It's a long-standing tradition for me. On major holidays, I have my favorite soft drinks. The fully-loaded versions, not the diet counterpart. Usually, this means a Mexican Coca-Cola. Today, I wanted to try something uniquely Texan. I saw this on the shelf at H-E-B and had to have it.

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Let's state the obvious: yes, this appears in every way something which would appeal to fans of the original Big Red, only with real sugar.  And yes, I have tried the Big Red with real sugar in it and it is delicious. But the taste of the concoction in this bottle took me away to my happy place, somewhere over the rainbow reminiscent of Willy Wonka's factory or Toontown. I can only imagine what this would taste like with a scoop of creamily-decadent vanilla bean ice cream.

I quickly become a fan of Big Red and its 0 cal version. I grew up drinking Barq's Red Creme Soda in Louisiana and Mississippi, but I was never able to find a diet variety. Thanks to Big Red, Texans can drink their product and keep all of their toes   As much as I love the drink, the Dublin version must remain a rare but highly anticipated treat. It's my fault, not theirs.

You'll notice an empty old-fashioned Dr Pepper bottle there behind the red bottle. Although it's no longer bottled in Dublin by the Dublin people - damned pesky lawsuit; we had fountain Dublin DP in Baton Rouge - I had to have one of this new old version in the bottle. It tasted great. Maybe not with the love and care that the Dublin people brought to their bottle of Dr Pepper originally, but it was highly satisfactory.  And from the bottle is the best way to drink Dr Pepper.

You'll also notice the Whataburger-styled tumbler. Everything tastes better in that.

What I did not have today was Easter candy. After having two legendary Texas sodas, I had enough sweetness for this holiday. God bless you and your family and Texas!

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