THM-Friendly Cherry Dr. Pepper Dupe

Low-Carb dr. Pepper dupe idea

Many of us have struggled with soda addiction – I am no exception!

I’ve been on-plan since the original book came out, but I remember clearly struggling to give up soda for good. There weren’t as many resources or products available 5-6 years ago when I was having such a hard time, but I remember wishing I could find a good substitute for soda and finding everything at the store lacking in a major way.

Soda substitutions

There are LOTS of substitutions for soda – many have terrible ingredients, though, and some seemed to perpetuate my soda and sugar cravings.

I have a lot of ideas for soda substitutions in my Guide to Giving Up Soda – but my idea for a THM-friendly substitution is a delicious way to get some of the flavor of Cherry Dr. Pepper without any sugar or yucky ingredients!

I’ve been making this for months, and I have LOVED it – it doesn’t taste exactly like Cherry Dr. Pepper, but it’s a pretty good substitution!

How to Make it

All you need is a bottle of Topo Chico sparkling water (when it’s not on sale at Amazon I’ll often get it at Kroger):

and Cherry Berry THM Hydrates:

You’ll want to VERY CAREFULLY open the Topo Chico and pour it into a much larger glass or bottle than you think you need – adding the Cherry Berry Hydrates packet will make it overflow. Topo Chico is very carbonated and adding anything to it makes it completely overflow.

I don’t recommend pouring the Cherry Berry Hydrates packet directly into the bottle because it WILL overflow and it WILL make a giant mess in your kitchen – you can see an example of me doing just that in the video below. I recommend pouring it into a very large glass, letting the carbonation fizzle a bit, and then gently stirring the Cherry Berry flavor in with a fork.

This is a THM-friendly FP. Enjoy!