Old Keg Root Beer

It's been awhile (about SIX WEEKS) since my last review! I need to start hitting the soda a bit harder... so I started with this before class yesterday:

 
Brand: Old Keg Root Beer

Origin: Mukilteo, WA.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: This was SUPER creamy from the first sip. It was an INCREDIBLY smooth root beer with a fair amount of vanilla flavor with just a nice little hint of anise. 

After I had enjoyed it quite a while, I took a closer look at the ingredients list (because this was turning into a top-10 root beer for me and I wanted to see why!), and I found "honey" on the list as well. Honey can make or break a soda (I love honey by itself), and I tend to find it's flavor not that complimentary to a root beer. But this was so nicely subtle that it worked really well with the smoothness and creaminess of this root beer. This was REALLY GOOD! And it's not just because I haven't had a root beer in a while! A very quality soda! It's my first soda rated a "10" in the last 10 years!

Score: 10 out of 10.

Fresh Fizz Organic Soda Sparkling Jalapeno Limeade

I opened this while in my car waiting for one of my sons' sports practices:

Sitting in my car

Brand: Fresh Fizz Organic Soda Sparkling Jalapeño Limeade.

Origin: Island Park, NY.

Purchase Place: Fresh Thyme, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Organic Honey.

Review: This was a risky soda. I grow jalapeño peppers and like cooking with them, but I didn't know how I'd like that flavor in a soda... and if they'd be able to CREATE that flavor in a soda.

The first time bringing it to my mouth gave me a sniff of what smelled like TRUE jalapeño peppers - I was impressed already one second before taking my first sip. After my first sip, I was even more impressed - the jalapeño flavor came through well and was spot on! There are only 4 ingredients (carbonated water, lime juice, honey, and jalapeño peppers) and they all pull their own weight. 

This was not a "gulping" soda... this is definitely a "sipping" soda. My wife enjoyed the flavor and remarked this would be good in a cocktail, which is 100% right. The limeade cuts through the jalapeño nicely, and they work well together! It's hard to give this a score because it's not something I would just open and gulp down because it's so tasty, but I would sip on it for a while because it's refreshing. I was impressed by this!

Score: 6.5 out of 10.

Appalachian Root Beer

I opened this at work today as another soda from my Grandpa Joe's grand opening stash: 

Yes, my desk is messy... it's the end of the semester...

Brand: Appalachian Root Beer.

Origin: Mechanicsburg, PA.

Purchase Place: Grandpa Joe's Candy Shop, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: This was OK. I don't mind honey as a sweetner in soda (as I LOVE honey), but it sometimes sits as a strange combo with root beer, and it's doing that here - the honey comes on too strong. The root beer is deep and pretty tasty with a hint of wintergreen and a lot of herby notes, but I just don't care for how much honey flavor there is on top of that. Nice and smooth overall. Not bad, but not great.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Forty-Ninth State Brewing's Frontier Root Beer

I cracked right into this can shortly after my friends sent me some sodas in the mail:

Brand: Forty-Ninth State Brewing's Frontier Root Beer.

Origin: Anchorage, Alaska.

Purchase Place: Somewhere in Alaska.

Sweetener: Cane sugar and Alaskan honey.

Review: I was excited to try this. It had "Alaskan honey" listed as one of the sweeteners, but it was farther down the list - I took that as a good sign as I like a HINT of honey in my root beer. It also had "Madagascar vanilla beans" listed too, and that was also a great sign. The side of the can noted "This delightfully sweet and spicy libation, overflowing with notes of vanilla and honey, was molded after an old klondike gold miner's closely guarded root beer recipe."

This lived up to my expectations. It was smooth and creamy... but then it had a little bite at the end as well. It's a root beer that could please most anyone! True to my expectations, there was just a little hint of honey and not an overwhelming slap. And then there's a nice smooth vanilla finish to each sip. This was unique but not too "out there." A real good root beer!

