history channel comes a-callin’

so sunday i had my first television interview! at least about root beer. probably about anything as far as i can recall although i feel like i have been filmed interviewing bands before. yet that would be the reverse roles of what went on sunday.
so anyway, it is for the Modern Marvels show, they are doing an episode on soft drinks which sounds like it will be pretty jam packed so i don’t know how much of me will make it on-air, but i hope a good amount does. they filmed in my root beer room (which i really just set up for the occasion) and in my kitchen. lots of very god questions were asked, i reviewed a root beer i had never had on camera for them and 3 or so hours later they left. it was a very good time, for me at least.
the air-date as of right now is September 29th but i will remind you and let you know if that changes.
fun stuff, spreading the root beer reality!

Appalachian Brewing Co Rootbeer

a very kind fellow sent this to me after seeing i had not reviewed it. actually i did not even know they bottled it, so it was a very thrilling day when the offer was made. and even better when it actually arrived in one piece on my doorstep.
i don’t quite get why a small brewery would not have settled on a sweetener so they have to put “corn syrup AND/OR sugar” or whatever. is it one or the other or both? i know there are a good amount of people who avoid corn syrup, so it would behoove them to not have that stuff in there.
but besides that, this is one excellent brew! the flavor is a refreshing herbal mix that i just can’t drink down quickly. i must take small tastes and try to figure out just what i am having. well, i don’t have to do that, i could just drink it and know it is great each time i take a swallow. yet i want to savor it. i cannot really make out the honey though i must admit. the sweetness level is a bit lower than the sodas i usually like a lot which surprises me. it is still sweet but rather subdued in that aspect. that herbal flavor mentioned above is unusual. other sodas seem to try to achieve this taste but most do not do so as well as this one. i will definitely have to go out to PA to get more of this stuff sometime!
good work Appalachian Brewing Co!

Anthony’s Rating: 95
Your Rating: 92
# of ratings:4

Winchell’s Pizza Birch Beer

so, like i said in the review of their root beer somewhere above, i stumbled upon this pizza place with their own root and birch beers. i really should have taken a photo of their “root beer on tap” sign as you came in the door but i did not. i was rushing and my camera was packing away somewhere. but we did pass by the next day again so i stopped and tried to get the photos. sadly they were not open yet so i could only take a photo of their birch beer sign, complete with real birch branches and bark, through the window. actually right after i took it, someone walked by inside. thinking back now, i should have tried to flag him down and explain what i was doing but i paniced a bit and just left. oh well. so anyway, there is the sign over there on the left.
i wish the birch beer was as well made as the sign though. or the pizza. but it IS better than the root beer, that is for sure. this time, instead of going crazy with the licorice/anise, they went crazy with the wintergreen. but not quite at the same level, which is a very good thing. i did not really hate this soda but it was a little hard to drink much. for whatever reason the flavor probably would have worked better as a white birch beer. perhaps the carmel color or whatever makes the brown birches heavier and not as refreshing as the white birches. carbonation level was quite high also, which i can take or leave, either way is fine by me.
Anthony’s Rating: 66
Your Rating: 0
# of ratings:0

radio interview

so i am going to be on the radio, talking root beer and junk on sunday, 7/13/2008. the show is called “Sauced!” and it airs live in Nashville, TN on
ClearChannel’s WLAC 1510 AM and is streamed at www.wlac.com.
so listen in, check it out.
my first radio appearance in about a decade i guess. and the first time as some sort of authority on something. wacky indeed. but it should be fun nonetheless even if it is on a ClearChannel station…

coolio.

EDIT - actually i guess it is called “The Saucy Sisters Show”. it is on 12-1pm CST, so 11am-12 noon Eastern time, where i am. their website is here

Winchell’s Pizza Root Beer

so i went away to the Catskills for the long 4th of July weekend. every year for the last 8 or so i have gone camping with some friends from college on that weekend. this weekend it was sort of my turn to plan where to go and all, so i did, choosing a place that was semi-equidistant from all parties. my wife and i went up on thursday night, leaving early as we had to check in by 9 pm. we had not really had any dinner so when we were pretty close we stopped at a pizza place for some pizza to go as it was still going to be pretty tight, time-wise. as i walked in the door i saw a big sign, “ROOTBEER ON TAP” which made me quite excited but most restaurants can say that really, they have 6 or 8 or whatever sodas on tap. but then i saw a sign above the counter advertising their birch beer and caught site of the generic “Root Beer” and “Birch Beer” labels on the soda dispenser and was very happy. what sort of luck is that, to randomly stop at a place in the middle of very little and find two new sodas? i will even answer that for you, it is not at all likely!
after waiting a really really long time to even place our order i tried the root beer and i sadly must say it is rather bad. not diet soda level bad mind you, but bad anyway. i think they heard that root beer could be made to taste like licorice and they totally went to town with that plan. hey if a little licorice is good, a ton is better, right?! um, no. sorry Winchell’s. their pizza was kind of tasty though, a little spicy and very thin, but that is fine. anyway, this soda was not really worth it. it is different but that does not equate goodness, at least here. actually i only even drank about half of the small cup i got, the rest i used to help put out the fire later that night. yes, i know i should not have done that, i used a lot of water afterwards to try to wash away any smell that may attract wildlife though, rest assured.
Anthony’s Rating: 41
Your Rating: 0
# of ratings:0

Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer

hhhhmmm, well, to begin i am shocked i have not reviewed this yet! it has been in my house for months, i certainly hope it is still good. i went on a big soda ordering kick when i added all of that Availability info and really scoured the tubes of the internet to find all i could. this one must have been somewhat overlooked in the shuffle. quite a shame indeed.
but beyond that, i am not sure how to list it. see the company is the Durango Soda Company, but the product is Zuberfizz Creamy Root Beer. i think i will keep it this way, as “Zuberfizz” and not “Durango” but whatever, you don’t care I am sure, it is my own wacky organization/database stuff that i am trying to keep in line here.
although i quite like their color scheme and overall design here, i feel the “Creamy” is a bit off, i don’t like the font, it does not seem consistent with itself. oh well.
very small foam action on this brew but a high carbonation level. i guess this soda did not go bad yet, very cool! i suppose i usually associate fizziness with foaming action but in reality they are quite seperate things. many brands add in stuff like yucca to make the foam bigger and last longer which is mainly for visual appeal. while i don’t deny that i like the visual elements of a soda, it is not the main thing. (yes, this from a fellow who just complained about the “e” in “Creamy” not being italizied enough).
the taste is decent, not remarkable. the fizz kind of overwhelms one’s mouth so the flavor sneaks past without too much of a presense as it is not so strong on its own. i am enjoying it but it is predictable. a little more subtle than others though. the cane sugar is somewhat apparent and is appreciated, by me at least. sweetness is good, creaminess is decent. i would drink it more, just probably would not mail order it

Anthony’s Rating: 77
Your Rating: 51
# of ratings:2

new features

lately i got a couple of suggestions of things that people would like to see so i am trying to implement them.
first i added the ability to sort of the Rankings page by soda name and also by how many votes it has. click on the links at the top of the tables or on “Soda” or “# of Votes” to see it in action. it is only sortable A to Z or high to low, not the other directions as that seems less useful to me.
second i am trying to add more info to each soda, ingredients, plus exact calorie, sodium, carb and sugar content info. this will probably not happen for everything as it would entail taking many crates full of empty bottles down from my attic and typing it all in but perhaps one weekend i will be very bored and do it. the canned and plastic bottled sodas i (mostly) did not save at all, so unless someone wants to write me with their info, that will not happen at all. sorry folks.

any more suggestions of what you might want or are looking for, let me know!