Dr. Pepper beats Pepsi as the number two soda brand in the country

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Big news from the Cola Wars front Tuesday morning: Pepsi is no longer the second biggest soda brand behind Coke. That honor now goes to Dr. Pepper.

The carbonated beverage, with a "blend of 23 flavors," has inched ahead of Pepsi as the number two soda in the country.

That's according to sales data from "Beverage Digest," which showed that Dr. Pepper and Pepsi both had just over 8% of the soda market in the U.S. by volume, but Dr. Pepper was technically ahead.

Industry experts say Dr. Pepper has been inching upwards for years while Pepsi is trending down.

However, Coke is still the dominant, number one soda, with a market share more than double the second place competitor.