ROOT BEER TASTE TEST

[SODAPOPBOB]

My unexpected side-trip to the interesting but crazy comic book convention threw me off track today, but I did manage enough time to complete the so called Part III of my taste-test. Which included A&W - Barq's - Mug.

Here's how it turned out ... listed in order of preference.

# 1 ... A&W ... Just darn good rootbeer and hard to beat on a daily basis. []

#2 .... Mug ..... Pretty good too, but only when A&W is not available. []

#3 .... Barq's... Okay in convienience stores and fast food joints that sell nothing else, but won't buy
it otherwise. []

Tomorrow I intend to re-test these three along with the other six (minus the Shasta I didn't find) of the top-ten list. And then follow this by testing the fancy micro brews for an overall single favorite.

As an interesting side-topic, I stumbled onto a vendor at the comic convention today that was selling stacks and stacks of old advertising stuff. But the only things he had that were soda pop related was a stack of about 40 cancelled checks from the Monteicello, Florida Coca-Cola Bottling Co., and a collection of about 20 Kist paper cups.

Notice on the check that it is made out to the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. Hmmm ... I wonder what they were paying for and how many? Dated Sept. 9, 1941. Of the 40 cancelled checks this was the only one to O.I.G.Co. I can't quite make out the signature, but it looks something like S? Kee?? Maybe someone will recognize it. I should have bought all of the Kist cups, but ended up with just the one.

See ya'all tomorrow, and thanks for hanging in there. By the way ... Hey Morb ~ I enjoyed your family history brief ... I was impressed how you incorporated the word "root" as in "family roots." Get it? Root = Rootbeer ! Lol [:-]

SPB

 

[green dragon]

well, here is the ones I would up with for the testing.

( and a few non root beers I could not pass up [] )

right to left.

- Barqs
- Stewarts
- Boylands ( found on trip to upstate NY last weekend )
- Saranac ( same as above )
- Jones
- Virgils ( found local, that was unexpected, did try one last night and it was good )
- Polar
- A & W
- Mug
- Adirondack ( in can, this comes in 2 liter bottles, but never seen in smaller bottles )

and the non root beers.

- Flathead Lake Monster ( this one is Black raspberry, ,but the Wild White Grape I treid was ok, different stuff - sadly no root beer, least not when I found these ) .
- Polar Run white Birch Beer ( THE BEST )< note it's empty []
- and finally the Tahitian Treat. only have found this in cans, at one small store about 45 minutes away, not local at all, strange. will savor this one at lucnh today

there you go, will post results as I drink em, was fun hunting them down, now I havwe enough for a week []

~ AL


good to drown my sorrows in after finding out last night my girlfriend of 18 months is engaged to another man ( go figure ) .....

 

[JayBeck]

That Frozen Run Birch Beer is delicious!! I had a bottle of that when I was passing through Pennsylvania a few months. Seemed like it was only available in one area.

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

green dragon ~

Good job! I'll be "root'n" for you and look forward to your results. Too early here in the west (9:15 AM) to be drinkin' rootbeer ... (I'm still savouring my morning coffee), but intend to do my own taste-test later. I thought about buying some of those other flavored sodas too, but had my hands full with the rootbeers. I saw one brand called "Shirley Temple" and believe it was a combination of some form of 7up and cherry. But personally I'm more of a Roy Rogers guy, which I still fix on ocassion and is Coke with cherry juice. I loved it as a kid and still do. []

Later,

SPB

 

[green dragon]

The Shirley Temple was good, had one Sunday . cheery cream sort of drink, good flavor.

Tried a coupel for lunch - so far.

Barq's - not bad, not sure my fave, but have mnore to go .

Adirondack, not real great, edible, but nothign special, not one I'd make a habit of.

more to follow, not sure I can drink 10 bottles in one afternoon, lol

~ AL

 

[morbious_fod]

Tahitian Treat is good but seems to be wayyyyy too sweet.

 

[Poison_Us]

Tahitian Treat is rather hard to find in many areas. Around here, I could only find it in 2 liters. But Kroger just started carying the 12 pack cans... It's one of my wife's faves, along with orange crush and DEW!

Tahitian Treat is just carbonated Hawaiian punch. []

 

[mgardziella]

OK SodaPopBob, I disagree with your common root beer rating completely! lol This is my list:
1. Barq's
2. A&W (best for floats though)
3. Mug (Downright nasty)

Faygo and Dad's root beer fit somewhere in between A&W and Mug. But the BEST root beer in the world has to be the Michigan Brewery's Miner's brew. It's a small company from my hometown that makes the best root beer in the world, no joke. It's really hard to find and I only get to drink it a few times a year, but it's a real treat. http://www.michiganbrewing.com/Default.aspx
I'll have to try some Boylan's soon. Thanks for the taste test idea, it was fun!

 

[green dragon]

ok, finished up the phase 1 tests of the mass market brews. in order.

1) gotta stick with the ole A&W , though will test it against the microbrews tommorrow.

2) Mug, good but not A&W

3) Barqs. good, not super special , least to me. ( finishing the bottle up as I type )

4) Polar, similar taste to Barqs, no caffeine, but maybe anise or similar flavoring.

5) Adirondack - just sort of blah, nothign special, or strong taste as the others ( note this one was canned, and drank from the can, so may have had an inpact ) .

all in all, interesting experiment, will try the others tomorrow and beyond.

~ AL

 

[SODAPOPBOB]

Now that I've completed my taste-test, what am I supposed to do with a dozen-plus bottles of "opened" rootbeer? Gee ... I know! I'll save the bottles and collect them! What a novel idea. []

I'm going to cut right to the chase and declare that the best root beer I sampled today was ...

~ FAYGO ~

It is so dang good I am already making plans to go back to Bevmo's to purchase some more. It is "Everything" I want a root beer to be and "HIGHLY RECOMMEND" it to everyone. As the label indicates; it is a draft style, Est. in 1907, and made in Detroit, Michigan. Other than this I know nothing about it, nor have I researched it yet to find out more about the company history or what one of their original/earlier bottles looks like.

As for the others, here are my notes from the top ten (I replaced Shasta with Frostie). Plus I will follow up with some notes (likely on a seperate page) from my gourmet taste-test. But hands-down Faygo gets my overall vote. Way to go Faygo! []

Please note that in some cases I will be using the term "skunky" as it best describes what some people refer to as "aftertaste."

#1 A&W ........................ I still like it best of the everyday brands.
#2 Thomas Kemper ......... Extremely Good.
#3 Henry Weinhard's ....... Very Good.
#4 Frostie ....................... Good - I think it would be better in a rootbeer float.
#5 Mug ........................... Just good.
#6 Dad's ......................... Just good.
#7 Hires .......................... Just good.
#8 I.B.C. ........................ So-so almost skunky.
#9 Barq's ........................ Blah/skunky
#10 Sam's Choice ............. Downright skunky.

Please stay tuned for my final posting regarding the so called gourmet brands.

Thanks,

SODA "BURP!" BOB ... Oops, excuse me!


And it even has a true ACL ... unlike those other clear plactic "stick-on's" I don't like!