Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
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I first pitched this article to my editor with an easy logline: It’s a review of a flavor of Dr Pepper that practically doesn’t exist, save for very specific regions of the United States. Dr Pepper Vanilla Float hasn’t seen a national release in almost ten years, but at least one bottler still produced the soda as recently as last year. Back when I initially pitched this, I had no idea that Dr Pepper would force me to rewrite this intro. Because it looks like Dr Pepper Vanilla Float is back…sort of.
To be clear, this soda is not getting a large national release or anything close to it. That said, it is likely easier to get now than it was a month ago—when I paid a man I met through a Discord server to mail me a few barely-out-of-date cans to review for you good people. Dr Pepper has not publicly stated exactly where the 2025 revival of this flavor will be available, but sightings have occurred at retailers in Louisiana and Texas.
So what does this rare (but not super rare) Dr Pepper flavor taste like? Here’s my review.
New(ish) Dr Pepper Flavor!
- Dr Pepper Vanilla Float Review
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Allow me to open with a caveat: The can I drank for this review was out-of-date. That said, the best-by date on a soda is pretty generous; Tyler Bowers and I recently sampled a 10+ year old soda on a livestream. I don’t believe the flavor was impacted in any major way just because I drank this a couple weeks past the date on the can.
Pros: If you can believe it, this tastes like Dr Pepper…with vanilla! The spice level of your standard Dr Pepper is softened slightly by the extra vanilla sweetness. I’ve had Dr Pepper ice cream floats before, and this is a reasonable approximation of that flavor combination.
Cons: Good as it may be, this isn’t my favorite long-forgotten Dr Pepper variant. Approximately 300 years ago, Dr Pepper released the very first soda I ever fell in love with: Dr Pepper Cherry Vanilla. (The facsimile you can get from select Coca-Cola Freestyle machines is not the same.) If we’re just arbitrarily bringing back Dr Peppers, let’s get that one going next, please. Seek it out if you’re a true Pepper; skip it if you’re not.
Credit: Liv Averett / Walmart
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https://sporked.com/article/dr-pepper-vanilla-float-review/
About the Author
Griffin Parker is a writer, award-winning charity auctioneer, and "influencer in the beverage space" according to a few PR agencies. Please do not ask him about the cotton candy business he started right out of high school. When he's not contributing to Sporked or running the @SodaSeekers news pages, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix.
I must agree with you about cherry vanilla DP. It’s the closest thing to the OG Mr Pibb-the best soda ever made. Pibb extra pales in comparison.
I can’t wait to look at more about Dr Peppers first drin̈k Cherry Vanilla. Thanks TiffanyTabb@gmail.com
It is just not right for certain stores in certain states to only have limited edition Sodas and not everywhere else.
I had a friend in Tennessee pick this Vanilla Float up for me a couple years ago. Honestly it didn’t taste a whole lot different than regular Dr Pepper. There may have been a slight hint of vanilla but I felt like I was just drinking regular Dr Pepper for the most part. I was disappointed the length that I had went to get it. However the cherry vanilla did have a noticeably different flavor and I definitely wouldn’t have a problem with its return!