Welcome!

November 14, 2011
Filed under: random junk — anthony @ 12:56 pm

Hello and welcome to the oldest, largest and frankly the best root beer reviewing site in the world! over 625 brands reviewed so far! i also throw in birch beer and sarsaparilla reviews occasionally while i am at it since to me, they are the same genre. once in a while i even detour into other branches of the root beer tree, such as spruce beer, dandelion & burdock and the like. a new review publishes every week on Monday with the random post or review of root beer related stuff every once in a while. feel free to submit your own ratings, check out the rankings from me and other visitors, see what sodas are available near you and more. make a float, tap a keg or mix some extract up and enjoy!

anthony (me) started reviewing root beer related drinks in '96 but has always loved the delicious joy of root beer and birch beer and just kept it going ever since. if you have any suggestions of features you'd like to see or sodas you want reviewed, let me know!

 
 

Stewart’s Beverages Fountain Classics Root Beer

April 23, 2018
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: everywhere

Obtained in: Shoprite store
Head: Sweetener: sugar
Calories: 150 Sodium: 70mg
Carbs: 38g Sugar: 38g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.drinkstewarts.com/

i was quite surprised to see that this is the first revision of Stewart's Root Beer that i have ever reviewed. i figured they probably changed the recipe a couple times as most brands seem to have done in the 20+ years since i started this thing up. well, good for them i suppose for sticking to their recipe and more kudos for now getting rid of the corn syrup!
i don't really drink Stewart's root beer all that often, not that it is bad, but it doesn't entice me to spend the premium over other drinks available for less or that are better for me. so it has been quite some time since i have had any recipe of theirs. thus it will be a little hard i imagine to compare it to the old style. or perhaps not, as i try it, the memories come back, this is definitely what Stewart's tastes like. the drink in hand is super caramel flavored, whoa! i have had a few caramel root beers that don't taste THIS caramelly. very sweet, really the caramel dominates and there are root beer undertones going on. well, that is good and bad. good that they could retain the flavor and feel of the old recipe, but bad in that it is just so syrupy sweet and intense. in a world where so many root beers do taste pretty similar, they still stand out as unique and are not bad. there is probably some application or situation where this is the ideal beverage to have but i am not sure what it is. maybe some cooking thing. i don't think i will buy it any more often now that they changed the recipe but i am glad they did it.
Ingredients:carbonated water, sugar, caramel color, sodium benzoate (preservative), natural and artificial flavors, citric acid, quillaia extract, acacia gum, yucca extract


Anthony's Rating: 74
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Foodhold Diet Root Beer

April 16, 2018
Filed under: diet root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Diet Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CT, ID, IL, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, RI

Obtained in: Stop & Shop in Somerset, NJ
Head: Medium Sweetener: sucralose/splenda
Caffeine: No

i suppose it is only fair that when a company makes a line of glass bottled gourmet sodas, they include a diet version of some of them as well. although it seems strange that diet soda is "brewed in small batches" i suppose it is possible. 'brewing' and 'diet soda' seem like opposite ends of the good stuff spectrum. in any case, it is great that they decided to make this for all of the diet soda drinkers, even if diet soda is an awful thing in general.
for a diet soda this is… wait for it… wait for it… kind of ok. for a regular soda is is terrible so it is all relative. it is metallic and just doesn't taste good at all. it is slightly recognizable as a root beer, but barely. i really must admit i do not understand the appeal of diet sodas in general. sure, they have no calories, but they usually have artificial sweeteners that are potentially horrible for you and they don't taste good. i understand the options are often limited but even water is better. or those flavor drops with stevia if you need the taste of something. perhaps i don't understand the plight of those who can only drink diet beverages though.
Ingredients:sparkling water, sucralose, natural flavors, citric acid, caramel color


Anthony's Rating: 31
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Sapp Organic Birch Tree Water Nettle

April 9, 2018
Filed under: birch beers,other reviews — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Other Comes In: 10oz glass bottle
Available: everywhere

Obtained in: Shoprite in Bound Brook, NJ
Head: None Sweetener: none
Calories: 10 Sodium: 0mg
Carbs: 3g Sugar: 3g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.sapplife.co

after reviewing the straight up birch tree water a few weeks ago, I am quite apprehensive about trying the other flavors. i have put it off, pushing them further back in the queue but i really must just try them. who knows, maybe nettle will make this magically taste amazing. in any case, the same sort of amazing elixir of wonderfulness should apply to this, amazing hydration, tons of manganese for all your manganese needs. and here we get nettle too! whoa!
you know what? this is indeed less disgusting. i could probably drink the whole bottle and not feel sick. of course it is not good. but coconut water isn't good either and that seems to be a lot of the market they are after. the flavor is like a very weak green tea with no sugar. if that is up your alley then by all means, go stock up on this stuff. as for me, i don't think it really belongs in the root beer / birch beer family tree as well as i thought it might. oh well, live and learn, right?
Ingredients:organic birch sap (99.4%), organic nettle, citric acid


Anthony's Rating: 19
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Sunshine Bottle Works Root Beer

April 2, 2018
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CA

Obtained in: trade with Sagi
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 140 Sodium: 32mg
Carbs: 39g Sugar: 39g
Caffeine: No
Website: https://www.sunshinebottleworks.com/

as i popped the top off of this bottle, i thought "anthony, this bottle looks quite cool and retro and fun, i bet this one will be kinda tasty, but in a generic way." and boy am i wise when i talk to myself! i also summarize things in much too concise a fashion, thereby making the review in my head much shorter than i would like the actual review to be. i mean, i have to stretch this thing out at least a couple hundred more words. yeah, i like the logo and the bottle and the 'bottle works' name and all of that. i want to get behind this soda.
yet i cannot. it is not even a generic good. it is a generic "eh, it's ok." although, strangely it is getting better as i drink it more. honestly the first sip was quite awful, bitter, sort of sour and just not good. but as i drink more it seems to get sweeter and more flavorful in a good flavor way. this sort of thing makes me think i should shake my root beers before i drink them. but of course they are carbonated so one really should NOT do that. now that i look at the ingredients, i see things i don't taste. well, anise for one. there is a hint of birch & wintergreen in there i will admit. besides that it is not too flavorful really. there is a little sweetness, a bit creamy, still a little sour, not much foaming action. it is mediocre unfortunately.
Ingredients:sparkling filter water, pure cane sugar, caramel color (from sugar), natural flavors with spices of wintergreen, anise and birch, sodium benzoate (to ensure freshness), citric acid


Anthony's Rating: 72
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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