i am always rather intrigued by the revival of old recipes/companies. it seems a good segment of new sodas are in fact old sodas making a comeback. this one was originally out of Michigan. i am not sure the full story on its past or present, just that it is now bottled by a company in Washington state. whether there is a company in Michigan contracting this bottling or if there is any connection to the old Red Arrow company owners or whatever is unknown to me. usually one can find such info online someplace but in the bit of searching i did, i could not come up with anything at all. it seems Orca Beverages also bottles Sioux City, Americana, Bedford, Bulldog, Dad’s, Erps Sarsaparilla, Frostie, and a brand called Hippo Size which i now have to get some of and which looks to be another vintage brand. they bottle many many other sorts of soda also besides root beer, it is quite interesting to see their lineup.
i had not even known this brand was back until Eric mentioned it as now being sold at the Root Beer Store, which is near him. i jumped at the chance to get some and here i am drinking it.
the design is quite cool. not too complex, very 50s in my mind. not knowing the history of the brand i can’t know the faithfulness of the label or the origin date but it evokes that nostalgic feeling so that is the desire effect anyway.
with an ingredient list that explicitly listed wintergreen and licorice high up, i was intrigued. the first taste confirmed that the licorice dominates the initial and middle periods of the flavor but it fades to a wintergreen feel and sensation. very interesting. subsequent tastes have a much less intense licorice flavor, which is good for those who don’t love licorice but a little disappointing for me. it is still a very tasty soda. it is quite sweet, which i like and has a different flavor than expected so it is a winner in my book. if you do not enjoy licorice or wintergreen you probably need to move on to another soda. the flavor here though is different so i am glad they brought it back.
Anthony’s Rating: 93
User’s Rating: 80
# of ratings:12
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| Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | MI, WA, online | Obtained in: | trade with Eric |
| Head: | Medium | Sweetener: | cane sugar |
| Calories: | 160 | Sodium: | 65mg |
| Carbs: | 43g | Sugar: | 43g |
| Caffeine: | No | ||
| Website: | http://orcabeverage.com | ||
Ingredients: carbonated water, cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, extract of wintergreen and licorice, sodium benzoate (a preservative)
A lot of people seem to love that one. I’ve never taken so much flak over not liking a root beer before. Oh well, I still don’t like so much licorice in my brews.
I did not like this root beer. It tastes like it’s got some slight crayon flavor. It just tastes a bit weak – but in an ok way. It is better than your average A&W, but I think this is good for 1 or maybe two tries. Red Ribbon root beer is better than this one, and that one is like an 82. This one is like a 76.
This was ok, I thought the root beer flavor could have been stronger, I gave it a 60
Just finished this one off and from the very first long swig and prolonged delay to sip #2 this was amazing! One of the most delightfully long-lasting vanilla after-tastes I’ve ever encountered! And, of course, they use cane sugar as their primary sweetener. YES!
Hands down, this is in my top three root beers. Just a perfect valance of wintergreen and licorice, sweeter than I usually like, but strangely it pulls it off. Perfect carbonation, pleasurably smooth head, somehow manages to eliminate all fake or artificial tastes. Ice cold or warm, it’s hard not to chug this one. 95 easy.