The gentle fragrance of AJ Stephan’s Root Beer is a nice introduction to the slight creamy flavor of the dark brown brew.  Although packing 43 grams of pure cane sugar, it somehow maintains a not-too-sweet taste.  Alas, it’s only downfall is the soft fizz which is more bubbly then bite.  Still, I give this sudzy root beer a 6 out of 10.

Touted as New England’s Best Tonic since 1926, it will have to do better then that to compete against some of it’s predecessors in this competition.

It’s coming down to the last few root beers before the final review.  We taper off with Sioux City Root Beer emitting a subtle fragrance from it’s murky amber color.  It’s a very sweet root beer, too sweet for me; and although it comes with a sharp bite, I must give it a mere 5 out of 10.

Upon examination of the bottle, we find out where the sweetness comes from, that is the 43 grams of pure cane sugar included in the beverage.  Sioux City under-performing, let’s see how the rest stack up.

Judging from the label, the Barrel Brothers look like two people I’d love to hang out with.  Bottled in the Rockies, this root beer is as creamy and vanilla… ey as they come.  It has a sassafras fragrance with a dark char color.  Although the bite is not much to speak of, the taste is pure summer.  It starts out with a creamy smooth flavor as it silks over your tongue.  Then the subtly of the vanilla starts up and leaves you wanting more.  I great bottle of root beer.  Even though the bite was less then I would’ve liked, it was so close, that I couldn’t decide what to give it, so I’m going to go with a 6.5 of 10.

This is an excellent root beer to post about on this momentous post.  What makes it so momentous?  Well, my friends, this is the 300th post on Zach’s Travels!  That’s right, 300 wonderful memories: tales of love, loss, tragedy and despots; of life, joy, friends, and fun travels.  All rolled into this here blog which I better back up before the server crashes!  Hope yall are enjoying it and continue to do so.  I know I am. 

With your typical dark color and smell, ORI Molasses Root Beer is actually a pretty good root beer. It has your standard flavor with a strong bite, which I like. The label is very simple and hearkens back to a time when you could only get root beer out of soda shops. The one misleading quality it has is that there is no molasses in the root beer at all. Granted, they nail the root beer flavor pretty well, at this point, I’d still love to taste some real molasses root beer. 46 whopping grams of sugar will put me in a nice diabetic coma so i won’t care anyway.

Olde Rhode Island Molasses Root Beer is a good solid root beer, and gets a 7 out of 10 from me.

“Whoa, honeylicious!”  Even though there is no honey in Waialua Soda Works Root Beer, that’s my immediate reaction to it’s strong flavor.  The Maui Natural Cane Sugar combined with the Hawaiian Vanilla Extract creates this honey like flavor, and exudes a vanilla coffee like smell.  The dark brew has a good bite and rolls over the tongue like honey roasted pig at a luau.  Waialua has done a great job of capturing the essence of Hawaii in its root beer.  Kudos Soda Works.

The downside of that flavor blast is the sugar after taste you’re left with, but what do you expect from a beverage with  47 grams of sugar!  Still, the uniqueness of the flavor and good thematic interpretation win Waialua Root Beer a 7 of 10.

Thomas Kemper is a dark brown root beer with little smell and not much flavor.  The bite leaves much lacking and the bottle design is uninspired.  Wow, that was a pretty harsh review.  It IS made with real honey which you can slightly taste, but still not much of a root beer.  I’ll still pass along a 6 out of 10.  However, it seems it has finally happened.  I am finally getting tired of root beer.  Took 18 brands to get to that point thought, so that says something for root beer and/or my love of it.  The great root beer review will now only be posted on Mondays instead of Mon and Wed; i know there are many who will be deeply saddened by this.  But fear not, there is still much root beer left to taste.

Pouring out a murky brown, it’s odor is a very pleasant sassafras.  Frostie Root Beer has a creamy flavor with a little bite to it.  What makes the root beer even better is that the smell and taste compliment each other nicely.  After half the bottle, you start to detect the syrupy flavor of the high fructose corn syrup, but still an enjoyable root beer.  I will give it a 6 out 10.

Established in 1919, the sharp bite and strong flavor of IBC Root Beer has been the favorite of many a generation. And is also a favorite of mine. While it might gain extra points from this critic by nostalgia alone, I still hold that its natural flavor stands tall on its own. While the translucent amber color does not hearken exuberance, the molasses like smell harbors more encouragement. Even that does not prepare you for the strong creamy flavor that floods your palette as the bubbles bite your tongue with carbonation. It’s one of the most refreshing sensations after a hard day’s work. And it’s signature labeless glass bottle is a welcome sight every time.

I remember, as a kid we used to drink IBC cause from a distance it looked like we were drinking beers.  Ah the innocence of youth.  For more reason then just that, I give IBC Root Beer an 8 out of 10, my highest rating thus far.

Kutztown’s Original Premium Recipe Root Beer has a very dark and cloudy color, almost Guinness Black. This cloudy darkness conceals the enigma within. While the small is decidedly root beer and very strong, it’s flavor is most certainly not like root beer. In fact, it’s rather undefinable. The only way I can describe it is to say that it tastes like a good feeling; which is something to speak of. But I won’t, instead I’ll quote you something directly from the bottle which they must’ve been drunk when they typed it out:

“When you’re bad for something mighty good,
reach for a foamy mug of Kutztown Root Beer!
Tastes chust like old-fashioned, ’cause you know
we make it that way. Drink ’til you ouch,
there’s more back!”

The last three lines are really the best, “chust” the best I tell ya. Despite the bottles illiteracy and the small bite, I still give this root beer a 6 out of 10 on account of Mystery.

There is not much to this 1937 establishment; it has not bite at all and not much of a smell.  However, it has subtle simplicities which fair it better then one would expect.  The uniform caramel color exudes a slight brown sugar smell; different then others I’ve tasted it intrigues me, so I delve further.  Upon sipping the smooth beverage, I notice the creamy underlings of flavor.  Although there truly is not much to it, what there is turns out to be quite tasty.  Giving away no idiosyncrasies on the bottle other then the enormous 42grams of sugar it contains, I still give it a 6 out of 10 on flavor alone.