The Discontinued Dr Pepper Flavor We're Probably Never Getting Back

If you're a fan of Dr Pepper, chances are it's either the original or diet kind that you typically drink. While the soda does come in flavors like cherry vanilla and cream soda, it isn't the variety that draws most customers to Dr Pepper, but more so its unique combination of 23 mysterious flavors. Back in 2006 however, Dr Pepper ventured outside of its traditional recipe and introduced a Berries & Cream flavor.

Berries & Cream Dr Pepper was marketed primarily for its raspberry flavor, as evidenced by the imagery of raspberries prominently featured in a 2006 commercial and on the cans themselves. It seemed as though Dr Pepper was setting up this flavor to be a permanent addition to its lineup, as a diet version of Berries & Cream Dr Pepper was released alongside the regular version. The soda even had its own tagline, "Get Berried in Cream," though it never became one of Dr Pepper's famous slogans, as the product ended up being pulled from shelves after only a few short months. Now the only place you can get a taste of this discontinued soda is at the soda shop in the Dr Pepper Museum.

Considering it was available for less than a year, you might assume that it was simply a limited-time offering, much like the Fantastic Chocolate flavor, or the more recent Creamy Coconut Dr Pepper. However, Berries & Cream Dr Pepper was actually expected to join Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper as part of a line of Soda Fountain Classics. Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper, released a couple of years prior, had ended up selling so well that it's still available to this day. "Based on consumer product test results, we expect both Regular and Diet Dr Pepper Berries & Cream will have a strong and devoted following," the company stated at the time (via Bev Net).

Dr Pepper believed so strongly in the flavor that it launched a nationwide marketing campaign, which involved Berries & Cream ice cream trucks distributing 3 million free samples all across the U.S. Despite these efforts, people weren't very enthusiastic about the new soda, especially compared to Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper. And without much interest from consumers, it just didn't make sense for the brand to continue making it.

Though Berries & Cream Dr Pepper wasn't initially successful enough to secure a permanent spot in the lineup, Dr Pepper actually decided to bring it back in 2022. While the name remained the same, the relaunch featured a slight twist in the packaging, which included an image of a blueberry alongside the original raspberry, hinting at more of a mixed berry flavor profile. Unfortunately for fans, the 2022 Berries & Cream release was an extremely limited one. It wasn't distributed in stores but was instead made available exclusively through a promotional event within the Dr Pepper online rewards program. Only 582 lucky people who signed up for the program had the chance to win one of these exclusive cans.

Perhaps Dr Pepper used this giveaway to gauge renewed interest in a berry-flavored Dr Pepper because a year after, a similar Strawberries & Cream Dr Pepper was released. This new offering, seemingly the same soda but with a different berry, could easily be seen as Dr Pepper's attempt to improve and replace the original berries and cream concept. Whether or not this is truly the case, Strawberries & Cream Dr Pepper was announced as a permanent flavor, so it still seems unlikely that Dr Pepper would have any incentive to re-release the similarly-flavored original Berries & Cream soda.