The Elixirs of (Texan) Champions

Texas does an incredible job of brainwashing their residents into believing in and loving everything about Texas; the good, the bad, and the ugly are all adored (with a lot of revisionism and justification at times ). I am definitely a by-product of this process as I had lived there practically my entire life. I love the Texas Longhorns, the Texas beaches, the rodeo and bull riding, late nights at Taco Cabana, the highway system, Fiesta, etc. I even want to move back there some day for some weird reason.

While looking up a few things on the internet, I decided to look up the story on Dr. Pepper (DP). I have an issue with Chicago as a lot of restaurants do not carry DP as part of their non-alcoholic selection. Many times I hear, "Sorry but we only carry Coke products" or "Sorry, we only carry Pepsi products" and even sometimes, "Sorry, amigo, we only carry Columbian products. The best white powder and coffee beans carried by a burro!" I didn't realize just how Texas DP was! When I was a kid I hated it, but then learned to love it as I grew up. It tasted like cough syrup gone bad. Now it taste like spicy cough syrup (it sure as hell beats Nyquil in a taste test although Robitussin kicks a lot of arse in the cherry flavor category ).

I decided to look up another one of my favorite drinks, Big Red (BR). I remember the first time I drank that at the behest of my best friend who told me "You've gotta try it. It tastes like bubble gum!" It did taste like bubble gum! I've been hooked ever since. It's also a Texas-inspired drink that only until recently wasn't being sold in Chicago. If you want to have the best BR, buy glass bottled BR. If that's not possible, the closest thing to an original bottle of BR is to fill a cooler full of ice and place cans of BR on top and let it chill for a coupe of hours. Pull it out and drink it. YUM! For some reason, the flavor of the product doesn't reach its full potential unless one does it this way. Putting it in the fridge or freezer doesn't produce the same results. Anyway, it's a Texas favorite as well!

I've been drinking this stuff for years. I recently have been cutting back my intake a lot due to the amount of sugar in them. It makes me crazy! Well, that and the Columbian powder I mix in them for that extra KICK!

Currently reading : Cookin’ With Dr Pepper By Dr Pepper Co Release date: 1965

Note: This was originally posted on MySpace with comments at:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=16074757&blogID=355968652&Mytoken=E6C72634-C18D-4191-B58A138BAE966F364924796