Frosties root beer review

This was a bargain at 99p from American Fizz but was a special deal at the time and is now priced at £2.29. It's a huge bottle of 947ml or a quart in US measurements designed for sharing with.

The taste is ok, smoother than the canned HFSC root beers but not as good as it's Frostie Vanilla root beer counterpart which I reviewed back in January. After a day being originally opened in the fridge, a lot of the carbonation had gone and didn't retain its taste either.

Checking the actual ingredients is rather confusing and I'm sure would be illegal in the UK. It quotes 'High Fructose Corn Syrup and/or Cane Sugar'. Well, which is it?? It tastes more like sugar but the overall quality is less so than the top rated root beers so can only assume there's a mixture.

On taste alone this I would award this:

7/10

Faygo root beer review

Another canned clone which has the same taste as A & W, Barq's, MUG, Day's, IBC etc. It's good but like all the other mass-produced, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) canned root beers it'll just be a case of how convenient it is to buy your root beer. I'd be happy to buy this in any supermarket, corner shop or convenience store but if your specialist store has root beers without HFCS then I'll ignore it.

However, this Genuine Faygo Old-fashioned Draft Style Root Beer is possibly the cheapest I've come across at just £0.69 a 355ml can. American Fizz (based in Bournemouth) also offer different sizes in this Faygo brand with choices of the 12 pack of cans, a 355ml glass bottle, a 710ml and the 2 litre bottle. Checking the Wikipedia page for Faygo and it appears that American Fizz is the official importer for Europe so that would explain its good price and range.

With such good value and a taste that's not too sweet I rate this:

7/10

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Day's root beer review

Another mass-produced root beer from Day's made in Springfield (unfortunately, no Simpsons connection here - apparently Oregan gets that nod). Bought from American Soda for 99p a can. Love the 'Did you know' quote from the American Soda website for Day's which basically means that the founder was a petty thief:

"The Day's Beverage Company was founded by Freddy Day after he was caught stealing from a soda delivery truck! Given the choice of facing the police or helping out with the deliveries, Freddy chose to help the driver. His passion for soda was born and a few years later in 1946 he founded the Day's Beverage Company and began manufacturing and distributing his soda throughout Philadelphia. For 20 years Day's thrived before Freddy's death. The company was resurrected in 1996 by his sons David and Fred Junior and has been thriving ever since."

Other Day's products include a Champagne Cola, Blue Pop and Mountain Pop as well as many fruity-flavoured fizzy drinks.

Their root beer is very similar to other popular brands like A & W, Mug and Barq's, but just a little bit more sweeter. These mass-produced root beers will be just down to availability and convenience.

I rate this:

7/10

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MUG root beer review

Mug is a mass-produced brand by Pepsi so its easy to compare this to A&W root beer. The last time I drank it was waiting for a helicopter flight along Manhattan Island whilst on holiday in New York (2006). It was a special American moment and possibly the second time to have had root beer after McDonald's in the UK stopped selling it.

The taste is so close to A & W I can't really tell the difference. I would love to do a blind taste test with Mug, A & W, Barq's and to be reviewed Day's. Shame its full High Fructose Corn Syrup but for mass-produced root beers under a £1 a can there is no real alternative.

Overall, a good tasting, very sweet, tooth decaying root beer I rate as:

7/10

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Stewart's root beer review

I already had reservations before drinking this Stewart's root beer. The ingredients list were suspiciously like other mass produced root beers headlined with the high fructose corn syrup and, for the UK it was available from online stores selling well known, mass produced products like A&W and Barq's, not the normal gourmet, independent ones I usually buy.

After a good root beer smell and a very strong carbonation feeling on the tongue there's a distinctive taste at the back of the throat which I really can't describe. It might be burnt caramel like crème brûlée but after a few more concentrating sips another memory came through - a kind of medicinal smell, even more so than the typical root beer flavour. My psychic powers could only conjour up that the after-taste was Covonia, the cough syrup.

Like all root beers drinking from ice cold is the best way. As this root beer warmed up the flavours changed and lost its tartness. I'll blame the HFCS (though have no scientific proof of that).

Bought from AmericanSoda.co.uk for £1.99, in light of the unusual after taste that kept me guessing but with the cheap ingredients and mid-range price I'm rating this a generous:

7/10

What do other reviewers say

• Spike's root Beer Reviews rated it 'C'
• HandyFather rated it 2.5 out of 5
• Cosmo's Root Beer Reviews - 7/10

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Barq's Root Beer review

Our friends up north, American Soda based near Manchester kindly contacted me to offer a couple of root beer samples. As well as Dad's root beer I was also offered this Barq's root beer.

American Soda offer a great range of USA goods from sweets, chocolate, soft drinks, baking goods and even washing powder (?). There's even some Harry Potter merchandise.

For root beer American Soda has a generous handful of canned and bottled drinks:

• A & W (in regular and diet and also available in 2 litres)
• Barq's
• Dad's
• Mug (in regular and diet)
• IBC (in regular and diet)
• Sioux City
• Stewarts (in regular and diet)
• Days

On the can it says there's 160 calories which I thought at the time sounded reasonable. However, compared to Coke it wasn't that much different. Still the marketing gimmick worked. Whilst we're talking business here it worth mentioning that Barq's is part of the Coca Cola group so it's mass-produced and therefore cheaper than the gourmet root beers I would normally go for.

The actual taste surprised me despite all the high fructose corn syrup. It's a standard root beer taste with enough depth and plenty of fizz (if you like seeing a head to your drink). Tried the second free can I received with a vodka based root beer float and it worked like a charm. There was an odd after-taste right at the end of the gulp but for some reason my taste buds weren't quick enough to recognize it. Strange and it didn't put me off.

Since Barq's is a mass-produced root beer like A&W there's not much difference between the two, hence the score being the same. They both taste good and are priced at £1.29 from the American Soda online shop. I can only suggest you buy both and take the taste test.

7/10

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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