Tonight at Walmart, in the soft drink coolers at the checkout line, I saw a new product: “Dr Pepper Ten.” (Trivia fact: there’s no period in the name of “Dr Pepper”) This is a cross between the full-calorie and diet versions of Dr Pepper, sweetened partly with high-fructose corn syrup and partly with aspartame. The name indicates 10 calories per USDA-determined serving, which actually means 20 calories in a normal-sized plastic bottle.

I’m not surprised at the idea of a sort-of-diet soda, but I am surprised that Dr Pepper would be the one to implement it. To me, Diet Dr Pepper is the best-tasting diet soft drink, the one that most closely matches the taste of its namesake product. I don’t think there’s nearly as much room between Dr Pepper and Diet Dr Pepper as there is between Coke and Diet Coke (or between Coke and Coke Zero), and so I’m not sure who is going to buy DP Ten. If you like diet drinks at all, you’ll be happy with Diet Dr Pepper. If you don’t like them at all, you’ll demand regular Dr Pepper.

I tried a bottle, just for curiosity’s sake. Since I mostly drink diet soda, it tasted a little too sweet to me; I’d be interested in knowing how it tastes to someone who normally drinks regular Dr Pepper.

By the way, I’ve been told, and seen on TV, that the bottling company in Dr Pepper’s Texas home town is the only plant that still makes it with cane sugar instead of HFCS. Given the success of sugar-sweetened products like Jones Soda, Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, I’m surprised Dr Pepper didn’t try that instead – a sugar-sweetened version. I think that might have had more chance of success.