast at lars@u.arizona.edu. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

I should also mention there's actually someone else in the galaxy interested in this stuff, and point you to his web page. It's http://www.stat.ncsu.edu/~bmasmith/

Credits for this page: Natan Jacobson, pictured at left, helped me take all these pictures with his family's digital camera. Thanks to all the Jacobsons. As far as people helping me with the hunt, these are the people I can name who have helped me: Keith Turausky, Russell Wiener, Tivon Jacobson, Daniel Brito, John Salwin, Shira Jacobson, Michael Rhodes, Matt Buchholz, and probably others. Mail me if you think you belong on this list; you probably do.