Score: 9 out of 10.

Thomas Kemper Low Calorie Root Beer

It had been years since I had "regular" Thomas Kemper root beer. So it was time to try their low calorie version:

Brand: Thomas Kemper Low Calorie Root Beer.

Origin: Portland, OR.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Bloomington, MN.

Sweetener: Honey and Sucralose.

Review: This was listed as 20 calories, so I looked at the ingredients list: it had sucralose as it's "main" sweetener, but it also had honey. I've had mixed reactions to honey in root beer. But this was OK. It was REALLY creamy (almost to a fault), and the flavor was OK: the honey added a unique sweetness to it, but it wasn't bad. It was a bit herby, but sure not over-the-top. I liked this WAY more than the regular Thomas Kemper's Root Beer. It was unique and decent. Not bad!

Score: 7 out of 10.

Mystery Soda

I opened this while the Vikings were playing losing yesterday afternoon: 

No, it's not an unknown "mystery soda" - it's actually CALLED "Mystery Soda." And after a glance at the ingredients list, I knew it was going to be wild:

Brand: Mystery Soda.

Origin: Spring Grove, MN.

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

Sweetener: Honey.

Review: When I took my first sip, I truly forgot about the ingredients list, and took a big sip as I would with a soda. AND I HAD A WHOLE BODY SHIVER. (And not in a good way.) I hate kombucha, and all that apple cider vinegar in that soda sure had that kombucha "burn" that I dislike. All I can taste is "burn." There's no mystery here, just the taste of death. Sharp bitter mouth death.

Score: 1 out of 10.

 

Thunder Beast American Root Beer

I opened this with supper last night: 

Brand: Thunder Beast American Root Beer.

Origin: Washington, DC.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: I loved the label and the sass that this bottle of root beer had. I loved that across the bottom of the label it said "the best thing to come out of Washington D.C. since freedom." But I did not love the taste. It had a heavy caramel sweetness to it, and then I noticed that it had honey in it. I LOVE honey, but it seems like 90% of the time, honey ruins root beer for me. It's not a flavor combo that works for me.

I poured some into 2 glasses for my boys, and even they didn't like it. They don't get soda (except for small sips here-and-there), but neither of them finished it. It just was not good. This will go down as one of my least favorite root beers ever.

Score: 1.5 out of 10.

Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream

I really enjoyed my first Henry Weinhard's soda (which was their root beer), so I was hoping this would live up to that:

 

Brand: Henry Weinhard's Vanilla Cream

Origin: Fort Worth, TX.

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

Sweetener: Sucrose and Honey.

Review: This was just OK. The vanilla was OK, but there was a slight syrupiness that was slightly off-putting. There was a nice floral hint to it. Overall, it was just "fine" - nothing great.

In my review of Henry Weinhard's Root Beer, I noted that it had a touch of honey that was surprisingly nice and subtle, and it worked well with the root beer. Well, there's another little touch of honey in this soda, but it doesn't work with the vanilla as well. It's just a bit odd. Sorry.

Score: 5 out of 10.

 

Sprecher Diamond Lychee Soda

"Lychee" is one of those flavors that I couldn't describe to you, but I'd know it if I tasted it. With that "knowledge" (or lack there-of), I cracked into this earlier today before class:

I didn't know anything about Sprecher's "Diamond" line, but I found these fancier sodas in a Reddit thread:

Brand: Sprecher Diamond Lychee Soda.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

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

Sweetener: Sugar, Sucrose, and Raw Wisconsin Honey.

Review: This was sweet and smooth. There's a slight fruitiness to it that makes it quite drinkable. The "lychee" flavor is what I'd expected (sorry, I can't define that flavor well, but THIS was IT). There was a slight harshness in it's aftertaste, but that's the only negative thing I can say. I'd be excited to find those other 3 "diamond" sodas shown above.

