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Hello and welcome to the oldest, largest and frankly the best root beer reviewing site in the world! over 550 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!

Rio Syrups Root Beer

i had heard about this extract company a few times before but i seemed to be unable to find their product anywhere. so when i went on a big extract finding mission online i finally stumbled across a place that had it. they actually make a ridiculous amount of different flavors. but strangely enough, no birch beer or spruce beer. oh well.
this one was a bit unusual in that they provided direction on how to make a syrup out of the extract and then from there make soda by mixing 2oz of syrup for every 10oz of seltzer. they did provide instructions for other methods such as yeast carbonation, but i thought this route was easier and perhaps more true to the intended flavor so i did the syrup route.
i really am undecided how i feel about this though in the end. it is ok and not offensive at all, but it is just ok. it is not even as good as most generic root beers. it is just there, being root beer, nothing special, nothing awful. other extracts and syrups i have had at least taste a little unique, this is just bland. i tried adding more syrup than recommended and that helped a bit, it was not so watery then but it still just comes across as plain. and there is a buttload of sugar in here! well, perhaps not, this made a lot of syrup but it seemed like a lot. this is not all that sweet so perhaps it is not as bad as i thought. i wouldn't get it again or make it on purpose but it is not awful really.

Anthony's Rating: 44
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Zippy’s Giant Root Beer

i have never been to a Zippy's Giant Burger establishment, but if the really scary man/woman/child on the label is used a lot there, i would probably try to avoid it. especially if i had my children with me. that character would give me nightmares, with its weird tongue and giant hands. perhaps it should be hidden more behind that mug of root beer. i like their brass though in proclaiming themselves "a classic since 2008″. i know the world moves fast these days, with the kids and their T1 connections and twitterbook+ and cellular telephony devices and all, but 4 years still does not a classic make.
something about this soda strikes me wrong. well, besides the creepy label, but i have turned that away from me while i drink it so he/she does not bite me anywhere. at first it is fine but then it becomes this not so fine taste. maybe the vanilla is too prominent. or the honey and vanilla don't merge well. but something tastes kind of sweetened rotty. like the vanilla went bad but they used it anyhow. i am reminded of pineapple soda a little for some reason. and not in a good way, although i don't know if a pineapple soda reference could ever be a good thing in a review of a root beer. or of anything, including pineapple soda itself. so they made a decent effort. i applaud them for having their own soda, that is awesome, but it is not great. it is just ok. the honey is a nice thing but it is too much in the background. i like honey quite a bit, i want it more upfront.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, honey, citric acid, vanilla extract, sodium benzoate (a preservative)

Anthony's Rating: 71
User's Rating: 85
# of ratings:1
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Thunder Beast Root Beer

whoa. typically i don't try the soda i am reviewing until after i write this introduction stuff. but this one i had to try. there are no ingredients so it is mysterious. i will get to the taste in a minute of course.
i have little idea how i found this one, someone tipped me off i am sure. my memory was never good and the ginko biloba is not helping i don't think. anyway, i contacted them asking if i could mail order and if not, where they sold it as i would probably be in teh DC area at some point. they offered to send a six pack my way and i was overjoyed. they also plan to have many unique recipes and perhaps even a root beer club where they send you their new root beer ideas each month or so. that is incredible. those i will pay for gladly. this i would have paid for gladly too of course. it is their flagship, base root beer.
the label is interesting, with the Lincoln Memorial holding a cup of root beer and wearing sunglasses and the Capital Building being struck by lightening perhaps in a Bad Brain homage? and of course a bison in the foreground with their name and "Drink Thunder" slogan. it is unique, that i will grant.
so the taste? when you try it you are slammed with maple. and i think some honey too at the end. i like maple syrup. a lot. it is amazing. and definitely under used as a sweetener in root beer. so i am very glad they went that route. i am a little surprised that a New England brewer did not take up the cause first but so be it. i am not picky here about who does it. there is also a good amount of caramel in there too. the two flavors work well together. beyond that i think it need a bit more "root beer"-ness. it is almost a maple caramel soda. yes a tasty one, but i would like a bit more herbal taste or something to push it over into the high levels of root beer legend. yummy though.
Anthony's Rating: 92
User's Rating: 99
# of ratings:4
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White Rose Root Beer

I had noticed this soda on one of the online soda retailer's website some time ago but there was nothing else new for me from them so i never ordered it. but then i got an email from a very loyal reader offering to trade some to me along with a couple other sodas and i of course took him up on the offer. now, White Rose, in my experience, is what i thought was a chain of semi-diners in NJ. although it turns out there are only two locations and the 2nd seems to be pretty new. i don't know why i thought it was a chain. the first location is in Highland Park, NJ right next to where a record store i used to go to a lot was before it closed. i actually went there a ton when they were closing to take advantage of the going out of business deals. but i never went to the White Rose.
ok, so i finally went and got the bottle out of the fridge and on the bottom it says "Highland Park's Own" and "Los Angeles, Cal." that is a bizarre coincidence i think. my belief that this came from a diner in Highland Park, NJ when it actually comes from a small neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA called Highland Park. i also learned it is made for the Soda Pop Stop although i am not sure by whom. they also proclaim it to be "Definitely Better". well, we shall see about that, now won't we?! ok, well, just me right now probably, but maybe you some other time.
hhhmmm, it is different, that i will give it. i am not sure if it is in a good or bad way though. it kind of has a minty taste to it, more in the aftertaste though. the initial taste has a sharp, somewhat fruity feel to it, almost a subtle cherry hint. i don't usually like the sharp sodas, i think it is a function of the type of carbonation or something, it just doesn't make my tongue happy. i favor a more creamy, smooth drink. i do find this one to be better than a lot of the sharp root beers though and better than average overall, just not as good as many others out there.
Ingredients:filtered carbonated water, pure cane sugar, natural & artificial flavor, citric acid, caramel color

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