Showing posts with label 7/10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 7/10. Show all posts

Thursday 13 February 2014

Bundaberg root beer review


Apart from Carters being available in Asda, this is probably the next most easily available root beer in the UK being stocked in Waitrose supermarkets.

When I was in Australia last year I didn't really notice root beer stocked in shops but their ginger beer product was certainly more popular. Even as we traveled towards Bundaberg in Queensland I didn't see any shop selling it. Still, Australia's lose is the UK's gain. Perhaps its a case of Fosters Lager, a British brand being marketed as an Australian product?

Anyhoo, Bundaberg root beer is good or fair dunkum. The bottle is spiffy, feels like a real man's drink being in a stubby. It has an average root beer taste with the licorice root blending well. You're also getting more root beer too with a larger bottle at 375ml. One or two small newsagent or cornershops used to sell them in singular form but I haven't seen this in awhile now. So your only option is putting on some smart clothes and visiting your local Waitrose for a four pack.

7/10

Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday 12 February 2014

Boylans Root Beer review - A Tesco's trial?

Visiting some friends in London near London Bridge and we popped into (possibly the biggest) Tesco Metro near Bermondsey tube station. Past the fruit and veg isles was a promotional stand (I think they call the gondolas in the retail trade) with loads of USA products like Hershey's chocolate and more importantly, just the one root beer bottle product of Boylans Root Beer.

Returning to my friend's flat and couldn't wait to taste it. The first few sips of the root beer is wet, watery and a very subtle flavour but pleasant. Couldn't taste any of the flavours that were listed (sassafras flavor, cinnamon, anise, black pepper, mushroom, sweet birch, extracts of chocolate and coffee, vanilla, and wintergreen oil). After the drink had warmed from being chilled and sipped for a while whilst playing cards (possibly one of the funniest but cruelest card games yet Cards Against Humanity) the vanilla taste comes through. Good for a slow drink I'd say. 

With Tesco's retail mega-force to buying bulk the cost to a consumer was a more reasonable £1.70 a bottle. Could this be just a local addition or a one-off promotional campaign? Or, I'm hoping, a test to see if American products sell well and get some permanent shelf space. Either way folks, pay the devil and let's see if a major supermarket plants a potential rising star in an otherwise flat soft drinks market.

7/10



Enhanced by Zemanta

Thursday 6 February 2014

Judge Wapner Root Beer review

It would seem illegal to ignore a judge's order so I respectfully bought this Judge Wapner root beer from Cyber Candy.

So, the guy on the label is an actual judge named Joseph Wapner and starred in the US reality show in the 1980s and 90's, The People's Court. It's got a fantastic theme tune to even rival Starsky and Hutch. Below is Wapner in action:


What's the root beer like?

It has a nice fizz so the carbonation/yeast formula works well. There's a slight caramel after-taste but generally it could be a stronger root beer flavour. Overall score is:

7/10


Sunday 5 January 2014

Barrel Brothers Creamy Vanilla Root Beer review

As well as the 'creamy vanilla' flavour and slightly cartoon-ish label that appealed to me I was slightly concerned that the brewer was predominately an apple beer maker. The ingredients make interesting reading, most notably the High Fructose Corn Syrup.

The creamy vanilla taste certainly came through but there was a slight harshness from the fizz like you get from mass-produced soft drinks. Despite this there was something slightly addictive about it making me want to keep sipping it. It also created a good head.

After doing some web research it seems that the 'new' lettering on the bottle's label is a little out of date. A USA blog reviewed the same root beer back in 2006! Check out the Root Beer blog for the full report.

Bought this from the Brighton store of Cyber Candy in the North Laine but can be bought via their website for the same price at £1.89 a bottle.

My score for Barrel Brothers Creamy Vanilla Root Beer is:

7 / 10

Saturday 4 January 2014

Dang! That's Good - Butterscotch Root Beer review

After the first sip of this Dang! That's Good root beer my first reaction to it wasn't Dang! but more like meh, as it was quite a watery taste. However as it settled more taste followed through as the butterscotch flavouring revealed itself like a shy stripper.

The label informs me that it was brewed in Milwaukee. All I can think of now is the Alice Cooper scene from Wayne's World ("we're not worthy"). 

Original price was £1.79 a 355ml bottle and bought from the Cyber Candy website.

I rate this butterscotch root beer:

7 / 10

Enhanced by Zemanta