Mexican Coke, Dublin Dr. Pepper and BBQ

Texas prides itself on uniqueness. It likes to take on an image all its own.

And it does. Easily.

I've long been a lover of the carbonated beverage - mainly Coca-Cola Classic. However, I gave it up about a year ago to rid my system of the daily caloric intake that I got when I downed about eight Cokes in one sitting. Put a glass of water in front of me at a restaurant and I might drink half of it. Put a Coke in front of me and you better come back with a pitcher with a straw in it.

When I made the big transition toward healthier living, I began attempting to drown myself each day with approximately 80 ounces of water.

Well, that lasted for about four months, two weeks, six days and 45 minutes. I had to have some sort of carbonated beverage. Above all, my choice to abandon the Coke goodness also meant I had to abandon Sonic, which was straight up terrible. I was very much against Diet Coke. It made me want to choke myself. So that option was out of the question.

But then one day I gave Diet Dr. Pepper a chance - one shot to bring back the carbonated wonderfulness into my life. And it's true, Diet Dr. Pepper really does taste like regular Dr. Pepper.

So, Sonic came back into my life and the world was good again.

Anyway, back to Texas and its amazement with itself. (I promise there's a link to this babbling here somewhere.)

Food and drink are big here in Tejas. I mean, my tastes have changed since living here. I've been introduced to all kinds of incredible eats, such as green chilies. I guess it's our close proximity to New Mexico, but green chilies have been life altering.

Two beverages in Texas have become treats to me: Mexican Cokes and Dublin Dr. Peppers.

Why are they different you ask? Well I have a fantastic answer for you: sugar. Pure sugar.

Mexican Cokes (that are seriously bottled in Mexico) can be found in the western part of the state and the southern part (Austin and San Antonio). Actually, I'm sure they can be found elsewhere, but that's the extent of my knowledge on their distribution.


Mexican Cokes use cane sugar to sweeten them. (Don't take this as a knock against high fructose corn syrup. It isn't the root of all evil.) Dublin Dr. Peppers are bottled in Dublin, Texas near Stephenville, and they use pure cane sugar as well.

In the 1970s the price of sugar rose and soft drink companies started panicking because it was getting too expensive to produce their drinks using sugar. Virtually everyone switched to high fructose corn syrup because it was much less expensive. Again, don't get on my case about high fructose corn syrup, because I'll beat you in the face with a corn cob.

Anyway, these soft drinks are the bomb diggity and they come in the old school glass bottles, which makes them even more amazing. You may be wired for sound for the next 45 minutes after drinking one, but they're incredible. We passed through Dublin last week on our peanut tour, and there was an ample supply of the deliciousness at one of our breaks. The Japanese loved them. And so did I.

Now, on to BBQ. As I mentioned last week, I ate a lot of BBQ on our Japanese peanut tour. Likely enough to be equivelent to a 700 pound steer.

One place we went to in Stephenville called Hard Eight was undoubtebly the best BBQ I've ever eaten. No lie folks. No lie.

When you get there, you start outside at a giant pit where you choose the meat you want. They cut you off a side of beef or sausage link and plop it on a tray for you. You take the tray inside, they weigh it and charge you by the pound.

Then you pick out your sides: cornbread salad, their famous banana pudding (which was OUT of this WORLD!), beans...you name it. So, I went for the japaleno sausage, shish-k-bob, beans, cornbread salad, banana pudding and pepper poppers. Yes, it was a lot of food, and yes I ate it all. Don't judge me. You would've done the same thing.

Out on the tables are a loaf of bread, loads of BBQ sauce and a lot of paper towels.

Digging my toes into Texas culture may give me a Texas-sized inner tube around my waste. Why do you think I started running all these races?