Virgil's special edition Bavarian nutmeg review

Here it is. This is the Christmas goose of the root beer world. The biggest, possibly the coolest root beer bottle on the market. At £2.59 for a 500ml bottle its either a personal luxury treat or someone else's birthday or Christmas present.

This is a lot better than the regular flavour root beer from Virgil's. Not sure I'm getting any nutmeg though. Leave it your mouth for a while and the flavours change a little bit but there's no expected nuttiness. According to the Virgil's website the ingredients read like a luxury holiday around the world and have more airmiles than Alan Whicker.

Check out this Five Star Soda blog, a really cool US-based website reviewing root rated it 5 stars.

Personally I give it 8/10 but would have given it 9 if the value for money was better. Bought originally from American Fizz.

Sioux City root beer review

Nice to be back on a real root beer with real ingredients. Sioux City is made with cane sugar and none of that high fructose corn syrup. This is another brand owned by the White Rock Products Corporation who also produce the Old Brooklyn Williamsberg root beer which I recommend (scored 8/10).

For a bit cult product placement, Sioux City's sarsaparilla gets mentioned in The Big Lebowski as seen here:


Its a good root beer and better than the mass-produced brands more commonly available in the UK (originally bought from American Soda for £1.99). If you want a no-nonsense, simple root beer then this is a good example. However, there's nothing memorable about it compared to the Old Brooklyn counter-part.

I'm being generous and rating this root beer:

8/10

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Virgil's Root Beer review

Being priced 20-30p more than the other gourmet root beers and with Cyber Candy quoting "one of the best root beers in the world" Virgil's had a lot to live up to. It's a good natural tasting root beer - one for the true root beer fan. You can certainly taste the vanilla and a hint of licorice if your senses are on full alert. However, for me, the vanilla cream taste just tips it over a tiny bit too much after a few mouthfuls. This is a good root beer but at the price there are better ones to buy.

8/10

Kutztown root beer review

Sounding more like a small town hairdressers that would guarantee to cut your kid's hair like Beckham this Kutztown root beer went down a treat.

It's very gassy towards the end but the vanilla like after taste is just enough without being too much. There's no caffeine and 'very' low in sodium, not that I've ever noticed root beers had it in the first place. 
The quote on the back of the bottle is a bit odd and maybe more apt for a lager beer.

"Tastes chust like old-fashioned, 'cause you know we make it that way. Drink 'til you ouch, there's more back!"

First off is 'chust' just a spelling mistake from someone's bad accent? Secondly, is 'til you ouch' suggesting I'll get stomach cramps or even poisoned? 

Anyway, despite the random bottle labelling this is a great root beer (bought from the Brighton branch of Cyber Candy).

8/10

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Caruso's Legacy Robusto Root Beer review

Straight out of the fridge and drinking this Caruso's Legacy root beer and suddenly I've almost drunk it. So smooth and slippery and easy to drink with a pleasant caramel after-taste. As it warms up it reminds me of a previous root beer I reviewed - Langers where the after taste turns slightly creamy. That didn't work out for me but this root beer is good - a real gourmet soda.

This so nearly achieved 9 out of 10 but the creaminess (think single cream) at the end just let it down.

I rate this:

8/10

How other blogs review this root beer

• Gourmetrootbeer.com reviewed this as a slight disappointment too but was impressed by the massive head (when poured)
• Cosmo's Root Beer review said it "simply a watered down root beer without much to say"
• RootBeerReviews blog gave it a little more praise awarding it a B+

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River City root beer review

I've been consciously buying more quality root beers lately by reading the ingredients and trying to avoid those with high fructose corn syrup - remember, just say 'no' kids.

This River City root beer is made with pure cane sugar and no sickly HFCS. It has a great vanilla like smell when the bottle gets opened. Strange being none mentioned on the ingredients list. It's also very fizzy so it isn't a smooth taste but the after taste is very pleasant with an almost syrupy texture. It reminds me of Stewart's root beer I reviewed recently but better.

Nice touch with the bottle label showing the perfect ice cream to root beer ratio (2 scoops to 1 bottle).

A Cyber Candy, Brighton store purchase, I rate this:

8/10

 

What other reviews say

• Eric's Gourmet Root Beer review - 4.5 / 5 (Seal of Approval)
• Cosmo's Root Beer Reviews - 6/10

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Dublin Texas Root beer review

Slightly confusing branded bottle here. Is it an Irish company in Texas? Is it made by a company called Texas. Ok, its not really that confusing and officially, Dublin Bottling Works located in Texas have created a tasty 'Texas' root beer

Dublin's website is actually quite interesting and explains its legendary soft drink history. Back in 1891 in Waco, Texas (the same Waco that had the massacre), a guy called Morrison created a drink fruit, spicy smelling drink the locals simply (or another violent referred to) called 'shoot me a Waco' but renamed it as Dr Pepper - yes, that Dr Pepper. Decades later the brand gets sold on but Dublin Bottling kept going with other soft drink flavours which root beer was a late comer. Other merchandise includes their Christmas decoration.

