alright, so i finally have a bottle of the long sought after Spruce Beer!! it is a different branch off the root beer tree, using spruce roots and bark for its flavoring, which is seemingly popular in eastern Canada mostly. pretty much every review or opinion on this genre seems negative, that it tastes like drinking Pine-Sol cleanser or licking a pine cone. thus i am expecting the worst here. which may actually help its cause.
so the initial scent is indeed quite pine-like, which is to be expected i think from a SPRUCE beer, being in the evergreen family and all. the first taste… hhhmmmm, interesting. i can definitely see the Pine-Sol reference but it is not as bad as that sounds. it is almost similar to a spicy ginger beer to me. well, between that and a birch beer i suppose. but definitely that sharp, very upfront mouth feel that spicy ginger beers have. it is a unique taste to be certain. i would not want this every day just as i would not want a lot of things every day but i would enjoy this occasionally. it is quite well carbonated so that sharp edge keeps on coming back and slicing opening your mouth pieces. this is almost harsh, it goes down rough and makes you recognize that you are drinking it. at least if you are not used to it, you can’t just casually sip this in a distracted way while you meditate or something, it takes your attention and holds it while you sip and swallow and burp up the gasses. i don’t see this ever catching up big at all, it is weird. but then again, a lot of soda flavors are weird (Dr Pepper anyone?) yet make it big. get some major marketing behind this stuff and it could be huge!
so yeah, it is kinda sweet, pine-esque, a little spicy and very hard to ignore or put down. and sort of tasty.
Anthony’s Rating: 75
User’s Rating: 89
# of ratings:14
Log in to rate & save your personal root beer list!
| Type: | Spruce Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | NY, RI, online | Obtained in: | from pops66 |
| Head: | Small | Sweetener: | cane sugar |
| Calories: | 150 | Sodium: | 52mg |
| Carbs: | 41g | Sugar: | 41g |
| Caffeine: | No |
Ingredients: carbonated natural artesian spring water, 100% cane sugar, extract flavor, citric acid and sodium benzoate to enhance freshness
This soda was not easy to get. It was definitely not worth it in the end. This was one of the funkiest tasting soda I’ve ever tasted. It didn’t even taste like it was related to root beer. It was way too “Christmas tree” tasting. I believe they could make this taste good, but this was just too weird and unacceptable. I’d have to give it a 58, just because it was slightly tolerable.
The initial taste was not a very pleasant experience. The drink was unlike anything I’d ever had before and my taste buds revolted…at first. Once I moved past the first sip things quickly turned in favor of the strange pop. By the 4th gulp, and it was a gulp by that time, I was hooked. As I drained the last drop of my first Spruce Beer I realized I was in love. Simply and unrepentantly in love. I now count that bizarrely wonderful pop amongst my top 10 drinks.