Dr Pepper Sausage Exists and, Yes, We Tasted It

In case you missed it, Dr Pepper and Johnsonville teamed up to make a Dr Pepper-flavored sausage. Obviously, we had to try it—and me, being who I am, already came up with a ship name for this duo. It’s Dr Johnsonville. Simple, but effective. I just hope that after all this build-up, they have good chemistry, you know? 

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We tried these new Dr Pepper sausages on their own to really get a sense of the flavor profile, and then with the condiments Johnsonville recommended to us. Here’s my honest review… and I promise not to be too bratty about it. Ha. Get it. Anyway…

New Sausage!

Johnsonville’s Dr Pepper-Inspired Smoked Sausage

Johnsonville

Pros: We love the quality of a good Johnsonville sausage, soda-flavored or not. These little logs are juicy as hell. Johnsonville also gave us the right condiments to complement the “swalty” flavor of the sausage and told us not to judge it too harshly without them. It was a good warning. If you’re going to eat this, we definitely recommend some basic ketchup, a sour cherry spread, or hot honey BBQ sauce. These dogs were not meant to be, uh, raw-dogged. 

Cons: It was a good attempt, everyone. Really. And I’m sorry, Dr Johnsonville. I know you wanted to hear better things from me. But the balance of flavors just isn’t right. First, let’s address the smell. You know when you’ve had an open can of Dr Pepper out for a long time, and little drips of soda have dried on the rim? That’s what this smells like. An opened, old can of soda. But I can look past the smell, if the taste is good. Sadly, the taste is not up to par. It leans too heavy into the cherry. The more savory ingredients in a Dr Pepper (tomato! pepper! clove!) needed to pop more. Right now, it’s giving cherry cola-flavored sausage, not a Dr Pepper sausage. 

Verdict: I want Dr Johnsonville to come back for a season two with a slightly better premise, because I’m still rooting for them. I think they can pull it off, I really do. But we gotta pull back on the cherry and explore the other flavors Dr Pepper has to offer. 

Credit: Liv Averett / Johnsonville

Rating:

3.5/10

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