Growing up in Australia, my only exposure to Dr Pepper was what I'd seen in movies or television shows.

When I went to the United States for an eight week trip in 1992, I was first able to experience the taste sensation and fell in love with the drink, consuming copious amounts of the liquid during my time there.

My only regret? I travelled through Texas, stayed overnight in Waco and didn't even know the Dr Pepper Bottling Plant and Museum as located there! Oh well, next time!

When I arrived back in Australia I had to go cold turkey. No more Dr Pepper.

That was until 1995 when I was at a convention at Homebush Bay in Sydney (site of the 2000 Olympics) where a Schweppes (Australian soft drink company) representative was giving away free samples of various new drinks including Dr Pepper!

I got as many samples as the rep would let me drink then had to wait another six months until Dr Pepper was launched on the Australian market in 1996. And then it was only available in Sydney (not west of the Blue Mountains - Orange - where I live) and only in takeaway shops (not supermarkets) so I had to stock up every time I visited Sydney.

Ah, finally Dr Pepper was released Australia wide and made available in supermarkets so I copuld grab some bottles every week as part of the groceries!

It seems Dr Pepper drinkers are few and far between in Australia, at least in Orange. Older people generally don't like the taste (desribing it as tasting like a medicine they had when they were a kid or a cross between sarsparilla and some unidentifiable flavour!

It's reasonably popular with younger people so maybe there's a future Down Under!