welcome to anthony's root beer barrel! here anthony reviews root beers, birch beers & sarsaparillas, randomly rambles about the topic and probably some more stuff. so check it all out, feel free to comment on reviews or rate brews yourself.

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Hank’s Premium Philadelphia Birch Beer

October 31, 2000
Filed under: birch beers reviews — anthony @ 5:42 pm
Type: Red Birch Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: IN, NJ, NY, PA, TN, online Obtained in: Wilkes Barre, PA
Head: Large Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.hanks-rootbeer.com/

wow, also a very fine beverage. strangely i see Hank’s Root Beer all over the place, but i have only seen this birch beer in 2 places in Wilkes Barre. odd indeed. oh well. it is a red birch, but it is minty which is a little bit weird since it is usually the clear birch beers that are minty. quite a bit of fizzy to it, but still a little bit of a creamy undertone, behind the fizz and the minty-ness. actually i think i like this a tad more than their root beer. definitely get it if you can find it. maybe try and mail order it even.
Anthony’s Rating: 91
Your Rating: 74
# of ratings:44

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365 All Natural Root Beer Soda

October 31, 2000
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 4:45 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, GA, IL, KS, LA, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, NJ, NM, NY, NC, OR, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, WI Obtained in: by Mike in Mass.
Head: Small Sweetener: corn sweetener
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/brands/brands.html

this would be Whole Foods store brand. it is another “natural” root beer. the brew only has four ingredients (purified carbonated water, high fructose corn sweetener, natural flavors and carmel color), but who knows how many “natural flavors” there are in here. it has a real bite to it, but not much else. not really a taste either, just that initial, sort of bitter thing that hits your mouth. for such a natural beverage, it is alright, but i hope for more if you are going to harvest the cornicopia of “natural flavors.”
Anthony’s Rating: 38
Your Rating: 46
# of ratings:43

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Santa Cruz Organic Root Beer

October 31, 2000
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 4:00 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, everywhere Obtained in: NJ somewhere
Head: Small Sweetener: dehydrated cane juice
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.scojuice.com/products/category.aspx?categoryID=80

if they made no claim that this was root beer at all, i might like this some, but there is less than ZERO rootbeer taste here. it is a carbonated fruit juice. it has lemon juice, cloves, vanilla, ginger, peppermint and cinnamon (all certified organic of course). if someone thinks this even slightly taste like root beer, they deserve a big ole kick in the noggin.
Anthony’s Rating: 4
Your Rating: 45
# of ratings:34

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Polar Cape Cod Dry Birch Beer

October 31, 2000
Filed under: birch beers reviews — anthony @ 3:24 pm
Type: White Birch Beer Comes In: 20 oz plastic bottle
Available: MA, NY Obtained in: Fishkill, NY
Head: Tiny Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.polarbev.com/default.html

i don’t really know if this is actually a different soda than the Polar Birch, but i think it tastes different and it definitely has a different name and junk. this does not taste like much of anything either though so i could see how i said what i did above about the birch beer. barely flavored, carbonated sugar water here. yes indeed.
Anthony’s Rating: 14
Your Rating: 45
# of ratings:3

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Stop & Shop Root Beer

October 10, 2000
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 4:12 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: CT, MA, NJ, NY, RI Obtained in: NJ
Head: Small Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup, sugar
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.stopandshop.com

besides being a little too sweet, this is pretty much generic root beer. i had hoped for more since the sarsaparilla was kind of unique. alas. just a normal root beer. not even actually, the bar has been raised. this falls short. sad almost. but it was 6 / $1.50 so i don’t care so much.
Anthony’s Rating: 49
Your Rating: 41
# of ratings:12

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Hey Song Sarsaprilla Drink

October 9, 2000
Filed under: sarsaparilla reviews — anthony @ 5:46 pm
Type: Sarsaparilla Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: NJ Obtained in: Green Brook, NJ
Head: Small Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No

this really tastes like bark. which may just be what sarsaprilla originally tasted like, but today it does not. i don’t like this at all, yet i am strangely attracted to it. i had a can of it a few months ago and the familiar feeling is returning to my stomach. maybe it has grown on me but i just feel like it will make me poo or something.
Anthony’s Rating: 24
Your Rating: 83
# of ratings:115

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Foodtown Birch Beer

October 9, 2000
Filed under: birch beers reviews — anthony @ 5:36 pm
Type: Brown Birch Beer Comes In: 12 oz can, 2L plastic bottle, 3L plastic bottle
Available: NJ, NY Obtained in: Foodtown supermarket in Warren, NJ
Head: Medium Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.foodtown.com/

yet another store brand soda… wait though it is really good! i love minty birch beers and this is quite minty. my girlfriend had a slightly minty birch beer (Pennsylvania Dutch brown) a coupel days ago since there was a 2 liter bottle in the fridge and started yelping about how it is like a wint-o-green or something, so i had her try this but she thinks it tastes like nothing. oh well. i enjoy it. or i did for the first 1/2 of the can, now it is sort of losing its taste. i would say this is more of a “gulping” birch beer since when i just drink it slowly, it gets flavor-less. and there it loses points.
Anthony’s Rating: 69
Your Rating: 56
# of ratings:8

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Blue Sky Ginseng Root Beer

October 8, 2000
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 5:13 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: AL, AK, AZ, AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, ID, IL, IN, IA, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NV, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, SD, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WV, WI, WY, everywhere Obtained in: somewhere in NJ
Head: Small Sweetener: corn sweetener
Caffeine: No
Website: http://drinkbluesky.com/index.php

to be honest, this is much better than their regular root beer. a somewhat toned down taste, but not bad. and it is nutritious, 100% vitamin C, 50% Vitamin E, and 25% Vitamin A. plus ginseng, which i don’t care much about either way. it is a little acid-y i guess. but not a bad drink.
Anthony’s Rating: 67
Your Rating: 60
# of ratings:14

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Big Y Root Beer

October 8, 2000
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 5:12 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12 oz can
Available: CT, MA Obtained in: Big Y supermarket near Rowe, MA
Head: Medium Sweetener: high fructose corn syrup
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.bigy.com/

one thing i expect from store brand soda is that it will taste very similar to typical “root beer.” like root beer barrel candy or something. yet, at least 50% of the time, they make it taste really weird. this is one of those times. it tastes sort of herbal, kind of cough syrup like. not like cherry or something, but one of those syrups where they don’t even try to mask the flavor of it. they guarentee my complete satisfaction, so perhaps i should return it and get my 20 cents back or whatever.
Anthony’s Rating: 26
Your Rating: 41
# of ratings:9

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XTZ X Root Beer Riot

October 5, 2000
Filed under: root beer reviews — anthony @ 6:51 pm
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: WA, online Obtained in: from popsoda.com
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar, molasses
Caffeine: Yes
Website: http://www.xtz.com/

on the label it says “Caffeine & Herbal ENERGY Drink!” but the ingredients don’t list caffeine as an ingredient. anyhow, it does have: nutmeg, anise, kola nut, guarana, ginseng, betel nut, ginkgo biloba, mate, gota kula, sassafras, peppermint, ginger, kava kava, and cinnamon. whoa! i don’t even know what half of those things are. as far as taste… it is not the worst thing i have had but i feel as if my eyes are straining to open wider than usual, or maybe that is just in my mind… the taste is not very good either though, kinda like herbal syrupy water. i should see if i have more energy or something, i think i am typing faster than usual which is a little annoying since i make more mistakes. oh well.
Anthony’s Rating: 22
Your Rating: 43
# of ratings:16

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