Ad for hot Dr Pepper

Photos Uncategorized 2007 11 14 Hotdoctorpepper

Funny old ad from Retro Thing. I'll bet hot Dr Pepper is tasty! Link

Update:

200711141719 Here's a photo of a sign Coop took last year that proclaims hot Dr Pepper to be "devilishly different." Link

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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DRayMorton

Another hot Dr. Pepper drinker here. I can’t remember where I first read about heating it up. I haven’t had any DP in years though – maybe I’ll try it again this winter.
OM

…Several points:

1) Hot Dr. Pepper was never a “Texas thing”. It were them Yankees up north who came up with it. It reportedly sold quite well at football and outdoor hockey games in the winter, where it was available for those who didn’t care for coffee and/or felt too adult for hot chocolate. Granted it is sold in Texas, but the hot version wasn’t invented here.

2) It actually works just as well whether its original sugar formula or the current corn syrup version. However, I will advise that you use only the regular flavor version, and none of the flavored ones. They don’t turn out quite as good, and for God/Yahweh/Roddenberry’s sake, do *NOT* try this with any of the diet versions!!

2a) On a side note, I’ve a friend who works for the local Coke bottler, who says the suits at Coca-Cola are now claiming internally that the recent research showing corn syrup sodas to be hundreds of times hazardous to human health are nothing more than a sick conspiracy to force soda manufacturers to switch back to using pure cane sugar, and that the FDA and the US Government will use this as a means to force the bottlers to put the real, originial formulas back on the shelves at no price increase to “punish” them for having made the switch in the first place. That, or pay billions in fines. Serves’em right!

3) It has been confirmed by the Dr. Pepper people, the FDA, and several independent researchers, that Dr. Pepper does *NOT* contain one drop of prune juice.

4) As for the “slice of lemon” bit, that was something added to the mix after it was discovered that the heated mix could develope a “scorched” taste to it if either heated too fast, or left too long at a really low, low barely simmer. The lemon juice reportedly neutralizes this through interaction with the other flavorings.

…One other point: that Hot Dr. Pepper is enjoyed and no other sodas appear to have been given the same treatment should come as no surprise. A poll done in the mid-80′s asking soda drinkers which sodas they had the least problems with drinking from a warm, uncooled can showed that over 80% found Dr. Pepper to be be easily imbibed regardless of whether it was hot or cold. Coke came in second with about 15%, although many complained about their teeth having a rather “gritty, chalkboard-on-nails” feel to them.
togetherless

Thanks for the prune juice mythbust. I remember free samples of Hot DP in my local Safeway in Kilgore, Tx sometime in the 80′s. It’s true that a Hot DP is best complimented by a lemon wedge.
Jardine

Having left a bottle of Coke in my car in the summer and tasting the result, I’d like to say that hot Coca Cola is a complete and utter failure. Thankfully, it did taste fine after being refrigerated again.
Tony Moore

i haven’t done this, which is suprising. And now i have to!

i’ve done plenty of ginger ales this way, my favorite being Kentucky’s Ale 8-1, which when warm has a more pronounced ginger ‘burn’ you’d get from something like a Jamaican style ginger beer rather than your standard ales.

-T
Doug Nelson

I remember these ads, though the one I remember most had a Canadian fur trapper or lumberjack or someone like that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq9hNTUbtiE
cstatman

Blech, Feh. My best friend used to force me to drink this when we were growing up (in Longview, Texas) It was horrible in 1974, I am positive it cannot have improved.

I also thought it was a Texas only thing, till I read all the comments.

You can order the “sugar cane” Dr. Pepper formula off the web here: http://www.retrosoda.com/flavor-dr–pepper.html

if you cannot make it to the TX bottling plant.

While you are ordering your retro Dr. Pepper, you might as well do the whole “when I was a kid” thing and order retro candy to go with it, if you are from Longview, Texas, some peanut patties ought to do the trick:

http://www.hometownfavorites.com/products.asp?dept=1050&number=HFCA905&pagenumber=1
Simon Greenwood

I’m assuming that Dr Pepper must have once been sold as a syrup or cordial. I can’t imagine cracking a bottle of the fizzy stuff and zapping it in the microwave.

