Mason Ale Works Violent Gentlemen Root Beer

lately i have very much been relying on the kindness of the root beer world to help me get new sodas. mostly the root beer tracker himself, Sagi who told me about and sent me this one. i have been slacking a lot in my quest for new drinks. although i do search quite often, it is not as much as I used to, but it is much less fruitful. so i am very appreciative of others who trade or just send me stuff.
i really don't know what the real name of this is. it seems to be made mostly by Mason Ale Works, in collaboration with Locker Room Supply / Violent Gentlemen Hockey Club. I don't know if Locker Room Supply is some branch of the Violent Gentlemen Hockey Club corporate behemoth or something, it gets all confusing with these things. lol in any case, i just called it what made sense to me. hopefully it is close to correct. i tried to google it up but that actually didn't help much.
i will admit, on first taste, that i am not sure where they were trying to go with this. i have not looked at the ingredients but i suspect they put something weird in there. which i would applaud if it worked well, but it is mostly a bizarre bitter taste. huh, there are no ingredients. that is highly irregular. and illegal i believe. oh well. i taste some honey on the back end, which is pleasant. yet the overwhelming flavor is not so pleasant. it is almost like i am drinking something yummy right after brushing my teeth, that 'off' taste you get. it definitely isn't the worst soda i have had, by far. i am glad they are trying something new and different and i grant them a few extra points for that, yet it just falls short and isn't very good. I really hoped for better, this sounded super good. oh well.

Anthony's Rating: 42
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Shank’s Root Beer Extract

i mixed this up in my seltzer bottle deal like a week ago according to the recipe on the bottle, which was a whole of math going from making 5 gallons with a whole bottle to the 1 quart of my bottle. it ended up as around 1/8 tsp of extract in there, which seems like barely anything, but hey, that is what they called for, so that is how i will try it. i did not carbonate it until now but somehow it was not actually carbonated when i put it into my mug. oh well, my fault, so i won't count that against them.
i do like the bottle, it is fun. for some reason, extract bottles seem to be more generic, all of the flavors with very similar labels and such. i appreciate that they at least put in the effort to make this one unique.
the taste here is just ok. i really think it needs more extract, but i followed the recipe quite precisely so this is how they want it. it tastes like root beer, which in the end, is what an extract is supposed to do, right? but as i am judging it against the real root beer soda world, that is not quite good enough. i also think their sugar amount suggestion is a bit too high. i will have to try making a cake or cupcakes or something with this at a later point and test that aspect. maybe pancakes, i make a lot of pancakes… hhhmmmm
Ingredients:caramel color, propylene glycol, water, phosphoric acid, natural and artificial flavor, sodium benzoate (as preservative)

Anthony's Rating: 63
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Northwoods Espresso Root Beer

i'll admit upfront i have never had an espresso. and i very rarely drink coffee at all, maybe 4 times a year? which is not to say i don't like coffee, i rather do. it is one of my favorite ice cream flavors even. i just don't like to have caffeine if i don't need to. plus when i do want to have caffeine, i want it to do what it is supposed to do with a minimal amount, not require a load of it to do so. anyway, i don't think that will cloud my judgement here. granted when i do drink coffee i think it should taste basically like melted coffee ice cream, so all of that sugar and dairy is not too healthy.
Northwoods make a couple of super yummy regular root beers, so i was quite excited to find they made this variation. they also made a diet version which i twice tried to order only to be told they stopped making it despite it being a product you can order on their website.
this is a collaborative effort with Roast & Toast out of Petoskey, MI. that is a good thing, actually calling in some experts in the espresso field. at least i hope they are with a name like that. they have a little blurb from their head roaster as well explaining what it is composed of which is rather convincing as well.
you actually taste the espresso here more than the root beer, which also is not a bad thing, but a little surprising. you could tell me this was an espresso soda and i would believe it. it has that bitter edge i associate with espresso despite never having had it. it is still sweet even though, which i am quite happy with. i do wish the root beer was a little more prominent in the flavor yet if you pay enough attention you can find some hints of it. i am not sad i had to but a twelve pack of this even though i can't drink it after like 3 pm or i won't sleep that night. i'll just have to plan ahead is all.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, espresso, natural & artificial flavor, phosphoric acid, caramel color (sulfite), and sodium benzoate to preserve freshness

Anthony's Rating: 95
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Rocket Fizz Labrador Soda Root Beer Butterscotch

so Rocket Fizz is at it again! more root beers from them. very cool. i hope they keep it going as much as possible. I am a little uncertain whether they are really all different
or not, but i believe they are. and if you believe you can achieve ALL. the bass master general decrees it. i suppose they had to get in on the dog theme root beers and why not
add to the butterscotch root beers too while they are at it? usually with the animal theme sodas, there is one animal it is based on or raising money for or whatever. but here, it is the
whole breed of Labradors i suppose.
i have drank almost half of this bottle and must say there is really no even hint of butterscotch. i would think a 'root beer butterscotch' would be even more butterscotch than a butterscotch root beer. but i am wrong, yet again. seems to happen often. the lack of butterscotchiness aside, i do like this soda. there isn't much special about it when you get down to it, but when you just want a solid root beer, this is one of those. excellent carbonation level, quite sweet but not sticky, it goes down smooth. it is all natural and also 'champion of the usa' as well supposedly! i'd not sure what that applies to, the soda? labradors? some sort of bullet as that is what it is printed to look like the words appear on? the world may never know the answer.
Ingredients:spring water, pure cane sugar, citric acid, caramel color & natural flavors

Anthony's Rating: 84
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