Pop Goes the Brat? Get Ready for Dr Pepper Sausage

I really love my job as a Professional Food Taste Tester™, but I should have worked in marketing. See, Dr Pepper has teamed up with Johnsonville to create Dr Pepper sausage and it feels like such a wonderful opportunity for a “23 flavors, 1 bun” campaign. Yeah, this tagline is a reference to a really disgusting sex tape from almost 20 years ago and it requires that people are aware that Dr Pepper is, canonically, a blend of 23 flavors. Okay, fine, maybe it’s for the best that I’m not in marketing—but all the same, Dr Pepper sausages are coming at you soon. 

Important Q: Why would anyone want Dr Pepper sausage? 

I agree that, at first blush, a sausage infused with soda sounds weird. But let’s think about this for a sec: You cook sausages on a BBQ grill and plenty of recipes for BBQ sauce include a dark soda, like Coke, root beer, or even Dr Pepper. In fact, lots of people boil brats in dark soda to create a sweet glaze situation. Sausage infused with Dr Pepper just saves a step or several. 

When and where can I get my bun around one of these bad boys?

Okay, calm down. According to Snackolator on Instagram, Johnsonville Dr Pepper Sausage will be launching at convenience stores first and then subsequently rolling out to grocery stores. The release’s timing is unclear as yet, but imagery that was on display at the NACS, an annual convenience store trade show, shows a plump, shiny link that’s roughly the color of Dr Pepper—or Dr Pepper-flavored pork, anyway. So, let’s just say it’s coming “soon.”    

If Johnsonville, a Wisconsin-based company, ever decides to do a more regionally appropriate collab, we’d be down to try brats infused with Sprecher Root Beer. Still lots of flavors, one bun!