A beverage that certainly belongs here is Dr. Brown's Black Cherry. Though the cans bear a resemblance to other imitations, they simply represent one of many flavors in a Dr. Brown's line that includes Cream Soda, Root Beer, Ginger Ale, Orange, and the undrinkable Cel-Ray.

Dr. Whatever is a newer beverage made by a premium-soda company, Journey Food & Beverage. Others have added this drink to their sites, but I'm not convinced this one is truly trying to copy Dr Pepper. The description Journey provides for Dr. Whatever suggests that their drink is a tribute to beverages created by entrepreneuring "doctors" in the nineteenth century, rather than to one specific drink still popular over a century later. If Dr Pepper truly was their inspiration, it is not evident in the taste of Dr. Whatever, which tastes more like a less-than-spectacular microbrewed cola.

Apparently this soda is no longer available. Previously listed as a questionable knockoff, Fitz's Hip Hop Pop was (and still is, as of May 2002) billed as a raspberry cola on the company web site. Taking its place in the lineup is Dr. Fizz, which leaves no doubt as to its aspirations. Be sure to check out Fitz's Bottling Line for a list of their other products plus some not-quite-favorable reviews of them (on the company's own web site?!).

I finally gathered up the courage to try Dr. Rush. Other enlightened palates had rated this beverage so poorly that I feared opening the can, expecting to be greeted by something the likes of which have never been seen outside of an Asian foods store. However, I found it surprisingly average -- not delicious, but not terrible either. I also decided that it's not a fake Dr Pepper, either, though I don't know whether the producer thinks it is or not. Like Dr. Whatever, the taste tends more towards cola than anything else.

"Rich in Vitamins! Enuf is Enough!" So claims the label of Dr. Enuf. My parents found this odd beverage in the Smoky Mountains, but after tasting it, I decided it wasn't trying to be a Dr knockoff. And I wasn't convinced that it was enough, either. In any case, it's a decent lemon-lime soda with caffeine (which comes before any vitamins in the list of ingredients) and unidentifiable floaters. The back label says "Ask your doctor about Dr. Enuf!", though you could probably ask this guy too.

Cheerwine also has been suggested as a Dr Pepper clone. Perhaps it's color of the can that leads to this misconception, since to me it tasted much more like a cherry cola, a pretty good one at that. Perhaps this is what Dr Pepper had in mind when they introduced Red Fusion. Cheerwine is sold in parts of the southeastern U.S.; check the web site for a map of their marketing area.