Can We Clone The Doctor? Dr Pepper Recipe Hack Episode

Can We Clone The Doctor? This is going to be tough… There are (as the bottle says) 23 flavours in Dr Pepper; but what are they? The internet is full of theories, and lists; some of them make sense and some of them don’t. I have to admit - most of the lists contain ‘flavours’ that are compound flavours like ‘cola’ and ‘Root Beer’ so I don’t know how much I trust them.
There is also a formula book that surfaced from the Old Corner Drugstore in Waco Texas where Dr Pepper was invented. It contains a formula for ‘Dr Peppers Pepsin Bitters’ - but the handwriting is is scribbled that no-one can agree what it says.
Here is our first on-camera attempt:

Ingredients:
1L (4 cups) water
175g dried prunes
130g raspberries
2 vanilla beans, split
15g dry wintergreen leaves
8g whole cloves
2g peppercorns
20g chopped ginger
2.5g ground nutmeg
2g (around 10 pods) cardamom
6g cinnamon stick
4 juniper berries
3g cut and sifted wild cherry bark
3g liquorice bark
3g sarsaparilla
2g cut and sifted gentian root
800g sugar
10g citric acid
15 mL molasses
30 mL pure almond extract
10 mL cherry extract
5 mL lemon extract
5 mL orange extract
2 mL star anise extract

Method:
In a saucepan, combine the water, fruit, spices, and herbs.
Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat and add the cherry bark, liquorice bark, sarsaparilla, and gentian root.
Let steep for 30 to 45 minutes.
Strain out the solid ingredients and return the water to the saucepan.
Add the sugar, citric acid and molasses and heat until dissolved.
Remove the syrup from the heat.
Stir in the extracts.

45mL of syrup mixed into 350 mL of soda water is a great place to start - you can adjust based on your tastes.

This is a list of flavours, compiled from all of the online lists of the Dr Pepper flavour profile:
cola (??)
cherry
liquorice
almond
vanilla
blackberry
apricot
blackberry
caramel
pepper
anise
sarsaparilla
ginger
molasses
lemon
plum
orange
nutmeg
cardamon
allspice
coriander
juniper
birch
clove

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[DjDolHaus]

The missing ingredient is 5 years at medical school, what you've got there is just Mr Pepper

[bfgd]

Years ago I remember somebody telling me at a luncheon, that their grandad use to work at Dr Pepper and made the syrup mix for Dr Pepper. He said that his grandad told him that Dr Pepper does not contain any prune juice whatsoever. All he would reveal to me was that it was a unique type of cherry extract. This extract is what gave Dr Pepper the prune taste, but without the prunes. Also he stated, the reason why no body has been able to copy the taste is because the amounts have to be exact otherwise any deviation will cause the product to taste nothing like Dr. Pepper. Many off brands now have totally given up on making Dr. Pepper using real ingredients and have opted to use artificial flavoring to get the product to taste similar to it. This of course being a shortcut and not a good one at that. In the end it gives the drink a weird aftertaste. Of course I have no idea of the validity of this man's statement but you can take it for what its worth. I just always found it interesting. Anyway the smell of a old time soda fountain shop, was the taste profile of the drink. It was basically taking a smell and making it drinkable.

[jetnut]

That look on his face after he tastes the real Dr. Pepper is like "what have I done?"

[loganh]

I would love to see him go mad trying to recreate mountain dew.

[Caseyuptobat]

The primary flavor compounds in Dr. Pepper are from Cherry and Cinnamon. Ditch the Raspberries and Prunes for a mix of Morello and Rainier cherries. Then replace the licorice root with Kola nut. Swap the citrus extracts for zest.

[sams]

Love that sequence of blank staring and glass cycling between you two haha - possibly one of the best unintentionally hilarious things I have seen on the channel!

[glennaa]

"Not even Mr. Pibb knows what's in Dr. Pepper" made me LOL. That could be the greatest line ever on this channel

[werewolf]

A lot of these started out as cough medicine, I'm surprised people don't try stuff like aniseed or horehound... I get a very horehound flavor from dr. Pepper and prune.

[BrandonDrabekND]

Hi Glen, I’m an herbalist and used to work in a compounding pharmacy. You’re definitely on the right track! I used to make digestive bitters and we would add the phosphate and cherry extract to make it taste better.

[almazingsker]

I found it so absolutely hilarious watching two people pick up and drink multiple different drinks while trying to find the words to describe what they were experiencing. Great video!

[JomasterTheSecond]

Someone, make a bootleg Dr. Pepper can with Dr. Glen on it! He must join the pantheon of greats like Dr. Perfect and Dr. Thunder.

[malisurfer]

You're one of the few YouTubers, were I instantly hit "thumbs up", because I know you aren't playing games and deliver the content you promised.

[Mumantaii]

Mixing Pepsi with Amaretto comes pretty close to Dr.Pepper... but with alcohol.

[RedLukey]

"Time to add some sugar"

*adds half the contents of earths sugar to the bowl*

[aidangarvey]

"I need to remove one of the 21 flavours"
"Good luck figuring out which one it is"
"I think it's the licorice bark or the cherry bark"
"...Okay"

[heavens.sorrow]

Me: "Alchemy."
2:06 "All Kemmy."

[rplf]

Dr Pepper is the greatest soda out there and my face is always like this when I drink it.

[JohnKelly]

2 years later and we're still waiting for a second episode! And a Moxie episode!

[ryanturpin]

It was supposedly a mixture of all the syrup flavors that they had so it might be worth while researching the most common flavors in drugstores at that time.

[Philsmusic]

Such a beautiful and wholesome video to experience.