Coming from a cold, damp island such as Great Britain, we have similar traditions with drinks that are more related to summer days: hot Ribena (blackcurrant) is surprisingly tasty, as is hot Vimto, a north-western delicacy that is nominally grape based.
Hokkaido Hillbilly

Oh man…talk about memories. I remember drinking this stuff all the time in the winter growing as a kid in Colorado. I even got a free “Try It Hot!” mug at the Stock Show in Denver one time as show swag. Then again, this was probably during the age o’ cane sugar, so dunno if I’d really wanna try it now.

Heck…I’m just happy that I can get my Peppa fix now that they’ve started selling it here in of all places, Village Vanguard, a chain of stationary & accessory stores.
crackcocaine

I’m sick seriously.
So I am at work (a coffee shop) and I read that and then tryed to make a dr. pepper latte.
First, the Dr. Pepper exploded as soon as I put steam into it, surprise, surprise.
Then, i let the foam go away and steamed it to 160 and poured a single shot into a cup then the steamed Dr. Pepper into the cup as though I were making a regular latte with milk.
Shit tasted like fucking brake fluid cut with jenkem. I did managed to pretend like I liked it long enough to get my co worker to try it, he noted the metalic after taste and the simaliarities to brake fluid in both texture and taste.
It has been about 15 minutes since I drank it, my bowels are VERY loose my stomach hurts and it tastes like I’ve been chewing on foils.
Conclution the metalic after taste may be from the can so that shit might have tasted good hot if It had not come in a can but it probably would still taste like shit.
youaregettingsleepy

Growing up in Virginia in the 70′s we’d have this occasionally. It’s better than it sounds, but a little goes a long way.
crackcocaine

Oh, I forgot that a cold can of DP and a shot of espresso is great if you figure out the trick so the DP doesn’t explode.
tindog

The first time I heard of hot Dr Pepper was in high school. My physics teacher would pour some in a beaker and heat it up over a bunsen burner during class. Once it had been heated up, she would drink it straight from the beaker.
Anonymous

The coffee shop down the street from my house (Art 6 in Denton, TX) sells Dr Pepper steamed.
edgore

While I have never had Hot Dr Pepper, I first discovered Hot Lemon Coke at a Chinese restaurant that used to be at 19th & Lincoln in SF. Ordered it more or less on a dare; turns out, it’s delicious. The other odd drink on the menu, Salty Lemonade? No one was willing to try that.
Anonymous

mmmm Takes me back to the early 60′s in Sudan, Texas. Drank Hot Dr Pepper at football games. GOes wonderfully with Frito Pie!
Noelegy

Wow, this takes me back. My late grandmother used to drink hot Dr Pepper with lemon added.
Omir the Storyteller

My father used to take great delight in tuning in to American Bandstand on Saturday mornings back in the Sixties just so he could watch Dick Clark gag down a gulp of hot Dr Pepper. They sponsored the show for at least a year, and every week at least once we’d get to see the fun.

I’m not sure why my father was watching American Bandstand. His tastes definitely ran more toward country music, and I wasn’t old enough to care about listening to top 40 at the time. Maybe it was just so he could see the Dr Pepper commercials.
Nase

I have a recording of Dick Clark introducing “A Slice of Lemon” the LP sponsored by Dr.Pepper.
You can take a listen at my site….

http://www.lifeinslomo.com
gsmphoto

I grew up in Houston and on the rare day that it was actually cold, we would make hot Dr. Pepper with lemon ina saucepan on the stove.
It’s real yummy and tickles your throat kind of like Sucrets or Chloroseptic does.
We just got a cold front here, so I may whip up a batch tonite.
nakedandfamous

That is my absolute, No. 1 secret weapon against sore throats come winter. It was a trick my aunt taught me when I was very young.

It’s a nice tickling sensation that I’m sure has no real medical value, plus it smells wonderful, like someone melted candy in your mug.
Teresa Nielsen Hayden / Moderator

Yeesh, Hot Dr Pepper. I’d managed to forget about that stuff.

For genuine hypothermia, the real deal (recommended by EMTs) is hot Jello solution: a hit of warmth, sugar, and protein.

Om (23), I’d love to see soda bottlers forced to go back to cane sugar — corn syrup may not literally be hundreds of times worse for you, but it’s not what I’d call a metabolically benign substance. Odds that that’s actually going to happen: zero, unless Archer Daniels Midland suddenly stops making campaign contributions.

