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

Related articles

• Carters Root Beer review
• Root Beer Chronicle Continues: Bundaberg

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

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

Can root beer ride the tailcoats of the UK posh burger restaurant trend?

Burgers and root beer are as American as Uncle Sam and any good US-themed restaurant should be selling them both together. With the current rise of popularity of the Posh Burger in the UK root beer should be with it surely?

Troll's Pantry burger, Brighton

Being a Brightonian its not hard to see that burger cuisine has got classier and more available. Last year's Meat Liquor opening in Brighton showed us that the humble burger can be ultra-cool. Local culture and listings monthly, Source Magazine did an excellent article and led me to try a couple of quality eateries in the city. Meat Liquor's food was good for the first time then over-cooked for second but at least root beer was served. Whereas the Troll's Pantry was superb but limited to the Goblin's bar choice.

More proof of the posh burger trend was last week's TV viewing in The Restaurant Man, a BBC2 TV programme about new businesses starting up and Russell Norman doing a Mary Queen of Shops-like consulting. It featured a restaurant named 7 Bone in Southampton (an old stomping ground for me) and saw a couple of businessmen start up their burger place (in a very student part of town which surprised me).

Disappointingly, 7 Bone doesn't offer root beer on the menu, not even a root beer float. However, do those more well-established burger places in London do root beer? Let's see who does according to their online menus:

 

Which posh burger restaurants stock root beer?

Shake Shack, Covent Garden 
On the menu: 1 root beer - Abita at £4.50 a bottle, 1 root beer float and 1 Creamsicle

Well, at least they have root beer to serve but at £4.50 a bottle they're really aimed at the tourist market being in Covent Garden. For an extra 50p you can get a float. It's not clear how large the root beer is and if it is a regular 340ml/12fl oz then what a rip off!

Byron
On the menu: A+W root beer (with the option to add a float at 50p) £2.95.

Where: 31 stores in London, Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford, Manchester and Kent (Bluewater)

Unlike the two above which are US companies wanting to muscle in, Byron is a British business inspired by the high quality burgers in America. A+W is a pretty safe choice so not that inspiring but at least you won't complain at the price.

Meat Liquor
On the menu: Brown Cow, a root beer float £4.00. Not on menu but can be asked for is their Honeybee (honey flavoured) root beer.

 

Who doesn't stock root (not even a root float)?

• Five Guys - despite being an American chain they only stock Coca Cola products 
• Hache - available in trendy places like Clapham, Camden, Shorditch and Chelsea in London 
• Honest - looks like they're going for a British experience with their drinks menu featuring iced tea and ginger beer
• Gourmet Burger Kitchen - Formed by a couple of Kiwis and now a major chain in the UK. Too mainstream perhaps? 

Unknown

• Almost Famous burgers- in Manchester and Liverpool. No drinks menu but plenty to say about their sauces.

 

Conclusion

The majority are going for tried (or should that be tired) and tested soft drinks i.e. Coke etc. over trying something a little different. If those burger restaurants are serving it then in only one form which I guess is down to buying in bulk for discount.

Well done to Byron and Meat Liquor for bringing reasonably priced root beer!

Related articles

• The rise of the posh burger
• The London Burger Scene
• Bundaberg root beer review
• Crater Lake root beer review
• Drive-in Style Dog 'n' Suds Root Beer review

IBC Caffeine Free Root Beer

I'm not the strictest person when it comes to diet and lifestyle rules. I get plenty of exercise cycling to work and don't go mad on fatty foods. But when it comes to caffeine I usually only have one coffee a day, a decent one not an instant to set me up for the the day. Plus, depending on how late I sleep in on Sunday I try to avoid caffeine on the day of rest so I know I'll get a good night's sleep for the start of a working week.

Ok, long introduction for a review of a root beer but this IBC is caffeine free so it made sense to drink it on a Sunday. Quite a basic taste of root beer and the Deep Heat force is strong in this one. However, it's crossed over to the dark side with its combined chemical-like sharp taste and fizziness at the end of the gulp.

