a very fine drink. smooth going down without being overly powerful. if this beverage has any fault, it is that the flavor is just a hint too weak. but that is not really a problem. a great looking bottle design also. what a root beer should be in my mind.
Anthony’s Rating: 90
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User’s Rating: 85
# of ratings:340
Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
Available: | CA, NJ, PA, online | Obtained in: | New Brunswick, NJ |
Head: | Medium | Sweetener: | high fructose corn syrup |
Calories: | 180 | Sodium: | 35mg |
Carbs: | 44g | Sugar: | 44g |
Caffeine: | No | ||
Website: | http://www.hanks-rootbeer.com/ |
Ingredients: filtered carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate (a preservative), quillaia and yucca extracts, citric acid and acacia
[…] a custom labelled root beer. as the event was in Philadelphia, i wanted to get a Pennsylvania brew. Hank’s would have been fine, but the embossed bottles would make it a pain to relabel them. Olde […]
For the past half dozen years or so, I’ve tried every commercial glass bottled brand of root beer I can find in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Hank’s Root Beer is the very best I’ve found.
[The only better root beers I’ve found local to me are the draft root beers at Franklin’s Restaurant (Hyattsville, Md.) and the A&W Restaurant chain. I love the creaminess of *draft* A&W in a frosted glass.]
Hank’s is made with cane now, and is absolutely delicious. (Never had it with HFCS.) It’s also available here in Minnesota at Kowalski’s Market.
I pretty much agree with Anthony on this one. I found it in a deli out here in the California high desert (along with an excellent sandwich) so I can’t really complain.
I would have liked just a hint more “kick” to the flavor, but this is really good root beer.
Oh yeah, I had the cane sugar version.
I had it with cane sugar. The cane sugar version is called “Genuine Hank’s Gourmet Philadelphia Recipe Root Beer”. It is available at Jungle Jim’s in Cincinnati, OH. The local drafts I’ve had are A&W and Bennie’s root beer at their restaurant in Marysville, OH. Both draft root beers are amazing, but I think that Hank’s is even better. I think Hank’s is the best I’ve ever had.
Kriztoffer – thanks for the info on Kowalksi’s carrying Hank’s. I think there is one not too far from me.
I picked one of these up at Root Beer Revelry in Wisconsin Dells. It is listed as Hank’s Gourmet Philadelphia Root Beer and made with cane sugar (the reason I bought it) rather than HFCS.
Hank’s is just alright. There are so many other better root beers out there. It is waaaaay too creamy, and it does not have a lot of root beer taste. If anything it tastes more like root beer flavored cream soda. Personally, I feel that companies that prefer to make creamy root beers are taking the “easy” way out; rather than taking skill and time to make a delicious root beer with the right blend of spices/herbs/flavors. I’d give Hank’s a 78.
I had my first “Hank’s” at the airport last week so mine had only cane sugar and natural flavors (and was, not unpredictably, ‘way overpriced). Good stuff! I wouldn’t rank it as high as Ithaca (my current fave) but I was extremely impressed and gave it a 95. I just wish it were more readily available–I think it’d stand up to ice cream in a float without getting lost (IOW, I didn’t find it too creamy at the get-go).
I’ve had the privilege of having Hank’s twice now–about nine months apart. The first time it left such a nice impression that I automatically placed it in my all-time Top 5 root beers. Yesterday I have to admit that I was slightly disappointed. Though it’s first taste is still one of the best first impressions any root beer has ever given me (Virgil’s, Goose Island and 1919 being the other rave first tastes), it’s mid-taste was a little less full than some of my other favorites (Sprecher’s, Red Arrow), and it’s after taste was virtually non-existence–no linger factor. It has absolutely no negative features or disturbing or strong metallic or herbal flavors, which is nice, but it’s middle and end stages do not live up to the delightfulness of the first impression. I’d rate it a 89 or 90.