Better Living Through Thinking

Jackson Hole Soda Company Buckin' Rootbeer

Fri, 25 Jan 2008

Nothing remarkable. To be honest, I should have written the review a little closer to the time I drank this.

Scott's Score: 6 (out of 10)

Faygo Original Root Beer

Mon, 10 Dec 2007

Faygo Beverages, Inc. Detroit, MI 48207

I had to check the bottle twice to make sure there was some kind of flavoring at all in it. Astonishingly weak, but unoffensive.

Scott's Score: 3 (out of 10)

Teddy's Root Beer

Mon, 17 Sep 2007

Unique Beverage Company, LLC Everett, WA 98213

Nothing remarkable in this one. A bit too much wintergreen.

Scott's Score: 6 (out of 10)

Hank's Gourmet Philadelphia Recipe Root Beer

Mon, 09 Jul 2007

Hank's has the yucca like Boylan's, but it really lacks anything else but sugar (which is of good quality). The flavor is bland: no dark herbs lurking in this beautiful bottle. This might better pass as a cream soda easier than a root beer soda, in my opinion. I'd give it an 8 as a cream soda, but since these are the root beer rankings...

Scott's Score:

6 (out of 10)

Sioux City Birch Beer

Wed, 23 May 2007

Summary: wintergreen (salicylic acid)!

I'd need to try this next to Boylans to see which I liked best, but neither of them was my favorite. Sugary wintergreen flavor (what does birch bark taste like anyway? Probably horrible, which is why beverage makers mask it so heavily with wintergreen and sugar).

Scott's score: 5 (of 10)

Virgil's Root Beer

Mon, 21 May 2007

Sometimes, all-natural isn't better. There's a fine balance between making a good-tasting root beer and making one that uses natural ingredients, and in Virgil's case, the balance is too far on the natural side.

From the bottle:

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Reed's Raspberry Ginger Brew

Fri, 27 Apr 2007

Courtesy my friend Rus.

I really like this one. I don't recall drinking anything like it before. The raspberry isn't overwhelming, but it has a solid presence. The ginger is nice and strong.

Reed's Raspberry Ginger Brew

Scott's Score: 8 (out of 10)

Americana vs. Sprecher

Tue, 24 Apr 2007

My friend Rus came into town and brought a half-dozen Americana root beer bottles (full) for me.

Judging between these two is like picking a favorite child. You may have one, but you'll never say anything. But I'm going to say something anyway.

I drank from each of the two brands while eating alternatively a ...

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Bundaberg Ginger Beer

Fri, 20 Apr 2007

A fantastic ale from my friend Rus. Plenty of ginger, nothing fancy. It has a dark, musty taste that reminds me of some of the exotic beverages I drank when I was a child at my great uncle's house.

Scott's score: 9 (of 10)

Reed's Spiced Apple Brew

Thu, 19 Apr 2007

Another batch from my good friend Rus from Seattle.

The nose is a sharp ginger hit (very mellow compared with Reed's specialty ginger beverages), unfortunately followed by kind of a nothing middle, but finishes with a beautiful apple-cinnamon bouquet.

Makes me feel young to drink this, except that no child I know likes how it tastes--to subtle I suppose. ...

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