another reformulation gotten on my Rocket Fizz journey is this Way 2 Cool Root Beer. although it is not too reformulated, just the fructose is now sugar cane. now, do I add ‘sugar cane’ as a new type of sweetener in my database or just assume it is the same as ‘cane sugar?’ I am going with the latter here. I recall I got the old formula about 24 years ago while on a very fun bus trip to Las Vegas for new year’s eve with some of my best friends. we went to a random health food store and of course I looked for new sodas. now as we were traveling quite light being it is a bus trip, I was unsure if the empty bottle would fit or survive the rest of the trip, but luckily it did. although it was displayed with my other empties for a while, it has been packed up for a good decade plus now as children need somewhere to sleep and put their stuff apparently. Way 2 Cool is honestly not a brand I expected would survive this long, they seemed very small and not something that anyone really ever mentions when root beer companies come up. but then again I live no where near New Mexico, so it could have much more of a presence out there.
the old bottle had just a turquoise label so this is a step up with a scene of a river and some low mountains in the winter. the logo is very 80s and not even that great a version of an 80s logo, but if that is what they want and it works for them, more power to you! or wait, more power 2 you! yes, that is better.
the flavor here is interesting. as I have looked at the ingredients to verify it is indeed a different recipe I know what is in here, but I would have guessed several of the things. clove, anise and licorice are all pretty front and center. the mint hits you on the backend of the taste and instead of being disturbing as I might have expected, it is rather nice. the barley malt taste is what throws it off for me I think. it kind of smacks in early but thankfully fades quickly as the other flavors come in and take over so the end result is rather good. nonetheless, I am not a fan of that aspect. I respect them trying to do something different and I enjoy it, yet it feels a bit like there is too much going on at times.
when I entered this into my database I saw my old rating and either it has gotten much better or my tastes have changed a lot, haha.
Anthony’s Rating: 79
‘s rating: none yet!
enter a value below to rate this.
User’s Rating: 0
# of ratings:0
| Type: | Root Beer | Comes In: | 12oz glass bottle |
| Available: | AZ, NM | Obtained in: | Rocket Fizz |
| Head: | Medium | Sweetener: | cane sugar |
| Caffeine: | No |
Ingredients: carbon filtered and carbonated water, sugar cane, natural root beer flavor (anise, licorice, clove, mint), roasted barley malt, Madagascar bourbon vanilla, citric acid and nothin’ else
Tried “Way 2 Cool” root beer. Assuming it’s the same one as this, as my label has a cool vintage car on it. I really liked the flavor, and the head was excellent nice dark bubbles that lasted a long time. Flavor was herbally. It had that bitter sarsaparilla flavor… which I felt was inappropriate considering this is a root beer; not a “sarsaparilla-root beer”. However, I thought it was a solid, strong root beer. Was not weak. I am not a fan of bitterness in root beers… so, I’d rank this an 85/100. Would buy again though.