Dr Pepper Baked Beans taste test comparison

What's my favorite soda? It's got to be Dr. Pepper. In the 1880s, when Charles Alderton combined those 23 unique flavors into a carbonated beverage, he definitely had a winner. 

And when I saw that Dr. Pepper was teaming up with the Serious Bean Co. to make Dr Pepper Baked Beans, I knew I had to try them! 

But not just try them alone. Is Dr Pepper Baked Beans something I can make myself? Let's find out!

For our comparison today, we'll be trying these Dr Pepper Baked Beans along with Bush's Best Original Baked Beans with a small change to them. 

Sweet & A Bit Sassy Baked Beans. Have you ever used Dr Pepper in a recipe? The Serious Bean Co. claims that top BBQ Pitmasters have used Dr Pepper as a secret ingredient for year. 

Seriously Delicious? We'll just have to decide that for ourselves. 

Reading the ingredients, I was a little concerned to see no mention of Dr Pepper in the ingredients. Not Dr Pepper syrup, concentrate, or anything of the sort. Dr Pepper itself only lists water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, phosphoric acid (not the citric acid here), along with natural and artificial flavors. If the Dr Pepper flavor is there, will it be able to compete with all the other flavors like tomato, vinegar, garlic, and black pepper above it? 

To serve, you just need to heat these beans up, so I pour the contents of the can into a pot and warmed them slowly on the stovetop. 

Ready for eating!

So if the Dr Pepper Baked Beans aren't bringing the Dr Pepper flavor directly, maybe I can do it with my beans that I'll be comparing them to. In a saucepan, I poured about 16 ounces of the Original Dr Pepper soda. For an hour, I slowly boiled away the water, leaving me with a concentrated Dr Pepper syrup. 

To that, I added Bush's Original Baked Beans and cooked everything together for another 30 minutes. 

And here's the finished product. It's definitely darker than the Dr Pepper baked beans, but how will it taste? 

Starting with the Dr. Pepper Baked Beans by the Serious Bean Co. 

Ian - Yuck!

Patrick - They do taste very sweet. It took a minute, but I'm getting some Dr Pepper. 

Alli - Me too. But I don't like it. 

Megan - I don't think they're nasty, but I wouldn't buy that. They're not my favorite baked beans. 

Theresa - Nope, don't care for those. 

Joe - I found them to be very sweet. I would not guess Dr Pepper anything in those. Others said they could taste it. I couldn't. 

Mickey didn't seem to find any fault in them, finishing off the bowl. 

Okay... How about the ones with homemade Dr Pepper syrup? 

Joe - Can you taste any Dr Pepper in these? 

Sheila - I can not. 

Ian - I can't either, which makes them better. 

Megan - These taste much better. 

Alli - Oh yeah. 

Patrick - I don't taste any Dr Pepper. 

Megan - I'm going to say that Dr Pepper in baked beans is not a necessary thing. 

Joe - These taste like regular baked beans. Maybe the 30 minutes cooking in the homemade Dr Pepper syrup wasn't enough for any of the flavor to get into the beans, and then not enough syrup stuck to the beans. 

Oh well. It's unfortunate that the Dr Pepper Baked Beans weren't a big hit, but we've got plenty of other tasty food to satisfy us. Our fantastic bone-in ribeye steak taste test. And Theresa has a ripe seedless watermelon that's been chilling in the fridge and will be perfect for our meal. She recalled a time growing up when her and her mother would have a watermelon in the fridge, slice it in half, the each get their own side and go after it with a spoon. 

And we certainly can't forget about Megan's fresh from the oven sourdough bread. She's gotten into baking and her loaves have not disappointed. When they are baking, they fill the house with an amazing smell. Look how beautiful they are!

She's got quite the variety for our bread platter tonight, baking 3 different flavors. Rye, Regular Sour Dough, and Sprouted Spelt Flour. 

That crunch of the crust, plus softened butter and honey, Mmm. Definitely hard to beat.