This 2-Ingredient Hack Makes Beer Taste Like Dr. Pepper

I hate beer, but I'll be drinking this all summer long.

I have tried countless brands and countless styles, but I just don't like beer. That's usually not a problem until summer rolls around, when I feel everyone's sipping on the stuff while I'm left theorizing how I can plausibly bring a sparkling cocktail to the beach. That's why, when a video popped up on my feed wherein someone claimed one ingredient could make beer taste like Dr. Pepper (my soda of choice), I was sold. Well, I tried it, and could not believe the results.

How to Make Beer Taste Like Dr. Pepper

According to the video, adding a little amaretto liqueur to a light beer—in their case, Corona—could yield a drink that tastes like Dr. Pepper? It felt too good to be true. I raided my boyfriend's bar cart, grabbed some Coronas from my nearest corner store, and got to testing.

This beer cocktail is as simple as opening your Corona, or another pale Mexican-style lager, and drinking a few sips so you have room to add back in some liquid. I drank down to the bottom of the 'neck' of the bottle, before adding in about a shot of Disaronno. Just the smell of the amaretto immediately registered as nutty, spicy, and a little sweet. Now for the taste.

I couldn't believe it. Was it a 1-1 dupe of Dr. Pepper? Of course not. For one thing, it has alcohol in it and the drink retains a little light hoppy flavor from the beer, but it does completely transforms the overall flavor. The Disaronno obviously adds an almond flavor (which I happen to adore), but it also brings out some of the complexity and subtle sweetness in the Corona, something I have never noticed before.

Does it hit all 23 flavors that a Dr. Pepper purports to contain? Not exactly, but it does really hit that spiced-but-not-spicy je ne sais quoi that you get with a Dr. Pepper, plus the light bubbles you get from the beer itself. It was tasty enough for me—a vehement beer hater—to down the whole thing, and that's saying something.

All in all, this is a fun, easy beer cocktail "recipe" to keep in your back pocket. It's still relatively low ABV, making it the ideal summer sipper for a beach day, BBQ, or lakeside hang. Even if you don't like beer, it's worth a try—the results may surprise you—I know they certainly surprised me.