root beers

Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer

i was quite surprised when i found out this soda was again being made. i know very little about the revival of it though so i don’t know how faithful to the original recipe this is. of course i have seen the logo and the like many times over the years as it seemed to be a pretty popular brand 50 or so years ago but i had thought it long gone and never to return. apparently it is back, hopefully for a good long time. the little sprite fellow on the label has something bothersome going on with his eyes, so i hope he is ok. i suspect that the guy has some connection to mythical brownies but i have no verification of that either. otherwise i like the color scheme on the whole. i would probably make the label background something lighter than black, but that may just be me.
i like the concept of a caramel root beer. i very much love caramel, i obviously very much love root beer, so together they may be awesome. even better than butterscotch and root beer together is. throwing the “cream” in the mix may or may not work for me. so let’s see… a little rough on the swallow but it fades quickly to a creamy goodness that further fades to a caramel yumminess and leaves my mouth happy. if that initial roughness was not there i would really like this i think. i don’t know if it is an overcarbonation issue or the type of carbonation or something else but it is not something that i love. after that first second or so it is a very tasty drink and would rate much higher. perhaps i should let it go flat then re-chill it or something. but caramel and root beer work together, even with a bit of cream thrown in. i don’t think i would even say this is that creamy though, surprisingly. for me, that is a good thing, too creamy is bad.

Anthony’s Rating: 84
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User’s Rating: 72
# of ratings:10

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Type: Root Beer Comes In: 12oz glass bottle
Available: WA, online

Obtained in: trade with Eric
Head: Medium Sweetener: cane sugar
Calories: 170 Sodium: 40mg
Carbs: 43g Sugar: 43g
Caffeine: No
Website: http://orcabeverages.com

Ingredients: carbonated water, pure cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, citric acid, sodium benzoate (a preservative)

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10 Comments

  1. Karen says:

    I discovered this during the summer at Sahadi’s in Brooklyn and I’m hooked. My preferred brew is of the Ithaca type, i.e. very robust and even “hoppy,” but Brownie is really good stuff. 🙂

  2. I too give this root beer a score in the low 80’s. I’d probably give it an 81, because it is ok – but the caramel part of it does taste kind of artificial. I think if they made it taste a bit more natural and used more natural flavoring it would taste better. It is ok, and I do enjoy drinking it every now and then. I do not know how faithful it is to the original recipe. I mean, I do not know how they even obtain the recipe to this root beer considering it has been discontinued for quite some time…… I believe Atlas bottling was the bottler that bottled this root beer along with other flavors. I’m assuming that it would taste just like it used to…… I mean why on Earth would it taste any different??? You’d think they wouldn’t be allowed to change the recipe or else what’s even the point of calling it Brownie Root Beer?? There has to be some kind of rules and regulations concerning changing the recipe.

  3. Karen says:

    “I do not know how they even obtain the recipe to this root beer considering it has been discontinued for quite some time……”

    I doubt that it’s very difficult. From what I’ve picked up online, descendants of the owner of the Atlas facility are probably still around; then, too, the soda was probably licensed to be bottled in facilities other than the one in Detroit (my hometown, BTW, although I can’t say that I remember ever seeing Atlas–only Faygo and Vernor’s for local brands). It seems a foregone conclusion that whoever’s bottling it now found and bought the recipe and rights to the name and logo from whoever owns them. And artificial flavors are nothing new in soda. I suspect the current bottler went out of his/her way to make it authentic to the original.

  4. rick b says:

    I also picked some of this up at the local world market.

    I did not really care for this soda, I also felt it tasted artificial. I gave this a 70 and highly doubt I will buy this and drink it again.

  5. I love it.
    Few are saying that it’s harsh at first taste. That’s carbonation. It will do that.
    An artificial caramel taste? Soft drinks ARE mostly made up of artificial flavourings. If bottling companies made sodas with genuine extracts, the price would increase.
    Great job, Orca Beverage Soda Works!
    My rating: 97/100%
    God bless!

  6. Karen says:

    Good point, Ryan. I have recipes that call for caramel extract and although I’ve tried my damnedest to find a “natural” one, it just doesn’t seem to exist. I prefer sodas with natural flavoring and am willing to pay a premium for them but if “natural” doesn’t happen to exist, I have to make do with what does.

  7. Right on!
    God bless!

  8. Sqotty says:

    I hated this root beer. Very strange flavor, possibly because it is a caramel/cream soda root beer. On the side of the bottle was printed “contains milk”, which may be another reason it tasted strange.

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  10. The caramel and the vanilla was a little over the top for my palette when comparing to others. Not a smooth drink and maybe too sweet.

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