Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut Returns This Summer After 140 Years of Innovation

When pharmacist Charles Alderton created Dr Pepper in the 1880s, he never knew what adding two more flavors could do for his fledgling formula. Yes, Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut is returning this summer for a third retail run in bottles and cans (in both full and zero sugar, before you ask).

Videos by Sporked

It’s safe to say Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut is a regular annual re-release at this point, but how did we get here? Instead of waxing poetic about a drink we’ve covered a few times now, I’d like to cover how the Dr Pepper timeline led us to this exact moment. Strap in, it’s time for Griffin’s Improbable History.

1885: Dr Pepper Created in Waco, Texas

The creation and devlopment of Dr Pepper is worthy of an entire separate article, so it’s a good thing that already exists right here on Sporked! Check out Matt Crowley’s explanation of the OG Dr Pepper before fast-forwarding through the next 100 years.

1982: Coca-Cola Introduces The Public To Flavors At The World’s Fair

While Dr Pepper actually predates Coca-Cola by a year, Coca-Cola Cherry predates Dr Pepper’s first flavor variant by twenty years. At the 1982 World’s Fair, Coca-Cola tested new versions of their iconic cola made with lime, lemon, vanilla, and cherry flavoring on an eager public. After the yearlong exhibition was complete, Coca-Cola had the data they needed. In 1985, Coca-Cola Cherry hit shelves and taught the world that “cola + fruit flavor” was a simple formula for financial success.

2002: Dr Pepper Tries Anything That Might Work

And two decades later, Dr Pepper got the memo! In 2002, Dr Pepper Red Fusion crashed onto shelves… and did not stick the landing. The cherry-flavored Red Fusion was quickly replaced by Dr Pepper Cherry Vanilla in 2004… which was replaced in nearly all markets by Dr Pepper Cherry in 2009.

After the Red Fusion stumble, Dr Pepper released flavor variants pretty reliably: Berries and Cream (2006), Diet Cherry Chocolate (2007), Vanilla Float (2014), Dark Berry (2019), and Cream Soda (2020). While each variant garnered something of a cult following, none truly made waves in the soda aisle until…

2023: Dr Pepper Debuts Strawberries & Cream

It turns out Gen Z are huge fans of anything remotely familiar getting a new flavor variant. While Coca-Cola was going all-in on their wild Creations line, Dr Pepper would stick closer to reality with this creamy fruit variant. While Sporked‘s own Jordan Myrick didn’t love it, Dr Pepper Strawberries & Cream sold so well that it’d be cited directly as a major factor in the following development.

2024: Dr Pepper Becomes Second Most Popular Soda; Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut Debuts

From chasing down Sprite as the sixth most popular soda in 2000 to overtaking Diet Coke for third place in 2020, Dr Pepper has slowly but surely been creeping up the sales chart throughout the millenium. The bars were truly rattled in 2024 when Dr Pepper beat perennial runner-up Pepsi for the second place spot behind Coca-Cola–in no small part thanks to the wild success of Strawberries & Cream.

That same year, Dr Pepper celebrated this sales achievement with the release of another wildly popular flavor variant: Creamy Coconut. Both full sugar and Zero Sugar versions earned glowing marks from Sporked‘s own Gwynedd Stuart, and the world at large agreed. Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut is one of the brand’s most celebrated flavor variants to date; summer 2026 will mark the variant’s third consecutive annual release.

Would you prefer Dr Pepper Creamy Coconut take over Dr Pepper Blackberry‘s permanent shelf space? Let me know in the comments.