New Dr Pepper Flavor Grosses Out Some Shoppers: "Tastes Like Cough Medicine"

In proof that you can't make everyone happy all of the time, soda fans are rebelling against a new Dr Pepper flavor that some people—like yours truly—absolutely love, but others say tastes like cough medicine. The Blackberry (and Blackberry Zero Sugar) Dr Pepper launched in February, and seems to be quite a divisive topic already.

"The Blackberry tastes like children's cough medicine, jokes on me, I used to drink children's cough medicine, zoinks. Calpol's fault for making it so scrumdiddlyuptious," one Redditor said. Calpol, for American readers who may not be familiar with the brand, is a very popular U.K. children's medication known for having a nicer taste than cough medicines usually do. Another Redditor called the Blackberry flavor "carbonated Ribena", which is actually quite accurate (Ribena is a blackcurrant juice popular in the U.K., and quite frankly a carbonated version sounds amazing). Here's what soda fans are saying about the Blackberry Dr Pepper now they've had two months to get used to it.

Too Much Blackberry

Some naysayers feel the blackberry element of the drink overpowers the rest. "I think the blackberry overpowers the Dr. Pepper. The creamy coconut is much better imo," one Redditor said. "It's mid. I enjoy the flavor but there's a bit too much flavor and not enough Dr Pepper," another agreed.

Yummy Cough Syrup Flavor?

Other soda fans actually appreciate the unique flavor of the Blackberry Dr Pepper. "The strong reactions to this stuff is justified," one Redditor shared. "I heard all the claims of it tasting like cough syrup, and there's validity to that. Upon the first sip, my reaction immediately was, 'This tastes like straight grape cough syrup.' I was disappointed, but had a little more. I discovered the exact opposite reaction from Fanta Haunted Apple. Whereas that got grosser and grosser as you kept drinking it, the Dr Pepper Blackberry gets better and better. The cough syrupy flavor is still there, but it honestly complements the Dr Pepper flavor."6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Diet Blackberry

Another fan recommended the zero sugar option as being more tasty: "I have the zero sugar version and it's great imo. Some people may get more of a cough syrup experience because of the sugar content, which is 75% of why cough syrup works, the sugar coats the throat," they said. "I've always associated the throat coat with high sugar not cough syrup. Flavor wise it's artificial blackberry. I like it. Just don't necessarily always want to drink my calories lol," another commented.

Still Undecided

Some consumers are still undecided about how they really feel. "It's odd I don't know if I like it or hate it? I've had 9 out of a 12 pack and I'm still perplexed about it. I wish that the natural flavors were more prevalent than the artificial. I understand the use of the artificial flavor to heighten the natural flavor, but I think it's a little much on the artificial flavor. I think they could have used half of what they did and it would have been better," one said.

Blackberry Should Taste Like Blackberry

Other soda fans are stringent defending the Blackberry flavor, saying it tastes exactly the way it's supposed to. "You taste the Dr Pepper at first and then you get the blackberry as the finish and that's why it's Dr Pepper BlackBerry and not BlackBerry Dr Pepper," one Redditor explained. "The Dr Pepper taste is not long lasting as it shouldn't be, otherwise just open up a can of Dr Pepper and drink that. You can taste the Dr Pepper for about 3 or 4 seconds and then you get Blackberry. That's what you're supposed to taste."