one of the first sodas I ever reviewed, on the fateful bus trip across the country way back in ’96 when i noticed just how many root beers were out there which in turned spurred me to create this site, was the original version of this drink. it had corn syrup along with the promoted northwest honey. times change and people demand cane sugar instead of corn syrup, so good ole Thomas, or perhaps his descendants at this point, obliged with this new version. i find it rather funny that they proclaim multiple times on the bottle how it has cane sugar. but i suppose when you took the time and expense to create a new recipe because of public demand, you want people to be aware of it. honestly i have not had any of their root beers in some time now, no not 21 years since that first bottle of course, but a good decade or so I’d imagine. thus i am not quite sure how it used to taste. i do recall it being my stanard of how a honey sweetened root beer should be.
ooo, this is quite honey tasting! I like that. I do love honey after all. but it is not over done so if you do not love honey as i do, i don’t think you’ll be grossed out by this. beyond that it is very creamy, very smooth, i often don’t even feel the carbonation too much yet it has a super solid, large foamy head. the flavor is enhanced by the honey but nothing too crazy is happening here otherwise. it is a very good cornerstone of the gourmet root beer world and I am glad they have survived this long. the re-formulation is definitely a success and that is very much a relief.
Anthony’s Rating: 91
User’s Rating: 97
# of ratings:1
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| Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | AK, AZ, CA, ID, IL, MT, NE, NV, NC, OH, OK, OR, TX, WA, online | Obtained in: | Rocket Fizz |
| Head: | Large | Sweetener: | cane sugar, honey, maltodextrin |
| Calories: | 160 | Sodium: | 45mg |
| Carbs: | 41g | Sugar: | 40g |
| Caffeine: | No | ||
| Website: | http://tksoda.com | ||
Ingredients: carbonated water, cane sugar, maltodextrin, honey, caramel color, natural flavor, phosphoric acid, salt, and vanilla extract
I’ll have to pick some up when I’m in Detroit later this month. I’ve bought it before and liked it but this is definitely a move in the right direction.
Not sure which formulation you had, but the Orca Beverages one I just had kinda is lame. The head is good and that’s about the only thing good about this soda. It barely even has any root beer flavor. Very lame and almost like they weren’t even trying. I see Maltodextrin as the third ingredient and that is worrying. Perhaps that’s why this beverage is not good? Buy one bottle just to try. Looking at my old score on the old bottle review, I give it almost the same exact score: 55. Orca needs to give this one up.