Root Beer (152 reviews)
Cascade Traditionals Sarsaparilla
Terry worked as a heating and cooling repairman for 13 years of his life. He drove his van around Western New York fixing people’s stoves, fridges and air conditioners. Most days he didn’t hate his job, but there wasn’t much room for advancement. He did love driving around a lot though. Then one day he was fixing a guy’s air conditioner and he got to talking to him. You see Terry loved fixing things, and he liked to explain it as well. The man was so impressed with his passion that he offered him a job at his company. He would make more money and promotions were a possibility. Terry knew he would miss his driving around and didn’t like the idea of being stuck in one play all day, but the money was nice and he needed a change. He took to the job like a fish to water. He took a couple of trips to other states to fix some industrial units, and getting away was nice. Then one day he got asked if he would be willing to go to Australia for a week for the job. Not being a dummy he jumped at the chance. So within six months this fine man went from working a quasi dead end job to working for a growing company and being sent around the world doing work that he found interesting. It’s times like these that I am incredibly proud of my friends. It’s also times like these when I am thankful that I have friends who travel around the globe and bring me back gifts of drinks.
This is a bottle of Australian sarsaparilla that was purchased at a roadside fruit stand in said country. (As a side note, if you don’t take advantage of roadside fruit stands when you are traveling then you are a fool.) I expected this to be a very strong sarsaparilla for some reason, but it’s not and I’m okay with that. It has a very classic soda flavor to it. I could see this being served in a 50’s soda shop with a couple sharing a bottle with two straws. It starts off as just a generic old time soda flavor but when you swallow it has a strong sarsaparilla aftertaste. It’s not what I was looking for but it’s a soda that has its place and I can respect and enjoy that. I do with the licorice flavor was a bit stronger in this. Then it would be superb.
Oddly enough this is made by the Fosters Beer company. I don’t know why I find that weird, but I definitely do. Also the tagline on the bottle is “Refreshingly Tasmanian.” Now that I find charming.
- Website
- http://www.cascadedrinks.com.au
- Country
- Australia
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper 1 day, 5 hours ago
Vintage Soda 100% Natural Rodeo Root Beer
Dear friends from the "Great White North,"
My intentions are not to offend you, but what do you really know about rodeos? I understand that a good portion of your police force rides horses, but I don't think the words "rodeo" and "Canada" have ever appeared in the same train of thought before. Hockey, now that's something that makes me think about Canada. You were in the right to use that on your cans of cola. The site of maple leaves and a buckin' bronco together just doesn't sit well with me. It's like when someone who obviously has never looked at any print design in his or her life decides to make a flyer for a show. Not only is each band's name in a different wacky font, but so are all the crucial info for the show. Oh and it's all typed over a way pixilated picture of train tracks, or something just as tacky. Maybe that's going a bit overboard. Your general layout isn't bad, I just can't get over that rodeo thing.....Oh wait never mind. I just took a sip and it made me forget about any flaws to the packaging. This is one hell of a root beer. This is in fact a root beer that cowboys would drink...if it were in a glass bottle. A cowboy would loose all of his cred if he were seen drinking out of a can. Did they have cans in the wild west? I think not! Seriously though, this is top notch. It has chicory root, vanilla, coriander and clove in it. I can get into any root beer where all of the spices and ingredients are all boiled down into wonderful syrup. It gives it such a rugged flavor, as if it should be drank out on the prairie while riding your dusty horse down the trail.
I am serious about the glass bottles though. If Vintage Soda packaged their pop in glass bottles I would give them five bottles all around. They make a serious soda.
- Website
- http://www.vintagesoda.ca/
- Country
- Canada
- Sweetener
- Natural Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 5/12/2011
- Comments
- 3 Comments. Leave a comment.
Sarsi Sarsaparilla
I found this bottle of Sarsi at a large international supermarket near my house. Judging by the color, ingredients, and uncanny similarity to the Pepsi logo, I thought this was going to be a cola. I also didn't see the "I" at first and was really excited that there was a drink called Sars. After i pried off the non-twist bottle cap (all I had was a staple remover to help with this), it didn't smell nor taste like cola. It's more of a light sarsaparilla, but with a bitter aftertaste due to the use of aspartame instead of sugar or high fructose corn syrup. It's not bad, but it's not amazing. If you're a fan of sarsaparilla and don't mind artificial sweeteners, it's worth a try.