Checking the ingredients and that four word combo reminds you to be vigilant when shopping - High Fructose Corn Syrup! Let's say I'm not a fan as its a sweetener that fails of taste. It sort of reminded me of Dr Pepper and checking Wikipedia, I notice that IBC go bought up by Cadbury Schwepps which owns the Dr Pepper brand. With that in mind, this is the Darth Sith of the root beers. Black and red in appearance and a member of the Dark Side.


Another purchase from Cyber Candy, Brighton store for the slightly cheaper than normal price of £1.59 for a small bottle.

<Jedi mind trick>This isn't the root beer you're looking for. You can go about your business. Move along. This root beer score is:

6/10

Brew It Yourself Root Beer - Second attempt review

If you've read my first review of this Firebox gift of Brew it Yourself Root Beer kit then you'll know it didn't go very well. The lessons learned that time were that maybe I didn't put enough root beer flavouring in and the dark cane sugar was just too much.

Homebrew Root Beer 2.0
I used the same still water in two 2 litre bottles but tried two recipes to make two different bottles and flavours. Both were made with:

• 1 tsp of cinnamon
• 3 squeezes of honey (probably half a tbsp)
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 unit of Root Beer flavouring extract supplied with the kit – actually I might not have used enough in the first batch as there was more left than I expected.

Left recipe had:

• 33% vanilla cane sugar
• 33% dark brown cane sugar
• 33% normal white cane sugar

Right recipe had: 

• 33% vanilla cane sugar
• 67% dark brown cane sugar

Due to an old saucepan replaced I only had one 2.5 litre pan and one 2 litre pan so preparation got a little messy stirring the mixture to dissolve the sugar. The cinnamon might have been a mistake as it just floated on the top (my wife said I should have tea-bagged it – the cinnamon not…). After heating up the mixture and stirred it for a while it actually tasted ok. Warmed it up a little too much so it took ages to cool to the optimum temperature for the yeast (around 24C needed). In the end I was putting it in the fridge then the freezer to finish the job before bedtime.

I’d seen a YouTube video of an experienced root beer homebrewer and he actually added the yeast differently to the instructions given. So this time I added the yeast straight into the bottles and shook them up as per the video. After about 2 to 3 days both bottles were checked for their fizzy-ness then put into the fridge.

The results
I was expecting the Left bottle to taste better due to having less dark brown sugar but the root beer flavouring didn't come through, neither did the vanilla and the yeast didn't activate properly so it was instantly flat. The cinnamon flavour came through but although all flavours were extremely subtle there were small floaty bits.

Left recipe: 4/10

Right bottle was marginally better having a lot more fizz than Left (after being chilled it almost flooded my kitchen work surface). However, the root beer flavouring was too subtle and perhaps suffered from the bad idea of cinnamon. After two openings the carbonation had almost gone so a poor result.

Right recipe: 5/10

Overall, I think even though the cinnamon might have caused some flavour confusion it was the root beer flavouring that wasn't strong enough. Other causes could have been brewing it in 2 litre bottles instead of using 355ml glass bottles but that would have meant special capping equipment and saving bottles. Let's say I won't bother buying this again and with finding the actual natural ingredients to homebrew this properly I might as well let the experts peddle their wares.

Waialua Soda Works Root Beer review

I didn't know what to expect from a root beer brewed in Hawaii. The smell and taste of this Waialua Soda Works Root Beer is full-on medicine so this is one for the haters! So much so I would hope it would cure a sore throat or perhaps splashed on like an antiseptic after-shave.

Another Cyber Candy purchase, this time from their Covent Garden store in London. At the time of this review it was out of stock on their UK root beer shop.

It's better than average so I'm not giving it an Hawaii 5-0 but I give this:

6/10

Reviews of Waialua root beer from around the web

Across the pond and our Yankee cousins have been drinking root beers for ages. Here's a selection of links of reviews for the above same root beer:

• Video review by Dybrn Soda (7/10)
• Root Beer Reviews for the Rest of Us (Grade B)
• Eric's Gourmet Root Beer Review (2 kegs)