Dr Pepper and Its Mysterious 23 Flavors

Dr Pepper is one of those enigmatic consumable products that are either loved or hated by any given person, with no middle ground. Like Circus Peanuts, or, for another soda example, Mountain Dew. I like Dr Pepper. However, I don't like that Dr Pepper recently began touting its unique secret blend of 23 flavors. Surely you've noticed it--the "23 flavors" mark now appears prominently on every Dr Pepper label, and this quality was the theme of some ad campaigns in the last two years or so.

This piece was originally conceived as a look at an ad campaign gone wrong. Dr Pepper has 23 flavors? That's kind of gross, even mildly disturbing. And we're to believe that this carbonated high fructose corn syrup in an aluminum can is more complex than the finest of carefully crafted old-world wines perfected through centuries of tradition? Even the most pompous of wine tasters, with the bouquet and the hints and the overtones and the undertones and the subtle resonances, won't come up with more than six or seven flavors. 23 flavors? Are you serious, Doc P?

But I am, alas, an inquisitive person. Foolishly so, some say. This writing will undoubtedly do little to dissuade them of this belief. I decided, instead, to attempt to unlock the mysteries of Dr Pepper's 23 flavors. To me, this 23 flavors business amounts to nothing less than a taunt, a dare, a worthy Dr Pepper challenge.

Here is the document of my journey.

In case you're unaware, the 23 flavors that comprise the Dr Pepper recipe is a supreme secret of the Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages (CSAB) group. Depending on which account you trust--there's no official word from the company--either only a very few people know the Dr Pepper recipe or, in the slightly more extreme version, a few people know half of the recipe while a few others know the other half.