Oh, and being it's Sprecher, I'm not surprised that honey is one of it's sweeteners.  They use honey a LOT (from what I can recall). This had THREE sweeteners, so it was good and sweet, but not TOO sweet.

Score: 8 out of 10.

Lift Bridge Root Beer

I'm currently drinking this as my students are working on their projects in the background:

Made in Stillwater, MN, which has a lift bridge. Note the lift bridge
depiction at the top of the can, and around the far right in the middle.

Brand: Lift Bridge Root Beer.

Origin: Stillwater, MN.

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

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: It was very creamy and rich, and had a pretty classic flavor. It was very smooth and had a good head. There's a LITTLE bit of a honey flavor, but not too much (and too much honey in a root beer has been something I complained about in the past). They are 2 minor things that I don't like about this root beer: first, there's a slight "wet cardboard" taste at the start of each sip (very subtle), and second, this is a 16 oz can which is just too big for me. Those are just minor issues, so this is getting a decent score!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Joe's Root Beer

This ended up being my first soda from Nevada:

Sweet bottle cap.

Brand: Joe's Root Beer.

Origin: Henderson, NV.

Purchase Place: Frattallone's Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane sugar and honey.

Review: So I liked that this was trying something unique, but it just wasn't that good. Honey and vanilla are the last two ingredients in this root beer, and there's just way too much honey. I've said it before: I don't care for honey in root beer even though I may love it in other flavors of soda. I can taste the vanilla, and that's a nice little addition. But the honey is just too much and a little too strange. (Honey isn't the only sweetener - it's just an added sweetener near the end of the ingredients list.)

Score: 3 out of 10.

Rogue Soda Root Beer

My son and I went camping in Duluth for 3 days this past week, so we had to stop at Fizzy Waters and get some soda. This was the first one we tried:

A larger 22 oz bottle, with my son by the campfire in the background.

My son enjoying a sip.

Brand: Rogue Soda Root Beer.

Origin: Newport, OR.

Purchase Place: Fizzy Waters, Duluth, MN.

Sweetener: Brown Sugar and Honey.

Review: The ingredients list showed "root beer flavor" and "sarsaparilla flavor," as well as brown sugar and 2 kinds of honey. I knew I was in for something different. It had a very deep flavor and was strong on the sarsaparilla. I could really taste the brown sugar. There was a little kick of honey, but it wasn't overpowering. 

Score: 6 out of 10.
 

Sprecher Raspberry

I cracked into this after I picked it up on a recent "Menards run" with my boys:

Brand: Sprecher Raspberry.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Glucose Syrup and Raw WI Honey.

Review: There have been some Sprecher sodas where honey added a nice sweetness, and some where it's been ruined by honey. I was ready to NOT like this, but it was actually pretty good. The raspberry flavor is nice and just the slightest bit tart/tangy. But it's cut with just a subtle honey sweetness to it. I'm not a huge fan of raspberries, but this was alright. If you're a raspberry nut, give this a try!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Tree Fort Root Beer

These bottles caught my eye when I stopped by Kowalski's a few days back:

So I grabbed a bottle of this foggy-looking root beer to try:

Brand: Tree Fort Root Beer.

Origin: Minneapolis, MN.

Purchase Place: Kowalski's Market, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: When I first took a sip, I had to double check the bottle to make sure I hadn't purchased the ginger ale - it was THAT gingery! It really didn't taste or smell like root beer one bit. Really. It had a bit of a honey taste, and then I saw that "white honey" was the third ingredient. I like honey as a sweetener, but rarely in a root beer. If you like ginger, give this a try. Otherwise, stay away - you won't like it. I didn't care for it.

Score: 3 out of 10.

Americana Honey Cream

I cracked into this in my classroom between classes:

Brand: Americana Honey Cream.

Origin: Mukileteo, WA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Pure Organic Honey.

