woo hoo!! my 300th root beer reviewed! crazy stuff indeed! i am closing in on 500 overall and will get there in early 2012, perhaps in time for my birthday. we shall see how it works out. anyway…
I thought this soda would be very elusive to get, mainly because i don’t live anywhere near where it is made. but then i got an email telling me a reader had found it at their local Aldi Supermarket. they lived no where near the bottler either so i was intrigued. i don’t live that close to an Aldi myself, but a half hour drive is much better than 42 hours. i put it off but soon i got a couple more emails telling me of someone finding the soda at their local Aldi in a similar fashion so finally i decided i had to go see if i could find some myself. and you know what happened? yes! i bought a case! they had about 6 cases so i did not feel like i was depriving the citizens of the area too much of their gourmet soda.
now, from the name, i would expect something serious and very full flavored, hearty even. well, to me that is what ‘Robusto’ would indicate. yet it is not hearty really at all. it is flavorful, sure. i would not call it robust or robusto or Roberto even. in fact, the flavor is a bit disappointing. that is, it is fine and tasty enough but it is just normal and not exceptional. it seems slightly better than the regular Black Bear Root Beer, but i could just be imagining that, they may in fact be the same formulation. it is fine in every way, good sweetness, fine flavor, good carbonation, a little creamy. but it is not great or exceptional in any way. sure, there is something to be said about getting exactly what you expect when you open a root beer, but i am here to try to find a pleasant surprise. i did not do so here. it is safe though to give to the visiting relatives and who ever else happens by.
Anthony’s Rating: 70
User’s Rating: 84
# of ratings:3
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| Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | IL, IA, ND, SD, WI | Obtained in: | Aldi Market Store |
| Head: | Medium | Sweetener: | cane sugar, maltodextrin |
| Calories: | 180 | Sodium: | 37mg |
| Carbs: | 45g | Sugar: | 45g |
| Caffeine: | No | ||
| Website: | http://www.blackbearbottling.com/assets/blackbearsoda.html | ||
Ingredients: filtered carbonated water, pure cane sugar, caramelc olor, natural and artificial flavors, maltodextrin, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative)
At the local Chain restaurant (Chili’s) They started selling this root beer.
Anthony I thought you would want to know I have attempted to rate this root beer on 5 different occasions and it keep giving me a “your search criteria does not match” error.
I theorize more people have attempted it but failed since there are 0 ratings in 3 years.
strange. i fixed it. it had a ` instead of a ‘ in the query. =) thanks so much!
Rating successful fix worked!
I have to admit to being quite impressed with this root beer. Following a day with Hank’s, I have to say that this compares even better to my palate than Hank’s! The full flavor, The lingering after-taste is very pleasant and subtle. There are no negative metallic or odd herb or sugar tastes. It is one of those root beers that comes on with a most excellent first impression–as Hank’s, Virgil’s, and Goose Island have done for me in the past. The full bodied flavor is a little broader than Hank’s and has a much more lasting and pleasing after-taste. And to know that I can find it in Aldi’s by the case! I am psyched! Definitely deserving of a 90+ rating from this reviewer!