Welcome back to FTW’s Beverage of the Week series. Here, we mostly chronicle and review beers, but happily expand that scope to any beverage that pairs well with sports. Yes, even cookie dough whiskey.
It’s wild to think that Dr Pepper has its own cinematic universe. Every fall, their Fansville commercials re-introduce college football fans to a cast of recurring characters on par with Progressive’s salespeople or Geico’s cavemen or, uh, well probably a bunch of other non-insurance adsfolk I’m not remembering.
The Fansville ads are mostly innocuous, occasionally funny and, importantly, a necessary buffer between political ads in election years. They’re ingrained into Dr. Pepper’s identity, so much so that the denizens of this imaginary community have been gifted their own special Doc P variant; Dr Pepper Bourbon Flavored Fansville Reserve.
This new blend isn’t for sale and available only through the Dr Pepper Rewards exchange — an online portal that effectively tracks your purchasing habits but offers free soda and various discounts in return. You don’t have to buy anything to get your can, but you do have to win one of 2,300 specially minted kits through a lottery system that gives you one free shot at Fansville Reserve per day.
Because I am special (read: because I emailed Dr Pepper politely and asked if I could feature their new drink) I was able to get a can despite my constant failings in the sweepstakes. They, fortunately, said yes. So how did it taste?
Pretty dang good, actually.