Death Valley Root Beer

Description: "A Taste of the Old West"

Ingredients: Indian Wells Spring Artisan Spring Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural Flavor, Real Vanilla, Citric Acid.

Smell: Nothing much to say here, nothing I particularly noticed that was out of the ordinary.

Head: Not shabby, lasted the whole drink. Had a deep brown color I noticed as well.

Flavor: As I was drinking it, I had similar feelings towards it as I had towards Bedford's the other day. Nothing spectacular, but a solid drink. But then after it was finished, it left me with the aftertaste of anise.

Overall: This one would have been another easy C, if the aftertaste hadn't been of licorice.

Purchased from: Rocket Fizz

Three Stooges - Wise Guy Root Beer

Ingredients: Spring Water, Can Sugar, Citric Acid, Ester Gum, Caramel Color, and Natural Flavors.

Smell: I was pleasantly surprised by an aroma of vanilla mixed in with sassafras.

Head: When starting to pour this, there was no head to be seen. Then suddenly, it started to grow, not only that but it remained for the whole drink! It looks like what you'd want from a root beer, very attractive.

Flavor: First off, this falls on the side of anise more than sweetness. But it's very strange that the mixture of sugar and anise actually compliments each other well in this case. It was very creamy, and perhaps that also helped offset the usually overwhelming taste of licorice that this drink seemed to avoid. While drinking it I had the though that it tasted like root beer barrel candy. You're left with that specific flavor lingering for a long time after as well.

Overall: Now this may be a case of low expectations getting the best of me, but I had gone in assuming that a licensed root beer wasn't going to be anything special. Yet this was surprisingly delicious. Since it was so candy like I found myself almost craving the root beer barrel candy itself. Either way, this was a solid drink.

Purchased from: Rocket Fizz

Bedford's Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Caramel Color, Pure Cane Sugar, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Gum Arabic Quillaia, Citric Acid, and Sodium Benzoate (A Preservative).

Smell: Smelled sweet right away, nothing overpowering, just a tasty sugary soda scent.

Head: Nothing special here, quickly grew and fell. Filled the cup about half way before it began to shrink.

Flavor: Now this guy had a good bite and a good flavor. And my very first drink almost left a fruity sort of taste on my tongue. It wasn't bad either, just kind of surprising. Nothing fancy, just a sweet sugary root beer flavor.

Overall: It had been a while since my last review, so I was sort of hoping for something stellar, but instead I got a solid brew that doesn't break the mold. My only real thought after finishing this was, "I don't have any complaints, but I don't have any praise either". So this is a solid "C", just an average, but good, Root Beer.

Purchased from: Rocket Fizz

Americana Root Beer

Description: "The era of soda poppery began in the early 1990's. Early soft drinks or 'tonics' were brewed in a variety of flavors. Our extracts and flavor ingredients are brewed to duplicate the authentic production methods of yesteryear - we think this method creates the most flavorful soda. Enjoy well chilled. Cheers!"

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color, Honey, Citric Acid, and Phosphoric Acid.

Smell: I immediately figured I'd enjoy this, the scent of vanilla hits you right off the bat, as well as something else that I couldn't put my finger on until I got a taste...

Head: I don't usually have a back up brew, and of course in this case, my camera wasn't ready. I will describe it as best as possible. The head as you can see, had filled about half the glass, but went down nearly immediately after the pouring had stopped.

Flavor: Now, the head was indicative of my one main gripe with this one, it didn't have a very good bite. It was one of the few times I might say that a brew was TOO sweet. I'm not saying it was bad, not at all, but it definitely brought it down a whole letter. But one thing that brought it back up, was that other flavor that was hinted in the scent was honey! I really enjoy a good soda with honey in the ingredients, as I personally think it's a superior flavor to sugar. Not much of an aftertaste to mention.

Overall: If it just had the bite, this might have gotten a solid A, but it just lost too much in the texture of it that I feel like heightened the sweetness too much. Still, I give this a HIGH C.

Purchased from: Rocket Fizz

Frostop Root Beer

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Phosphoric Acid, and Sodium Benzoate to preserve freshness.

Smell: Something was kind of off about the scent, almost kind of a musty scent. Like old water or something. Otherwise, behind that it was a fairly normal Root Beer smell.

Head: Not shabby, very photogenic. I'm joking of course, but it did last for the duration of the review. Not super tall though.

Flavor: I'll say right away, this would have been a standard C grade brew. Nothing out of the ordinary, but not bad. But that... musty scent came back as an aftertaste, and was just not enjoyable. The drink itself wasn't bad though.

Overall: I've read other reviews for Frostop, and they aren't quite as negative as this one. Perhaps this bottle wasn't stored well originally or something else. But I have to assume it was as it should be, and that aftertaste really ruined it for me.

Purchased from: Rocket Fizz

Point Premium Root Beer (2016)

Description: "Made with 100% real sugar, Point Premium Root Beer is hand-crafted in small batches with the purest water, genuine Wisconsin honey and all-natural vanilla. This Gold Medal winning recipe is refreshingly delicious, rich, creamy and caffeine free - giving it a time honored traditional draft root beer taste."

Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Maltodextrin, Honey, Caramel Color, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Benzoate, Phosphoric Acid, Citric Acid, and Vanilla Extract.

Smell: Nice and sweet, with hints of vanilla.

Head: Cannot be contained! Mostly joking here, but seeing as this is only one of a couple time that a head has overflown, it's actually quite impressive. Lasted the entire drink.

Flavor: Sweet Root Beer flavor, with a nice vanilla aftertaste.

Overall: This is another Root Beer has gone down the route of switching from high fructose corn syrup to just using sugar. Which is a benefit no matter what. Where as it made a significant difference in the IBC brew, it hasn't changed this one very dramatically at all. Which is a good thing, as Point Premium already had a wonderful flavor. I almost wanted to give it an A just for the simple fact it stopped using HFCS, but seeing as the change in flavor isn't very dramatic, it doesn't really warrant it.

Here's the original review for comparison: Point Premium Root Beer

Purchased from Mariano's

Rocky Mountain Root Beer

Ingredients: Triple Filtered Carbonated Water, Evaporated Cane Sugar, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid.

Smell: Anise and Sassafras.

Head: Sad, dissipated quickly. Made me think that the Root Beer had gone flat.

Flavor: Not especially sweet. Good bite, but a bit overly carbonated as far as that goes, which also went to prove that it wasn't flat. The spices weren't really the kind I enjoyed, too much anise as the smell presented.

Overall: I've actually read a few different reviews for this, as I like to see what my peers have to say as well. The interesting thing about this brew is that it appears that each batch can be strikingly different from the next. Perhaps my batch wasn't one of the better ones.

Purchased from: Rocket Fizz