Tuesday 6 October 2015

Soda Folk Root Beer review

I never thought I'd see another British brewed root beer after the whole EU ban on sodium benzoate affair. I thought the home market would give up their love affair for US germolene tasting weirdness and resort to colas and other fizzy drink brands. Yet only in the space of a few weeks another British-made root beer brand comes along to stick two fingers up at the regulators and provide us fans a true taste of America.

I'm really happy to say we have another A & W root beer beater with only Dominion being the best available in the UK so far. Is it better than Dominion? Well, that might just be down to personal taste but to me there rate about the same to me.

I love the quirky branding design with the lumberjack character. Soda Folk also offer a Cream Soda drink using a boxer (which I'll review later). Would love to have been at their marketing and design meeting to discuss chosing these characters.

Soda Folk themselves have a great background story. USA born Ken Graham moved to London in 2012 and soon missed his favourite soft drinks. Having grown up with many local brands (and even foraging ingredients to brew his own root beer as a kid), Ken knew his onions when it came to root beer and its distinct taste (note: the root beer doesn't taste of onions).

The Soda Folk root beer ingredients really stand out in the taste test. The wintergreen taste is natural and strong, there's a hint of vanilla but its the maple syrup taste that kicks in the tastebuds to complete the experience.

There's a good price to match as well. This 330ml can costs £1.25 from American Sweets (The Stateside Candy Co.) and there's also a 335ml bottle for £1.25 direct from Soda Folk but you'll need to order 12 and pay £5 postage). You may also be lucky to find this root beer in Selfridges and Byron Burger restaurants as well as some independent sweet shops including Tony's Sweet Shop located in Exeter (credit due for telling me about Soda Folk).

9/10

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2 comments:

  1. Hello this is a very interesting website you have here. I used to drink these bottles of sarsaparilla when I was younger (although I'm 19 so not much younger) and I assume that they are similar?? Well I was just wondering what you would say the best value most common and most importantly nice tasting root beer I could find in the UK is, I have seen carters (and its insane cheapness) but your review said it was average and I want something I can enjoy as a treat... And be able to afford. Anyway I would love a response from you and keep doing your thing!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment. The US brewed root beers with sarsparilla taste similar but I suppose a little bit more spicey/fruity.
      I know that some supermarkets sell a Baldwins sarsaparilla coridal or squash under the Carribean section. Personally I really didn't like it (see: http://robsrootbeerreview.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/baldwins-sarsaparilla-review.html) as it was far too sweet even when watered down. The real issue is availability as there are very few retailers that sell root beer. Old fashioned sweet shops and American diner-style restaurants may stock at least one type of root beer. Otherwise check out the rest of the website where I provide details of online shops. The only issue is the price for shipping so buy in bulk to make it worth it.

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