Root Beer - 223 Reviews

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.

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.

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.