Swamp Pop File Root Beer

July 17, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MS, MT, NM, NC, OR, PA, SC, SD, TX, UT, VA, WA, WI

Obtained in: amazon
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 180 Sodium: 0mg
Carbs: 47g Sugar: 46g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://drinkswamppop.com/

usually i find out about new sodas from other root beer collectors. occasionally i will find something myself through searches or local resources or friends. but this one seemed to just get promoted a lot all over the place all of a sudden, all at once. i don't know what their plan was exactly, or if maybe i just was looking in the right places at the right times. i don't think i've seen a lot of them lately though.
they say they want to highlight the sassafras of traditional root beers which also was used in traditional native american cooking in the area, but they used the form of File powder which is actually ground sassafras leaves. this soda is definitely quite sassafras flavored. that is something i like. it is different from most which is also something i like. there are other herbal tasting root beers but most do not balance that taste with the sweetness levels and other variables as well. it is reasonably sweet, that is another plus. beyond the sassafras, there are elements of cinnamon and a little clove i think. it is quite tasty if i did not get that point across. it would be something i'd buy pretty often if i could get it easily. i cannot so this 6 pack will probably be all i ever have of it. oh well.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, natural flavors, quilaja extract, phosphoric acid


Anthony's Rating: 93
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Polly’s Pop Root Beer

July 10, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: MO

Obtained in: sent by company
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 160 Sodium: 45mg
Carbs: 40g Sugar: 40g
Caffeine: No
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pollys.pop/

it is always so fun to find a new soda company. facebook has been occasionally helpful in discovering such things. it is such a huge place though that finding what you want becomes a big challenge. nonetheless i came across this soda company in my persistent searching.
apparently this company originally was found in 1923 and closed down in 1967. the people of Independence, Missouri though remembered it fondly and brought it back. i am seeing more and more this type of story. i like that a lot. and i wish all the success in the world to such ventures.
the label is not bad. there is a parrot (perhaps Polly herself) holding bottle of soda in one talon while balancing on a ring with the other. that is rather impressive. but either the bottle is super small to be about the size of a parrot's torso or the parrot is super giant. no matter, it is just a drawing after all.
i want to really love and support brands like this especially then they send me soda to review for free, yet i must be honest and impartial. this is a good soda. not a great one, not one that stands out or sets itself apart. but it is good. there is a fine creamy yet slightly spiced flavor there. i would say most of the traditional root beer flavor elements are present, from a bit of sassafras and cinnamon to a touch of wintergreen, yet it just is the same as maybe 50 other root beers out there.
Ingredients:filtered carbonated water, pure cane sugar, certified food color (FD&C caramel), natural & artificial flavors, sodium benzoate and citric acid


Anthony's Rating: 77
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Diamond Bear Brewing Big Rock Root Beer

July 3, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle, On Tap
Available: AR

Obtained in:
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 180 Sodium: mg
Carbs: 44g Sugar: 44g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.diamondbear.com/

this is such an exciting time in the root beer world I must say! there are so many brewers making root beers for the first time, or starting to bottle them or can them! and there is such a wonderful, supportive, strong community of root beer collectors who trade brews all over the nation. i myself have fallen behind in my questing so i am very grateful to everyone that lets me know about new drinks or trades with me, or even sends them to me with the knowledge that i will return the favor next time i have new things for them.
anyway, this soda came to me through that fantastic root beer network. I had it in my database but when i entered it, it was only on tap so i am delighted to see it is bottled now. i would say i should wait to try it before saying that, but any new bottled brew is ok by me on some level.
so the label is pretty cool, a drawing of a big rock and a farm at the base of it. it gets the title's message across. it is semi-unique for a root beer but i feel like it is a little generic for a brewery drink, that is it looks like a lot of beer labels. but whatever, it is decent and attractive and not a beer anyway!
now how does it taste? eh, it is ok, it is a little bitter for my tastes. it could use an increase in sweetness perhaps. or maybe made more creamy and smooth. it is not a bad drink by any stretch but it doesn't distinguish itself or seem to try to do anything too unusual. it is fine to drink with a meal or whatever but not what i would want to grab when seeking something awesome.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, root beer flavor, phosphoric acid


Anthony's Rating: 71
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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O-Zell Root Beer Float

June 26, 2017
Filed under: root beers — anthony @ 5:00 am
Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: CA

Obtained in: trade with Sagi
Head: Small Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 140 Sodium: 0mg
Carbs: 35g Sugar: 35g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://www.o-zell.com

yet another one gotten for me by the ever-questing Sagi! what's curious about this one is that O-Zell also has a root beer, but it is just relabeled Waialua, as figured out by the all knowing Doctor. so that is weird on multiple fronts actually. one, that they made one unique recipe soda and one non-unique one. and two, that this California / Illinoi company somehow decided to use a root beer from Hawaii as the vanity labelled one. well, here is to hoping this one is good at least. root beer float sodas have such a high chance of abysmal failure, i mean, a carbonated dairy beverage? sometimes it works, sometimes it does not. i very much like their graphic feel here, very old time cartoon style. it works well for the idea here and i applaud them for that. for those unaware, the O-Zell company originally began in 1912 and was invested in significantly by one Mr. Elias Disney. his son Walt worked in the factory for a time before the venture failed. this was to be the understandable high point of this boy's working life. the cartoon depiction on the bottle, i am assuming, is of Elias himself holding a root beer float aloft. the people behind this incarnation, which i don't think has any recipe in common with the original, revived it to raise funds for the restoration of the Walt Disney birthplace.
i have found that i either quite like or quite dislike root beer float sodas. they often taste too creamy and it is wrong, or else the flavor is too artificial and strange in its attempt to recreate the beverage. this one sort of falls into that second camp, it tastes very weird. but not at all like a root beer float. it is kind of like when you are cleaning with some eco-friendly spray cleaner and accidentally get a little on your glass of root beer you left on the counter nearby without thinking enough about loose spray particles. you of course go ahead and drink it and then realize it tastes weird. it is sort of fruity, sort of chemically, but not so tasty. or creamy or 'floaty' in any way at all. i don't know how they failed so miserably at making this a root beer float or even a good drink. oh well, a shame it is not better to make them more money.
Ingredients:carbonated water, hawaiian cane sugar blend, caramel color, natural flavor, phosphoric acid


Anthony's Rating: 37
User's Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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