There’s been a lot of talk in the geek community lately surrounding Pepsi’s “throwback” sodas. Essentially, they’re putting out a version of regular Pepsi and Mountain Dew that will use cane sugar (the original ingredient) instead of high-fructose corn syrup, which has been used since the sugar price scare a few decades ago.
Don’t get me wrong – I support this, though I don’t actually drink Pepsi or Mountain Dew. I’m a sucker for the retro packaging, and I feel that if I’m going to drink soda at all, might as well go whole-hog and have straight sugar. However, the throwback sodas will only be around for a limited time, and I thought it might be fun to spotlight sodas that use cane sugar all the time. They might be more accessible than you think, and you can buy them year-round!
Bulldog Root Beer – Ah, my all-time favorite root beer. They use granulated cane sugar and honey. Sadly, they aren’t available everywhere, but if you live near a Cost Plus World Market, they’re your best bet. Don’t be confused by the label – those are American Bulldogs, not their more familiar cousin.
Dublin Dr Pepper – This is in Texas, not Ireland. They’re the oldest Dr Pepper bottler in the world, and the only ones who use the original Dr Pepper recipe. You can order their sugary goodness by the case, in can or bottle, but personally I’d like to someday take a tour of their museum and gift shop at this Dr Pepper mecca.
Jones Soda – In 2007 they retrofitted all their equipment to make the sugar switch, and now this is probably the most easily available cane sugar soda – I’ve seen it everywhere from Target to Panera. Not only do they have nearly a dozen flavors of pure cane soda on the average day, but between Halloween and Christmas they often have truly crazy flavors that would fit in at Willy Wonka’s factory.
365 Whole Foods Soda – The “house” brand of Whole Foods, 365, has only cane sugar in their soda line, which has flavors ranging from ginger ale to black cherry to key lime. Not everyone has a Whole Foods nearby, but they are certainly becoming more commonplace.
Regional/Seasonal Coke and Pepsi – This Throwback brand isn’t the only time you can find sugar in a major cola. Around Passover, both Coke and Pepsi often offer Kosher versions of their main sodas, which means they use sugar. Additionally, many Mexican bottlers still use sugar, so you can often find Coke with sugar near both sides of the border.
This is only a small sampling of sodas made with cane sugar. Many regional brands use it as well; for some reason, finding root beer with sugar is often easier than finding any other flavor. If you have a regional favorite, feel free to let me know! I love trying new sodas when I’m on a road trip.
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For those in Canada (Maybe some states? No idea.), we have my energy drink of choice, Beaver Buzz.
What? They’re useful during exams, they have the best name ever, they are 100% actual sugar, and they’re the best energy drinks I’ve ever had. Personal favourites: Citrus, Saskatoon Berry, and (for when I need a big one) the larger-sized Core Energy.
(They also have Pink Energy, which is sugar free.)
But they have also just brought out Beaver Soda, a non-energy-drink brand. The Beaver Soda “Canadian Cola” is… different. It’s spiced, I suppose, with ginger and… cinnamon maybe? But the “Retro Root Beer” is great.
And their Saskatoon Berry is the greatest soda (and energy drink) flavour ever!
LMAO at those nutty Canadians. Only they could put Beaver and Buzz in the same product name and not expect the world to think they were a sex toy manufacturing nation.
I’ll add Jarritos, a Mexican soda brand–Unlike the sugar-containing mexican coke and pepsi, Jarritos is available through American grocery distributors, so you can find it well past the border.
These throwback sodas are unbelieveably awesome. I gotta try some Dublin Dr Pepper sometime.
Oh my. “Beaver Buzz” sounds like something akin to razor burn and not something to discuss in mixed company.
Fun story though…I’m a sucker for fast food/snake trivia and I totally forgot about the “sugar price scare” thing. I am a bit disappointed though. For a brief moment I fathomed they were releasing Coke with Cocaine in it again. So it’s a throwback, but not THAT much of a throwback.
I am a ridiculous Dr Pepper fiend. The museum is awesome and if you find yourself driving through Dublin, Texas, it’s worth a stop.
Legend has it (I can’t verify this, but I believe it) that when Dublin incorporated, it had no Irish population at all. In fact, it had experienced population booms two years in a row where the population doubled and then doubled again. So they wanted to name their new town “Doublin’” and misspelled it on the paperwork sent to Austin. Only after the name was official did emigrants from Ireland take note and move there en mass. It’s a funny little story, anyway.
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