Sometimes this occurs because of maturity. You have grown, while they have remained the same, a la Plato’s Allegory of the Cave.
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I have always loathed diet sodas of any stripe, because artificial sweeteners have such a dreadful aftertaste. They just taste funny to me, and even when the initial sip is relatively okay, the aftertaste always gets me.
I used to be a regular fiend 
for Dr. Pepper, but when they released the “real sugar” recipe I nearly lost my mind. I could never quite articulate what the difference was, and it may have just been all in my head, but I very much preferred the real sugar version to the normal high fructose corn syrup version. So much so that when they quit selling it in my area, I would bootleg cases of it across state lines when I visited friends in markets that still carried it. 
___ 
. . .
In any case, I’ve heard rumors that you can get “mexican coke” made with sugar instead of corn syrup in the local ethnic grocers (is that the right term?), but I’ve never sought it out. I don’t really drink soda, anymore, alas…
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Down here in TJ, it’s easy to get because they still operate on the returnable bottle system. Sure, there’s a shit-ton of canned and plastic HFCS nasty-tasting stuff sold here, but there’s always the refined sugar glass bottles if you want them, from the little 235 ml all the way up to 1 liter.
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Where you at? Mexican Coke (and Mexican Fanta and others with cane sugar) is incredibly easy to find in Southern California. There are also several domestic varieties available (like the “throwback” versions of Pepsi and Mtn Dew, among others) which take a bit more looking for.
I mourn the loss of Dublin Dr Pepper.
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I was there at its passing. Contracts - Stick to what they allow.
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Me too. It IS different. No doubt.
As for the Mexican cokes, I’ve seen them here in my local grocery store (Kroger), so you can get them. This is in Metro ATL (suburbs).
I’ve largely cut them out, too.
???
Ah!
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As I recall, the non-HFCS sodas can be found in some stores around Passover as well.
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I also assumed Dublin Dr. Pepper was some kind of Irish drink, like white lemonade or brown lemonade.
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That’s what I was thinking… but apparently not.
Live and learn!
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When I was in Canada, I much prefered Coke and Dr Pepper made with real sugar, but too my shame the Barq’s tasted weird. It especially bugged me b/c it must have been closer to the original Barq’s flavor, but it just tasted wrong.
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When I was in Canada, a cashier asked me if I understood that seltzer water was not soda, because apparently this causes confusion among Americans 
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yeah, Club Soda / carbonated water is just weird. Other weird Canadiana: ketchup, and all-dressed potato crisp flavours.
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I like All Dressed.
And poutine, provided that it’s real poutine and not some “elevated” hipster imitation.
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Barq’s just tastes like sugar to me. No root beer flavour.
I’ve been finding that with root beer in general though.
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Try Henry Weinhard’s root beer if you get a chance. I’ve tasted many dozens of different brands, and Weinhard’s is the purest root beer experience I’ve ever had.
Barq’s, however, I do not really consider to be actual root beer. It’s very much its own thing.
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Sinuses stuffy today. But going to the ENT this week.
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I got home after a business trip with my son and was so tired I forgot to get the breastmilk into the cooler. I had to dump a day and a half of food for my son. I feel fucking awful, and I start back full time tomorrow.
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Accurate.
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Indeed. Root beer should not have caffeine.
There are a few brands I care for, but my absolute favourite is:
Unfortunately, it’s made by a very small brewery and only really sold in PEI.
On the other hand, when I do manage to get some of it, I appreciate it a lot more.
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Part of me wants to get the hell out of the house on my day off for a good walk. The other part me says you can smell the damn smoke when you are outside maybe this isn’t the best thing to do.
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