Soda Tasting

Blind Tasting the Peppers (Dr Pepper, Pibb Xtra, Dr Thunder, Dr. Perky) (Soda Tasting #15)

This episode represents something new for Soda Tasting: our first blind tasting.

What is a blind tasting? Well, basically, I set myself up to look foolish. I select an assortment of similar sodas, have someone pour them for me and, without knowing which is which and without tasting them immediately beforehand, I taste them and try to guess which is which. Inevitably, I miss the mark.

For this episode, I am tasting a selection of peppers. The pepper soda genre, pioneered by Dr Pepper, is full of competitors and store brands. There is even a blog, Not Quite What the Doctor Ordered, that has chronicled many of them. Here is the lineup:

Dr Pepper (Dr Pepper Snapple Group)
Pibb Xtra (The Coca-Cola Company)
Dr Thunder (Wal-Mart Stores)
Dr. Perky (Food Lion)

Disclosure: I am a Wal-Mart shareholder.

Would you like to see more blind tastings like this in the future? Please let me know in the comments.

Thank you for watching.

Related Episodes

Pibb Xtra ReviewPibb Xtra Review (Soda Tasting #26) Cola Blind TastingCola Blind Tasting (Soda Tasting #41) Dr Pepper Blind Tasting (HFCS, Imperial Sugar, Dublin)Dr Pepper Blind Tasting (HFCS, Imperial Sugar, Dublin) (Soda Tasting #66)

6 comments on “Blind Tasting the Peppers (Dr Pepper, Pibb Xtra, Dr Thunder, Dr. Perky) (Soda Tasting #15)”

  1. I really liked the blind test. It makes me want to try it. I’ve had 3 of those (no Perky here, lol) and it would be cool to see which one I like best. I don’t know if I could tell them apart, but Dr. Pepper is my second favorite drink (besides A&W Rootbeer) so I wonder if I could pick it out. I would like to see you do these more and it would also be interesting if you rated which one as a “best of” this type of drink. I’m curious, was there one of these that you liked best?

    • Thanks for the comment and feedback, Chris. I’m glad to hear that you liked the blind tasting! It’s funny because, going in, I was thinking I’d be able to get a couple right. But, when you haven’t tasted them in a while and you have a few tastes and a couple of minutes to decide… they really taste similar. My favorite was either 1 or 2, which ended up being both the store brands.

      Thanks again,

      Patrick

  2. Well that failed :D But it was fun to watch and a good idea. Would be great if you rate them before even thinking which could be which in the future. Next up: cola tasting? :)

    • Thanks for the comment and feedback, Chris. Glad that you enjoyed it. I think it is sort of designed to fail, which is fun. With the blind tastings, I’m not sure I want to really rate them because I’m not able to go into the sort of detail I can with a standard review. Cola is a good idea. :)

      Patrick

  3. I liked the blind tasting and I thought it was fun to watch. However I would have liked to see you review them. I would especially be interested in a review of orange flavored soda, because I think they all taste the same, however my palate prob is not as refined as yours!

    • Thanks for the feedback, Rob. I’m glad that you enjoyed it! I appreciate the suggestion for an orange tasting. I’ll do it! I am hesitant to do full reviews because I don’t feel like I can do 4-6 or more sodas justice within a short show, but I will definitely review the flavors individually moving forward (except for the store brands, most likely). Thanks again!

      Patrick