I couldn’t find an existing one searching for “root beer” using “Search / Google search” here.
So, root beer aficionados, what do you like?
I was going to try to be snobby and only go for boutique root beers or even try to home brew my own until I discovered that modern root beer is basically all artificial no matter how you slice it. There’s no real “true” root beer except for the stuff made using a plant that is now considered toxic.
I drink Thomas Kemper, and I keep searching for high-brow stuff that I can name drop, but I have yet to find anything, no matter how obscure, that is better. I’ve had some pretty good stuff, and oddly enough the Whole Foods 365 brand root beer in a can is surprisingly good, as is Blue Sky.
But Boylan’s Birch Beer is actually the closest contender to Kemper for me.
The Maine Root company’s Root Beer is pretty good; they do a Birch too (and Ginger and Sasparilla and…) Thomas Kemper is good, and I like Boylan’s too. I haven’t really compared the 3 for a taste test or anything, though by bulk Kemper is cheaper than Boylan’s or Maine Root, which is the most expensive.
For REAL traditional root “beer” I heard of this a few months ago:
Edit: Oh yeah, the canned root beer I have tried is Hansen’s, which is okay. I’m assuming we’re just ignoring A&W, Barq’s or IBC for comparison purposes.
Living down in Atlanta now I can’t find a retail outlet for Kemper. I’ve had a lot of different root beers around the country and I keep coming back to them as the best. Sprecher’s which is bottled in Wisconsin is pretty good as well.
Also, can anyone recommend any awesome sarsaparillas?
My wife got me a bottle of this last Christmas. It’s a bit different from what you’d expect. Simple addition of this to something fizzy (and even to something fizzy and sweet) is insufficient to make it taste like any commercial bottled rootbeer due to the complete lack of sugar. It is, however, 12 kinds of awesome when mixed with one’s rootbeer of choice.
There are a ton of local microbrew rootbeers around here (Salt Lake City) presumably because all the devout Mormons couldn’t brew real beer, and root beer doesn’t contain bad stuff like caffeine that most bottled sodas do, unless it’s intentionally put there. A local pizza place makes a great one, as does one of our local microbrew restaurants, but it takes a true afficionado to pay from $6/growler to $6/2-liter for the stuff.
Hmm do they have the Safeway chain there? A/k/a Tom Thumb, or Randall’s… They should carry Kemper, as does HEB/Central Market.
Only Sasparilla I’ve seen to any great extent is the Maine Root one I mentioned above, but never tried it. Their four-packs can get expensive to experiment with ($6 each typically) but of the stuff of theirs I have tried I like 'em. Whole Foods is one big distributor of them.
Nope as to any of those chains. The last time I saw Thomas Kemper around here was at a Cost Plus World Market, and all they had were the variety packs which only have 4 bottles of root beer out of 24 bottles. Last time we went they didn’t even carry those any more.
I’m had Maine Root Sarsaparilla and it just doesn’t do it for me. I think it just lacks flavor. Their root beer is much better, but still not so awesome that I’m willing to pay their premium.
I’m rather fond of A&W too. I think it’s got a nice sweet, mellow taste. Lately I’ve been drinking lots of Henry Weinhard’s though. Somehow drinking it out of a bottle instead of out of a can or poured into a glass adds to the experience for me.
I’m with Rimbo. If anyone knows of any recipes, please post. Preferably one that does not use bread yeast like half the ginger beer recipes out there. I tried one just to see what would happen and it was quite… explosive.
I’ll even drink Mug root beer, so I’m not particularly partial. I do like my root beers more to the creamy vanilla soda side though, especially with some vanilla ice cream. Mmmmmm.
There was a root beer I had as a kid in Durango(?), Colorado. It had honey in it and was the best root beer I have ever had. I might recognize the label but cannot remember what it was called. I want to say it was relatively local, partly because It’s been fifteen years and I haven’t seen it since (haven’t been to Colorado since, either, though). So, root beer with honey in the Colorado area. Ring a bell with anyone?
Pretty much any root beer that uses sugar instead of corn syrup. That said, I do tend to look at the calories on the can/bottle. While root beer tends to be more caloric than some other similar drinks, the lower the calories, the zippier the taste–at least to my taste buds.
I like Nutfield myself. I think the best bet is a local “brew” in whatever region you are. I’ve made my own before and it’s not complicated but similar to any homebrewing it has challenges, getting the right yeast, finding the right recipe, etc. My great uncle used to make his own and that’s what made it my usual soft drink of choice.
I’ve never been impressed by any store bought stuff though and I’m highly skeptical of the fancy label products. I think Virgil’s is pathetic and a waste of money and Boylan’s unremarkable. My go to non-alcoholic drink that isn’t so “soft” has been Goya’s Ginger Beer of all things. I guess it’s an acquired taste.
I make trips to PA every now and then so I’ll certainly look out for Art in the Age - Root, thanks for that.
