Northwoods Natural Bill’s Root Beer

yeah, this gets kind of complex here. this Michigan based company makes three (3) root beers, this natural one, one with artificial stuff in it and a diet. but don’t confuse it with the NJ based Wild Bill’s and any of their offerings as they are totally unrelated. i also am unsure how to title this drink. the website calls it “Natural Bill’s Root Beer” but the bottle itself has it as “Wild Bill’s Natural Root Beer.” not that it matters much in the end, but theses are the sorts of things that plague my brain when i do this website stuff. i just know i will get some emails telling me about the other named beverage, whichever way i go with it.
i think i found this one by looking at every brand in the root-beer.org brand list and trying to see which were current brands i may have missed. it was quite a time consuming task but that i found any new sodas to get makes it worthwhile to me.
so the organic dehydrated cane juice really gives this a maple syrup-ish flavor, kind of a deep caramel taste that i really enjoy. it is not upfront but it develops in time and lingers, causing your tongue to miss it when it is gone. along with that is a vanilla, creamy side that adds to the magic. this really is very good, probably the best “natural” soda i have ever had. which i think is saying something as i have had a good amount of sodas. i think some people will find this too sweet and i can see that, but it is really a good sweetness in my mind. the label proclaims it is the result of 20 years of trying to make the smoothest, richest root beer. it definitely is up there in both categories i would say. i am surprised, for how sweet and rich it is, that the sugar content is not that high really. well done, Northwoods, i hope the other sodas are as good as this! we will find out soon enough. this one went first since it seemed to have no preservatives. i better go home and drink the rest soon!
Ingredients:carbonated water, organic dehydrated cane juice, natural flavor, and phosphoric acid

Anthony’s Rating: 95
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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River City Root Beer

this is not to be confused with the Vine Park River City Root Beer i reviewed some time back. this one is made by Blue Dog Beverages and is totally different. i actually thought they were the same for a bit and always skipped over it when i would do mail order. but then i checked it out and they are quite separate, just with the same name.
overall i like the packaging and graphic design here. there is an old tyme drawing of a scene with a river boat and a house and some kids rolling a hoop with a stick on the riverbank, or maybe that is a rope from the boat and my sense of perspective is off… i like the hoop rolling possibility better myself. they also have some messages about how the sky used to be bluer and clouds whiter and the river breeze kept you cooler, which could be statement about global warming i suppose. probably though they are trying to evoke a feeling of nostalgia and when junk was better and innocence was not lost and all of that. people eat that nonsense up. or, in this case, hopefully drink it up.
this soda pop is quite good i will say. it has a solid sweetness, not too much, just hits it right. the carbonation is also excellently balanced. the taste is very good too, but a little too normal if i can have a slight complaint. it is creamy and quite smooth and tastes as you envision as good root beer as tasting like. it satisfies that craving in me. i could have this with some pizza or whatever and be very happy but it is not one i would sit and savor and sip. everything has a place and this is a solid, yummy soda for drinking for sure.
Ingredients:carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, natural flavor, quillaia extract, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative), potassium sorbate

Anthony’s Rating: 91
User’s Rating: 55
# of ratings:1
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Sans Natural Diet Root Beer

so i saw the review of this soda on the Thirsty Dudes site, having never heard of the company at all before. i proceeded to leave a comment to that effect and bing, bang, boom, a day or so later i get an email from the company asking if i wanted to review it also! crazy how this internet deal works sometimes! i accepted, excited to perhaps get a diet soda that was naturally sweetened and thus might taste good. but also apprehensive as i have never likes things with stevia so far.
soon after that a six pack comes in the mail. cool. i pop a couple in the fridge and await the coldness to take hold.
and here i am, popping the top on the can. i kind of like the style here but i think it comes across as a very generic soda from 1972, with the fonts and overwhelmingly white background. i don’t think i would take it for a semi-premium beverage if i saw it on a shelf myself.
i wondered if this would be brown or clear before i read the ingredients and saw the caramel color. so yeah, brown soda.
ok, trying it…. wow, this is horrible. i read Thirsty Dudes review of this and had high expectations but even with low to mid expectations, it is just not good. the diet taste is all i can taste, there is no trace of root beer there at all. if blindfolding, i would have no clue what flavor this was supposed to be. it is harsh and bitter and angry at my taste buds for something they did a long time ago i think. maybe those grape jelly and lettuce sandwiches they enjoyed in the 80s finally caught up to them. i keep on sipping it to see if i am just missing the yum. or the ok-ness. but i did not. i think this is a little better than the Zevia but just barely. i really do want to like stevia sweetened stuff, but so far i don’t. a natural, no calorie sweetener would be amazing. i even stopped buying Stoneyfield 0 fat yogurt since they added stevia, they wrecked it. not that being natural makes something automatically safe and healthy and all but artificial sweeteners kind of scare me.
Ingredients:triple filtered carbonated water, caramel color, rebiana (natural sweetener), natural flavors, citric acid, gum acacia

Anthony’s Rating: 12
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
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Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the oldest, largest and frankly the best root beer reviewing site in the world! i also throw in birch beer and sarsaparilla review while i am at it. 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 soda review publishes every monday with the occasional random post or review of root beer related stuff. 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. anthony (me) started reviewing sodas in ’96 but has always loved the delicious joy of root beer and birch beer.