- Country
- Philippines
- Sweetener
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 9/6/2010
Hey Song Sarsaparilla
This is really weird. It's kind of like a normal sarsaparilla, but not quite. When it first hits your taste buds, it tastes like a budget root beer. Then a complete different flavor hits you. It has a "woodsy" flavor to it. It's kinda tastes like the root beer Mike and I made a few months ago, well before we carbonated it and it tasted like complete butt. I'm not a fan of the first flavor, but the second wave is pretty darn good.
- Country
- Taiwan
- Sweetener
- High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Sucrose
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 10/21/2010
- Comments
- 1 Comment. Leave a comment.
Vedan 500 Sarsaparilla
Sarsaparilla in a can? OK I'm willing to try this. It was pretty cheap so I was expecting this to taste pretty cheap. Was I right? Pretty much. I didn't know it was possible to make a mediocre sarsaparilla. Then again, there are lots of mediocre root beers so I guess someone had to screw up sarsaparilla as well. This just strengthens my suspicion that no good root beers/birch beers/sarsaparillas come in cans.
- Website
- http://vedan.com.vn/vedan/
- Country
- Taiwan
- Sweetener
- Sucrose
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 2/22/2011
Johnnie Ryan Root Beer
I always get really excited to try products made by local companies. Johnnie Ryan is produced in Niagara Falls, about 20 minutes from my house. A bunch of restaurants in the area carry it now, which is great because it is sweetened with cane sugar. I'm definitely a huge fan of the company, and I'm surprised it's taken me so long to try the root beer. I have to say, it's not what I want from a root beer. It just tastes like a sugary soda, and doesn't have any of the earthiness that I have come to expect in nicer varieties. It actually reminds me a lot of A&W or Dads. I'll stick with my "fancier" root beers.
- Website
- http://johnnieryan.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 9/12/2010
- Comments
- 2 Comments. Leave a comment.
Mt. Angel Root Beer
I saw this bottle at New Seasons yesterday and was drawn in by the plain label in a sea of colorful bottles. I had high hopes for this micro-brewed root beer, and I wasn't let down. I wish all root beer was this smooth. Even though I've only had one bottle so far, I think this is easily in my top 5 root beers.
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 9/14/2010
Trader Joe's Vintage Root Beer
I don't know why I expected more of this root beer since it's a store brand. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's definitely mediocre as far as root beer goes. It's better than A&W since it's sweetened with cane sugar, but it's far from being as good as Virgil's or other top tier root beer's. It's drinkable, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get a bottle.
- Website
- http://www.traderjoes.com
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Derek Neuland on 9/21/2010
- Comments
- 3 Comments. Leave a comment.
Cold Spring Root Beer
I saw this root beer in the store for $3.50 for a sixer. I figured for cane sugar root beer, how could I pass it up? On the way home I cracked one open, and was fairly disappointed. It tasted more like root beer barrel candy than actual root beer. The rest has been sitting in my fridge since. Today I brought one to work. Having it cold made such a difference. It became creamy and smooth, almost like cream soda minus the vanilla. I will enjoy the rest of the bottles I have, but I doubt I would purchase it again. There are just too many other better root beers out there.
- Website
- http://www.coldspringbrewery.com
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- Cane Sugar
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 9/22/2010
- Comments
- 3 Comments. Leave a comment.
Stewart's Fountain Classics Birch Beer
So a bunch of my friends are always going on and on about "shower beers." Which is exactly what it sounds like, drinking beers whist taking a shower. They all talked about how great it is, so I decided to have my own version, "shower birch beers." I have to admit, it was pretty awesome. A cool frosty birch beer really complimented a steamy shower.
This is the most mild birch beer I have ever had. It doesn't have the bite that I've come to expect from this beverage. It tastes more like a root beer with one extra ingredient. It's not bad by any means, but I've just had better.
- Website
- http://www.drinkstewarts.com/
- Country
- United States
- Sweetener
- High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Rating
- Reviewed By
- Jason Draper on 9/22/2010
- Comments
- 3 Comments. Leave a comment.