in general, i like Trader Joe’s. they have very yummy snacky things like chocolate covered pretzels and cookies and junk along with tons of dried fruits and the like. but i am never quite sure how they stay in business. they seem to almost exclusively carry their own brand stuff, but it is generally quite overpriced. they are like the anti-Aldi. yet they have a pretty limited selection of stuff. granted what they have is quite good and there are lots of frozen meal things that look yummy but i would think people would not go there all the time as their main food store, it is just too pricey. but perhaps the trick is in location. put the store in a rich town and they will be happy to overpay. whatever. i go there once a year or so to get wine for my in-laws or whatever. although my new job has one very close by so i may be going more often for tasty snacky treats. we shall see.
the other two (2) Trader Joe’s root beers seemed to be short lived. as i go there so little maybe i just missed a lot of their time on the shelves but i doubt it. it is no great lose as they were bad to mediocre anyway. will this one break that trend and survive a year or so?
i like the design work ok on here. i feel like the logo font stuff is not laid out well or the font sizes should be different. there is a kind of light and medium brown argyle background with the orange and brown and white logo splashing into it or something. i get a 60s surfer aesthetic vibe from it all, which might play into their “vintage” hopes.
i hoped to like this a lot. the ingredients made it interesting, anise, sassafras, birch, wintergreen, etc. but it does not end up working well. i don’t get the wintergreen or birch taste at all. the anise is there a little but not enough and the sassafras is just too mellow. the vanilla comes through and makes it creamy and richer. the drink itself is decent but not as good as i hoped it would be. it does not stand out enough despite some attempts to do so. i feel like Trader Joes’ could do much better but they got lazy on this one.
Anthony’s Rating: 77
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User’s Rating: 74
# of ratings:4
| Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | AZ, CA, CT, IL, IN, MD, MA, NV, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, VA, WA | Obtained in: | Trader Joe’s store in Westfield, NJ |
| Head: | Large | Sweetener: | cane sugar |
| Calories: | 170 | Sodium: | 0mg |
| Carbs: | 43g | Sugar: | 43g |
| Caffeine: | No | ||
| Website: | http://www.traderjoes.com | ||
Ingredients: triple filtered carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, wintergreen, birch, anise, sassafras, tahitian vanilla extract and citric acid
It must be really inexpensive where you live because TJ’s is literally CHEAP here in Midtown, especially when you factor in the quality of their stuff (which is usually excellent); even the brand-name stuff they sell is cheaper than other stores (including Fairway). I agree with you about the root beer, though–that’s about what I’d have rated it, too.
i don’t think where i am is cheap at all, but produce and milk and the like are always more at TJ. cereal is comparable and probably better at TJ. it depends what you buy i think. i just couldn’t shop there as my main store as they just don’t have a lot of stuff i use all the time.
I think I should try this vintage root beer. I have never heard and tasted one. It’s gotta be a good experience.
I dont think this has a strong root beer flavor, it is more of a wintergreen soda. I like wintergreen so I gave it a 75.