An Introduction

Hello. Welcome to the San Diego Pibb Project. Please allow me to explain.

I'm an Englishman. I was born and raised in London, but I now live in San Diego, California. I moved here in August 2009, and one of the things I was most excited about on my arrival was the opportunity to try all the different foods that are available here. However, after living here for a few months, I realised something: despite having a great variety of food on offer, Southern California seems to have a somewhat limited range of beverages to try. Sure, there's all the usual alcoholic drinks and sodas - Coke, Pepsi, 7Up, etc. - but very little else. After just a few months here I found myself missing the array of drinks I used to get back home - orange squash, lemon squash, cordials, Ribena, and so on. I felt like something was missing from my life.

Then, in December 2009, my wife (who was still my fiancée at the time) took me to Florida, to meet my future in-laws. On the final day of our trip, on our way to the airport, the in-laws offered to take us to a restaurant called Five Guys. In case you were wondering, Five Guys was founded in 1986 by Janie and Jerry Murrell and their four sons (with Jerry and the sons being the original "Five Guys")^. Jerry and Janie had a fifth son two years after opening their first restaurant; all five sons, the current "Five Guys", are now involved in the business. Anyhow, my in-laws said it was an excellent burger place - like an East Coast version of In'n'Out - and seemed confident that I would enjoy it. They weren't wrong.

But, little did they know: that visit to Five Guys would give me much more than just a tasty burger. In fact, it would change my life forever.

As I approached the restaurant's drinks fountain, I noticed a sign for something I had never heard of before: a drink called"Mr Pibb".

"What's Mr Pibb?" I asked my wife.
"I think it's a sort of Cherry Coke", she replied. "A bit like Dr Pepper."

I don't like Cherry Coke or Dr Pepper, but I decided to give it a try anyway. And, as soon as the liquid hit the back of my mouth and then flowed down my throat, I realised I had found a beverage to fill the void that had been left by all my old favourite drinks in England. It was delicious! This was exactly what I had been looking for, for all these months: a drink that was tasty, refreshing, sweet (but not TOO sweet), had a hint of cherry (but not as sickly as Cherry Coke), and tiny element of spice (but not as nauseating as Dr Pepper) and left a pleasant aftertaste.

It was perfect! I had found my new favourite drink! I couldn't wait to get back to San Diego and stock my fridge with this glorious Mr Pibb; I'd be able to sit out in the sun and watch the sunsets whilst sipping it. I could even take it to the beach with me!

So, when we got back from Florida, I rushed out to the shops. And then, tragedy struck. This was not to be. My dreams were about to be shattered. One after the other, the shopkeepers all shook their heads and turned me away, empty-handed. Ralphs, Vons, Albertsons, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Henry's... every store was the same. None of them stocked Mr Pibb. It had all been in vain. I was devastated.

But I couldn't just forget Mr Pibb. Not so easily. Instead, I checked Google, to try to find San Diego stockists. Again, nothing. But I realized that I was not alone. There was a chorus of voices out there, all searching for Mr Pibb, somewhere out there in Southern California.

I vowed to not give up hope. I would lead this chorus, and track Pibb down. And, sure enough, it was only a few weeks later, when I found myself in a restaurant, and noticed they were serving something called Pibb Xtra, right here in San Diego! I tasted it, and it was just as satisfying as the original Mr Pibb. I was overjoyed. Then, a few weeks later, it happened again; I found another place serving Pibb! Slowly I began to note down the names of these places where I could get my regular Pibb fix; connecting the dots all around San Diego, like a treasure map.

At this point I remembered my friend James Ward, from London, and I thought of his London Twirls project. And I realised I shouldn't just keep this information to myself; I had to get it out there. I had to spread the word! I had to make sure my fellow Pibb-lovers could get their fix of Pibb, too! So I decided that it would be a good idea to set up Google Map, to plot my progress. Indeed, you might notice that some of this blog uses a similar layout to that of the London Twirls Project, and for that my thanks go to James Ward.

So, that's the story behind this blog. It's the simple story of one man's quest for the elusive Mr Pibb, and a map of that journey.

I hope you like it.