Wythe Texas Connection

11/19/2010
by Wayne Quesenberry

A Texas-manufactured barbecue sauce has a local flavor. Among the ingredients of Cookwell & Company’s Wythe County Cola Barbecue Sauce is a splash of Dr Pepper®, the soft drink some say originated in Rural Retreat.

“It’s such a novelty item,” noted Richard E. “Dick” Phillippi of Wytheville, who discovered the sauce while visiting his daughter, Allison Jones, in Fort Worth, Texas, recently. “Wythe County is unusual. There’s not another Wythe County in the country.”

According to him, he and Jones were shopping at an upscale fresh market where his daughter pointed out the product. Phillippi purchased the only two bottles left and brought them home with him to Wytheville.
He later e-mailed Cookwell & Company in Austin, Texas, maker of the barbecue sauce. Phillippi told the manufacturer about his Wythe County/Wytheville connections and asked how the product got its name.

“It fascinated me to see Wythe County in Fort Worth, Texas,” Phillippi said. “My daughter had seen it before but it was the first time I saw it.”

Brion T. Cimino, one of the company’s three owners and chief marketing officer, then contacted Phillippi. He explained how it all happened.

In a telephone interview Friday morning, Cimino again related the story.

“Dr. Pepper is really big here in Texas,” he said. “There are two major additives people put in their barbecue sauce – beer or cola. Dr. Pepper® is the cola of choice. So, we thought why not put it in our bottles of barbecue sauce.”

Because of copyright and other product restrictions, Cimino said, his company couldn’t use the Dr. Pepper® name. Instead, the manufacturer went with Wythe County Cola for its cola-shaped glass bottles containing the barbecue sauce, according to him.

“I had to come up with a name,” Cimino pointed out. “I got information online about Dr. Pepper® being invented in Wythe County. So, we went with Wythe County Cola.”

In an article by Joe Tennis for Media General News Service, there are two stories about the invention of the world-famous soft drink. One version has the beverage concocted by Dr. Charles Taylor Pepper at his drug store in Rural Retreat in 1879.

Tennis also wrote about another story claiming that Wade Morrison worked for Dr. Pepper® in his pharmacy before moving to Waco, Texas, in the 1880s. The article said Morrison experimented with soft drink flavors and created one with his partner, Charles Alderton.

Another version, according to Tennis’ article, had Alderton creating a certain drink himself. Either way that drink was later mass-produced as Dr. Pepper®.

Cookwell & Company, Cimino said, organized around seven years ago and has been producing Wythe County Cola Barbecue Sauce for four years. He noted the company also manufactures two other flavors of barbecue sauce.

Phillippi took a bottle of the sauce to Frances Emerson, director of museums for the town of Wytheville. They discussed the idea of adding the product to The Museum Shop at the Heritage Preservation Center.

“We are thrilled about it,” Emerson said. “We appreciate Dick Phillippi telling us about it. It’s such a unique product and it’s the perfect gift.”

A 19 oz. bottle sells for $5.95.

“They gave us a good deal,” Phillippi pointed out. “They sold it to us wholesale. They were very accommodating. They invited me to see the plant site. Fort Worth is about two hours from Austin.”

Cimino expressed delight at the local interest in the barbecue sauce.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “We’re real excited. It’s a nice added touch.”

Source: Wytheville Enterprise