How's it taste, partner?
As soon as you unscrew the bottle there's a great smell, creamy root beer smell. The good stuff continues with a very fizzy and flavoursome gulp. The caramel after-taste and fizziness snaps at your taste buds.

Its caffeine-free and has pure cane sugar. Gets my vote.

8/10

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Abita Root Beer review

Bought from the Brighton store of Cyber Candy but also available at London's newest posh burger restaurant, Shake Shack (as featured in my UK posh burger trend blog post). Abita root beer is brewed in Louisiana and naturally caffeine free. The company has a history of brewing alcoholic beer but has only been around since 1986.

This is a classic root beer taste, a strong medicine-like flavour which haters will hate. It has the right balance of carbonation and freshness without tasting watery. Bonus points for being caffeine free too. Since it sets a good standard and would happily drink this on a regular basis but with so many other gourmet roots beers around I'd personally would want that little bit extra for the same price. Supermarkets, if you're reading this then why not stock this!

8/10
 

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Crater Lake root beer review

This Crater Lake Soda made root beer has a strong flavour yet not harsh like others with a soft carbonation. Caffeine free which is a bonus for school night drinking. Gluten free too for those on a wheat free diet or celiacs. This is definitely a top 10 root beer but I like mine with a little depth.

Checking out their company website and worryingly all its content is about 3-4 years out of date. This is a worrying trend on a lot of US-made root beer websites and perhaps indicating a flat market?

Other reviewers across the pond also rated it above average:

• Eric's Gourmet Root Beer said it was 'pretty weak but still not smooth going down'
• Cosmos root beer reviews said it 'definitely didn't offend me so bad that i wouldn't try it again.'

Another Cyber Candy purchase from their Brighton shop. I rate this Oregon root beer:

8/10

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Frostie Vanilla Root Beer review

A perfect Christmas present with a Santa Claus lookalike making an appearance on the bottle (though I hope they have a summer version so you don't look quite so odd in the baking heat). The history of the brand is that the company was founded in 1939 by George Rackensperger and the root beer was brewed in an abandoned jailhouse in Catonsville, Maryland.

Anyway, what's it taste like? This is a good root beer with a strong vanilla flavour. Despite being one of the cheaper bottles available from the Cyber Candy website at £1.69 a 355ml bottle it was a good creamy taste with hints of cream soda.

I rate this Frostie Vanilla root beer:

8/10

Bawls Guarana Root Beer review

Love the kinky, sex toy bottle design which also doubles as a Dalek eunuch. The pimpled bottle would also assist with grip, though I have never had the problem of root beer slippage.

I took this root beer to a party where I was the designated driver. On the night I had one normal alcoholic drink, a Red Bull and this Bawls Root Beer. The result was a very good night and still buzzing until 3am so the combination for stimulation worked.

The taste was not a disappointment. It was a good, well-defined and natural root beer taste and no hint of any other flavours. It went down smooth too leaving you want more. The only disappointment was that it came in under-sized bottles i.e. about 50ml less than non-caffeinated root beers.

296ml bottle bought from Cyber Candy's website. I rate this super-charged root beer:

8/10

Olde Brooklyn Williamsburg Root Beer review

This is another fine root beer with a classic creamy taste. According to the White Rock Beverages website, Olde Brooklyn root beer has been around since 1871 so the recipe has been perfected over the years. I'd happily drink this on tap.

According to Cyber Candy where it was bought it has "a smooth brew with hints of peppermint, aniseed and vanilla, and sweetened with natural cane sugar" though only the vanilla flavour could be tasted. Original price was £1.89 a 355ml bottle.

I rate this thoroughbred root beer:

8 / 10

Jeremiah Weed Root Beer review

First off, this is an alcoholic root beer at 4% and has only been in the UK for about 6-9 months. As root beer tastes go this really doesn't taste of root beer at all. Its a fruity, slightly ginger sour taste with a slight bourbon edge. I've also tried the original sour mash version, which the bourbon taste has been turned up a notch, and is nearly just as good. Its a great long drink if you don't drink lager. Its essential to drink it with loads of ice (perhaps in one of their branded jam jar glasses) so the bourbon taste is clean and not sickly.

Some web research reveals that although its an American brand, the root beer product doesn't appear on their USA website. The plot thickens when looking at the UK website where the root beer product doesn't show it either but then again the website consists of only one web page. Quite worried that they've discontinued the root beer product and my local independent beer shop has the last lot.

Quite interesting from a marketing point of view that the UK Jeremiah Weed website describes itself as a Cider Brew but the Root Beer product labeling has no mention of this. I'm guessing the company decided that either UK drinkers were confused by the new concept or the company couldn't risk the uniqueness of the drink.

Either way they've used Facebook to spread the word.

Here's Jeremiah Weed's TV advert which must have been broadcasted at the start of summer 2013 just in time for the festival season, which I see the company did some on-site promotion.

Being based in Brighton, I've seen both versions available to buy in the Brighton Dome bar, in Neighbourhood Bar (Kemp Town) and can be purchased from Trafalgar Wines on Trafalgar Street in the North Liane of the city.

Asda also stocks this and according to their online store, there's a special deal at 3 bottles for £5.00.

My rating:

8/10