It’s a pity. Soda made with cane sugar tastes much better. We used to get the occasional bottle of imported sugar-sweetened Mexican Pepsi. The first gulp of it was an instant five seconds’ worth of time travel to my childhood.
gabrielm

Not to be confused with Flaming Dr. Pepper.

Those used to get me into a lot of trouble…
Renato

Look at those thin slices of lemon. Not so thin…
Ape Lad

Christopher Walken and his family enjoy Hot Dr. Pepper in their fallout shelter in the film Blast from the Past.
Jeff

In the movie Blast From The Past, the dad (played by Christopher Walken) drinks warm Dr. Pepper.

Since that part of the movie was set in a bomb shelter, I don’t know if they had lemons available…
falalalala

I tried it once but I didn’t follow a recipe or figure out the best way to do it.

I’ll have to try it. Especially if it’s recommended by a genuine snowman.
anthropomorphictoast

Considering that was back when Dr. Pepper had actual sugar in it, it probably tasted alright.
mrsdepoint

My dad used to drink this when I was a kid (early 60s)–he’d just heat it up in a saucepan on the stove. I was under the impression that it was an old Texas thing. As was my dad.

It was pretty good, kind of like hot, sweet tea.
Peaceflag2007

Just like a nice hot cup of coffee….with extra caffiene and 12 sugars.
Chinpokomon

Hot DP is very good. I used to have a cup every now and then when I lived in Texas. The funniest thing was when I was up in Colorado one Winter, some folks had some heated up in thermoses and were giving away cups to cold, tired, skiiers and boarders.
noen

I’ll have my hot Dr. Pepper with a nice helping of lime/cottage cheese jello please.
kendrak

First of all, Dr Pepper has no period after the Dr. It’s been like that since the 1950s (for stylistic reasons).

Hot Dr Pepper is very tasty, and is reminiscent of hot, fruity tea with lots of sugar. You can’t really pull it off with regular Dr Pepper sold in most stores- it has to be sugar cane Dr Pepper, which you can find with some searching or just order it from the Dublin, TX bottling plant.
stephenhait

My mom, growing up in Detroit, used to drink hot Vernor’s ginger ale in the winter and loved it. I’ve had it, too and it’s delish.
greg7sins

TMI alert:

since DP is made with prune juice, my grandmother used to make her kids drink it warm and flat whenever they had blockage problems. bleh.

@kendrak — Dublin DP is the real deal. best in the retro 8 oz bottles.
supersly

I used to work in a bagel shop (circa 1996-97) with a soda fountain. One day while changing syrup cases I noticed a recipe printed on the Dr Pepper box. Guess what for! I soon found out hot Dr Pepper is not very good.

BTW, can you imagine this on a menu?

Hot DP .99 M-L-XL
tvkirby

I remember that ad!

I made some up for my family when I was 8 or 9 years old. It wasn’t bad.
molecularr

There is (or at least used to be) a great deli, Peppers, in Black Mountain, NC that serves hot Dr Pepper. They keep a fresh pot on a burner and serve it in coffee mugs. As I recall, it goes well with their Reuben.
Lee S

It is a Texas thing, it was sold at the concession stand at football games in Longview, Tex…I still drink it…warm it in the microwave don’t forget the lemon
gpeare

It can’t be anywhere near as good as hot Vernor’s (especially after sledding or shoveling the drive in Detroit!)
dragonet2

Our local Smaks (hamburger chain, died off …. late 80s) offered hot Dr Pepper with a lemon slice, just after I started driving in 1972. I’d grab one on my to school….

Yum. But I bet it is not as good with the HFCS Dr P
pupdog

greg7sins, the prune juice is sadly just a nasty rumor. I grew up hearing it every now and then, and finally asked a rep of the local distributor I knew. Apparently it comes up enough that they used to have pamphlets they would mail you, and its even in the Dr Pepper FAQs.
bedtimechamp

true, the prunes is just an old wives tale. My mom still makes this during the winter and swears by it. Folks may also want to look into getting Dr Pepper from Texas. There is a plant there that still bottles a formula made with cane sugar.
ill lich

Somewhere I have a common looking sampler LP (I think put out by Columbia) that I bought simply because the first track was entitled “A Special message From Dick Clark”. . .and that special message? Dick Clark asking his fans to try out a new holiday treat: “Hot Dr. Pepper, and don’t forget to try it with a slice of lemon.”