Zatarain’s Root Beer Extract

this may be the most widely available root beer extract. well, this or Rainbow. they are kind of the A&W and Barqs of the extract world it seems. i think when i made a batch of yeast carbonated root beer about 15 years ago i used Zatarain’s to make it. that did not turn out well but i do not blame the extract at all. it is much more my aversion to the taste that comes along with yeast carbonation.
I see Zatarian’s other products in stores often, most notably their rice mixes and other New Orleans style foods. but the root beer extract was the first product they ever sold way back in 1889 and they continue to produce it, probably with slight variation. i don’t like that is has Red #40 in it, although most root beers have caramel color which i am just hoping is better for me. who knows really?

so anyway i mixed up a batch of this in my seltzer bottle as that seems the easiest method of doing it. of course your preparation will vary and the taste may differ if you opt for yeast carbonation over the forced carbonation i used. and of course you may use different ratios of extract, sweetener and water or even a totally different sweetener than the cane sugar i used. but i feel i should try to be true to their intentions and follow the recipe they provide so that is what i will stick with here. there is a definite licorice end note on here but it is not terribly present in the rest of the taste. the main taste is fine, nothing amazing though. some rooty-ness comes through but in general it is standard. i think this comes out a little watery for my tastes so if i did it again i would add less water i think. you can’t really go wrong with this but there are extracts i like better so far.

Anthony’s Rating: 71
‘s rating: none yet!
enter a value below to rate this.
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0

Ingredients: WATER, CARAMEL COLOR, ALCOHOL, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SULFITING AGENTS, AND FD&C RED #40 LAKE.