A new flavor of Dr. Pepper is coming!
Why are we so excited? Well, aside from the fact that we love soda (and I’m assuming you do too) this is the one section of the snack food market that doesn’t get a whole lot of innovation. New flavors come and go occasionally, but the soda aisle is generally littered with the classics: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, the various lemon-lime brands, Rootbeer, and Dr. Pepper. So anytime a new flavor comes around it’s kind of a big deal. Will this new flavor be so popular that it becomes a new classic?
Who knows! Though… probably not. Still, there is a chance and that’s enough for us.
Dr. Pepper’s new flavor is a tropical spin on their famous formula, dubbed “Creamy Coconut,” and is set to hit stores nationwide from May 1st to the end of July. It’s very much billing itself as a summer soda, promising a “creamy finish,” and notes of coconut to its stock blend of 23 flavors. The flavor will be sold in 12 oz cans and 20 oz bottles in both a full-sugar and zero-sugar iteration. Ahead of the drop, we got our hands on the two flavors to give you a preview of what to expect.
Here are our thoughts and tasting notes.
Thoughts and Tasting Notes:
Diving into the full sugar version, little, if any, of that OG Dr. Pepper taste is gone here. What you have instead is a prominent candied coconut flavor with that promised smooth and creamy finish.
This will sound off-putting, but it’s almost milky in consistency. There is a noticeable softness here, it doesn’t have the fizz or burn you’d expect from a full-sugar soda.
Moving on to the Zero-Sugar formulation, the flavor is mostly the same, but I’m getting a bit more carbonation and bite at the aftertaste. Shockingly, I think I prefer the zero-sugar version more because of this.
Both are a bit too sweet for my liking — where the soda comes alive is when you mix it with a bit of alcohol. I mixed a heavy splash of Creamy Coconut into a glass of Hamilton 86 dark rum and was treated to a sweet tropical delight that tastes much more elevated than your typical rum and coke. Pleased with those results, I tried a combination of Kettle One Vodka, grenadine, and Creamy Coconut Dr. Pepper and this was even better, as the sweet fruity flavor of grenadine was a perfect complement to the smooth tropical tones of the soda.
I can’t see myself enjoying Creamy Coconut Dr. Pepper with a meal or as a midday snack, but as part of a cocktail? This new flavor has a lot of versatility.
The Bottom Line:
As a standalone soda, it leans a bit too sweet and creamy for my liking (if you like cream soda, this might be an interesting variation on that flavor profile), but as a secret ingredient in your bar cart arsenal? This is an obvious winner.
