PASSIONATE RATIONS

Wandering down the soda aisle late last night at the grocery store, my husband stopped short.

“It’s here! They have it!”

“What?” I said, looking the direction he was pointing.

There, ensconced between regular Diet Dr. Pepper and some Sprite, was a twelve pack of Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper.

I’d heard it was going to be a reality and it had finally arrived, its retro-design of reds, browns and silvers, cherries dripping with chocolate, beckoning all comers.

Of course we bought a pack, emblazoned “Limited Edition.”

Regardless of how it may taste, I will definitely have to save a can for my Dr. Pepper can collection (which currently consists of the can I found in a Tokyo vending machine and the mysteriously-empty-though-totally-sealed can of Diet Dr. Pepper I found in a twelve pack).

And how does it taste, you ask?  Well, I saved this very special moment for you, dear readers.

Popping open the tab as I sat to write this entry, the smell of candy wafted upward.  Cherry candy.  Chocolate-covered cherries perhaps.  Well, that was a good sign.

I only hesitated slightly before sipping (after noting that neither “cocoa” nor “cherry” was among the listed ingredients–no surprise, of course.   It is mass-produced soda, after all).

Let me digress briefly to note that my favorite Tootsie Pop flavor is cherry.  Apparently, the flavor-creators at Dr. Pepper have a thing for it too, because this soda tastes just like melted and chilled cherry Tootsie Pops.

Hmmmm.   Interesting, but…kinda weird.

Still, you have to hand it to the Doctor.  Who else has so many varieties of diet soda (regular, cherry-vanilla, caffeine-free, berries & cream, cherry-chocolate)?   As a soda addict, I appreciate this.

As a dessert addict, I also appreciate the references made to the dessert display cases in diners of yore.   Soda as dessert.  Yep.

But you still can’t beat the regular stuff.