Review: This is sort of what I hoped it would taste like. It has the smoothness and plainness (I mean that in a good way) of a cream soda. But there's a strong honey flavor as well. I guess that makes sense - it's called "honey creme" after all. The flavor is pretty good, but it lingers a bit in my mouth. Not bad - worth a try if you like honey!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Nesbitt's California Honey Lemonade Flavored Drink

This sounded promising, so I cracked it open on a recent much-warmer-than-average March afternoon:

Brand: Nesbitt's California Honey Lemonade Flavored Drink.

Origin: Waco, TX.

Purchase Place: Frattallones Ace Hardware, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: I had high hopes for this, and it was just a little worse than I had hoped. It was a little "heavy," and I had hoped it would be a little lighter than that. The lemonade flavor was good, but the honey seemed to weight it down more than I cared for. But I LOVE honey, so it's nothing against that. Also, it's not carbonated, so that's why it's a "flavored drink" - it's not a soda! Still, it was good and went down easy. Not as great as I hoped, but I still enjoyed it!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Sprecher Cream Soda

I grabbed this out of the cooler at Menards when I stopped there recently with my boys:

Brand: Sprecher Cream Soda.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Glucose Syrup, Maltodextrin, and Raw WI Honey.

Review: In typical Sprecher style, there's a strong flavor of honey in this soda. That's been good in some of their sodas and bad in others, and it's pretty good in this one. There's also a strong vanilla flavor too. It tastes more like a honey/vanilla soda and not as much like a "typical" cream soda, but it's pretty good. At times, I think it tastes a little strange, but I thought most sips were quite tasty. It has a little bite, which is also unexpected in a cream soda. I don't know how to describe the flavor more than "a honey/vanilla soda with a slight bite," so I guess you'll just have to try that if it intrigues you.

Score: 7 out of 10.

Sprecher Lo-Cal Root Beer

It was time for a big bottle of low-cal root beer:

Brand: Sprecher Lo-Cal Root Beer.

Origin: Glendale, WI.

Purchase Place: Menards, St. Paul, MN.

Sweetener: Glucose Syrup and Honey.

Review: This wasn't great. It would have been a decent "lo-cal" root beer if it weren't for the addition of honey as a sweetener - the honey was too sharp to this smooth diet soda. I thought it was OK overall, but my wife really didn't like it. I mentioned in my review of Sprecher Grape Soda that the honey taste doesn't go with everything (although I mentioned really liking the honey in Sprechers "regular" Root Beer).

Score: 4 out of 10.

Thomas Kemper Black Cherry

I was in the mood for some Black Cherry last night:

This was my 2nd time trying a Thomas Kemper soda. The first ended really, really poorly - I shared some Thomas Kemper soda with some students of mine, and they sent me some funny (and appropriate) mini-reviews over twitter.  Check out that horrible review and their tweets here.

This Black Cherry wasn't fantastic, but it sure ranked better than their first review of mine from 2013.


Brand: Thomas Kemper Black Cherry.

Origin: Portland, OR.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Honey.

Review: Not bad. Not great, but not bad. I could really taste the honey, which didn't quite fit in a black cherry soda. The black cherry flavor and a boldness and slight sharpness to the end of it, but overall it was relatively smooth. If you're a big honey fan, maybe try this. Otherwise, I think you'll just say "Ehh… unique but just OK."

Score: 6 out of 10.

So Duh! Rockin' Root Beer

This was my first soda from my recent 48-bottle purchase at Minnesota's Largest Candy Store. I didn't pick this one out on purpose - I just reached into the case, and this is the one I got.

Brand: So Duh! Rockin' Root Beer.

Origin: San Jose, CA.

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

Sweetener: Cane Sugar and Alfalfa Honey.

Review: I respect this root beer for trying something different, but it just didn't taste good to me. The honey is very prevalent, and that's a strange smoothness for root beer to have - I prefer the slightly sharper flavor of wintergreen. (I DO like a smooth root beer, but it has to be "creamy smooth" and not the strange smoothness of this root beer.) Not very good.

Score: 3.5 out of 10.