Rugged Mountain Root Beer

I opened this last night while FINISHING UP MY GRADING for the school year! (Yay!)

Brand: Rugged Mountain Root Beer

Origin: Poultney, VT.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: First of all, IT'S CLEAR! That's unusual. And maybe that made it taste a little weak to me - I don't know. It was oddly sweet. It had that slightly herby flavor of root beer, but this was just so generically smooth and sweet. It was unique, but a little odd. Not bad, but slightly strange at the same time. I still really don't know how I feel about this, so I'll just give it a middle-of-the-road score.

Score: 5 out of 10.
 

Kickin' Cow Cola

The boys and I cracked into this earlier today:

I had no idea what the flavor was, but my boys were excited to try it anyway:

Charlie trying his first sip...

... and his reaction.

My older son said it tasted like "soap mixed with mouthwash" and he didn't finish his sip. My younger son (pictured) loved it.


Brand: Kickin' Cow Cola.

Origin: Poultney, VT.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: I had to go online to see what the flavor actually was. All I found was "like natural Pepsi," which I thought was way off. This was hardly "cola-like" at all. I'd describe it as a "gentle" ginger ale. It was nearly clear, with just a slight tan color. It wasn't bad (SURELY not as bad as "soap mixed with mouthwash), but it wasn't totally amazing either. I'll rank it just above average.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Taylor's Tonics Candy Cane Shake Soda

During our final work day in class, I cracked into this in my office:

The back of the label.

Brand: Taylor's Tonics Candy Cane Shake Soda.

Origin: Santa Cruz and San Francisco, CA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: I was ready for this to be "not great." And it was just that. It DID initially taste like a liquid candy cane, but there was a pretty horrible chemically aftertaste. It had peppermint and vanilla in it which was fine, but it also had coconut water which didn't add the appropriate flavor. (And the last ingredient on the ingredients list is "creativity." Hardy har har.) It tasted like Christmas morning, but the kind of Christmas morning where Dad got drunk with his brothers and they all vomited around the tree.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Santa Cruz Organic Root Beer

I just cracked into this oddly skinny 10.5 ounce can of root beer:

Brand: Santa Cruz Organic Root Beer.

Origin: Chico, CA.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: This was better than I thought it was going to be, but still not great. It had a strange sharpness to it - I think from the organic lemon juice on the label. (Lemon juice in a root beer? Not sure about that...) Speaking of the ingredients list, what is "organic root beer flavor?" Really, I'm asking. Where can you "grow" root beer flavor organically? What is that?!? Anyway, the sweetness was a little off, but it was OK overall. Different, but not great.

Score: 5 out of 10.

Margo's Bark Root Beer

This root beer was for a good cause (to help shelter dogs), and I haven't had good luck with soda like that - usually they've let me down.

I enjoyed this one before starting my class.
I had to assure my students it was root beer in this brown bottle!

Brand: Margo's Bark Root Beer.

Origin: Los Angeles, CA.

Purchase Place: "Minnesota's Largest Candy Store," Jordan, MN.

Sweetener: Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: This was a pretty subdued root beer. It wasn't very frothy or "heady" at all, and it didn't have too much flavor. The flavor that was there was decent (a bit earthy with just a hit of wintergreen), but there wasn't much of it. It was a little too dry as well. But it had a nice subtle bite. Different, not bad, but not great.

Score: 5.5 out of 10.

Natural Brew Draft Root Beer

We do a gift exchange at Christmas with all of the siblings in my wife's family. We draw names, and we also list a small item we'd like as a gift under our name. All I asked for was "root beer." Really. So I got a 4 pack of Natural Brew Draft Root Beer along with a $25 Visa Card (that I'll ONLY be spending on root beer or other sugary items).

Sitting on the counter at my parents house on Christmas.

The bottle says "A complex flavor of bourbon vanilla extract, anise, sarsaparilla, licorice root, birch oil, wintergreen oil and other natural flavors."  And as that statement would imply, there's just too much going on with this root beer.

Brand: Natural Brew Draft Root Beer

Origin: Chico, California.

Purchase Place: Hy-Vee Grocery Store.

Sweetener: Evaporated Cane Juice.

Review: Too much wintergreen. And too much anise. Too much of a lot of stuff. There's just too much going on. Dislike.

Score: 3 out of 10.