View slideshow: Pops soda shop

I went to Pops, a soda shop, gas station, and restaurant off of Historic Route 66, also known as State Highway 66, on the city line between Edmond and Arcadia. They've got a kings' ransom of sodas and other beverages, but the best drink I found there was a mix called Dublin Dr Pepper. Basically, it's the same as normal Dr Pepper, but it's made with pure cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, and it tastes sweeter (and better, in my opinion.)

Interestingly enough, Dublin Dr Pepper is the original recipe for Dr Pepper, before many soda bottlers changed to high fructose corn syrup in the 1980s due to increasing sugar prices. The Dr Pepper Plant in Dublin, Texas, however, refused to change to high fructose corn syrup, and they still put out the original soda, although it seems to only be available in parts of Texas, over the internet, or at niche soda shops such as Pops.

At any rate, I was able to taste a distinct difference in the flavor. It tasted sweeter, and had a better flavor to it. Combine that with my previous experiences with drinking Jones Soda's root beer, which is made using inverted cane sugar and finding that it tasted better than most root beers I've had, and it leads me to think that pure cane makes sodas taste better than HFCS. It makes sense, though. High fructose corn syrup is watered down considerably from normal sugar, containing 25% water, so sodas with it just don't taste the same after drinking a soda like Jones or Dublin Dr Pepper.

An 8 oz. bottle of Dublin Dr Pepper ran for $1.50 at Pops, and a 12 oz. bottle of any of the Jones Sodas went for $2.00. At Pops, however, Dublin Dr Pepper replaces normal Dr Pepper in the soda fountain for the price of a normal fountain drink. The price for pure cane sodas may be a bit higher than normal sodas, but the taste is worth the slight price difference. It goes to show that cheaper isn’t always better, especially in the context of flavor.

A.J. Lansdale/The Daily