We got loooong to write this post, for technical reasons – we had a problem with buying a can of British Dr Pepper in Gdańsk, and we really cared about it, that it was just a can, so that all our exhibits look relatively uniform. Finally, help came from Warsaw (thanks, Rustic!) And so finally we were able to test six different Pepper Doctors for you: British, British with a sweetener, American, american cherry, Polish standard and Polish with a sweetener.
As you have to start somewhere, let's start with this from the home yard. If not clearly marked, that it is a can of a different capacity, we write about a standard tin by default 330 ml.
Polish – the foam collapses immediately, it has a slight almond color, the strongest smell of all the Pepper Doctors. The taste is quite structured, not very varied – watery, resembles a cola, it's not very sweet, so it doesn't stick to the beak. It has a very delicate aftertaste of white candy. 92 kcal / can.
American – very faint odor, even weaker than Polish, gives a chemical candy and a can; a bit sweeter than Polish in taste, heavier, less watery. 150 kcal / can 355 ml.
British – foams quite a lot, foam has thick blisters; feel the can a bit, the smell is quite weak. The taste is very sweet, it is the only one that has a really pleasant aroma of white almond candies, a bit like a cherry; it doesn't taste like cola. It is quite heavy, sticky, leaves a "slipper in the mouth", because it is sweetened with sugar with added sweeteners. 96 kcal / can.
Zero (British) – in smell it is more acidic than Diet, and at the same time candy; quite watery and very sour in taste. 14 kcal / can.
Diet (Polish) – foam as in Polish, the smell is stronger than the regular Polish Doctor Pieprz, candy, with a hint of acidity. Unfortunately, the taste is worse: it's sour, watery, not sweet, a hint of hard candy appears on some very distant plane. The smell is completely incompatible with the taste of the drink, which is basically… tasteless. 2,8 kcal / can.
Cherry (American) – the drink itself is amazing, Red color, something between the color of cola and orangeade red. The foam is also reddish in color, salmon, until regret, that it disappears so quickly. There is a cherry in the fragrance, slightly synthetic, something like lollipops, jelly beans or even shower gels, unfortunately you can also feel the can a bit. The taste is incredibly sweet, so he immediately leaves a "slipper" in his mouth, but unlike the British one, you can feel a hint of acidity in it. And taste is a bit of a problem – at first we thought, that we can feel cherry jelly in it, cherry candy, but after the test with closed eyes it came out, that you don't smell any cherries there. I think it was the power of suggestion that worked. 160 kcal / can.
In sum, Despite the wild sweetness, the British was probably the best for us, though you have to admit, that is (theoretically) cherry was also not bad. Both dietary ones were the worst, with the British Zero definitely at the bottom end. However, the palate cannot be deceived.
Dominik: After writing the above text, we managed to find the Polish version of Doctor Pepper in the cherry version, so I add it as a bonus, as it were, or also, omen name, cherries on the cake. Tin 330 ml with the same graphic design as the American one. 93 kcal / can. The color is a bit more reddish than the regular version, dark pink foam. There is a bit of cherry flavor in the fragrance, but either it evaporates quickly, or we got used to it quickly. Besides, similar to the basic variant. The taste is also almost identical to that of an ordinary Doctor. No big deal.
