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

Related articles

• Barq's Root Beer review
• Dad's root beer review
• 5 Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup Will Kill Us.

Psyche root beer review

I don't do diet drinks but in the name of root beer research (and the cheap promotional price of 49p a can from American Soda) I realise there are some people out there who want to avoid sugar at times.

From the start I know I'm the wrong gender for this drink from the design and branding. Disappointed it had nothing to do with the PJ and Duncan song, Ready to Rhumble but instead Psyche is pronounced Sy-kee and is the goddess of purity who married Eros. (PJ and Duncan are now Ant and Dec btw)

If you love Diet Coke, wet t-shirts on guys and like trying to injury poor gardners just trying to mow public lawns and parks then this is the drink for you. The root flavour comes through ok and is passable even ok to good. Good to see that the company behind it, White Rock Beverages also produce a top 10 favourite of mine, Old Brooklyn Williamsburg Root Beer.

I can imagine after a hard session of yoga this would be the perfect drink if you were craving root beer however water's probably the best thing to be honest.

I rate this 6.5/10 (7 for value but 6 for taste)

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

Rat Bastard root beer review

To be honest I didn't think I'd be drinking another root beer this year. Thanks to my lovely wife she dsicovered new stock in Brighton's Cyber Candy shop and bought me three bottles.
I'm not sure I should take it personally that the first one to review is called Rat Bastard. How did it do? Well it won't break any hearts on taste but is a very interesting read with its ingredients. Skulleap or Mad Dog Weed, Shitake, Ginseng from 3 different countries and Goldenseal.
A mild root beer taste and a sugary coating of the teeth sensation. As a welcome back drink to root beer I'm looking forward to more.
I rate this 7/10.

This is the end? Cyber Candy stops selling root beer

Ok, so I've had a short break away from root beer but should I blame myself for not supporting it for the past month?

My regular source for root beer in Brighton has stopped selling any gourmet root beers. Only the likes of A & W seem to be stocked. Cyber Candy's website is also nearly bare. Just 11 products, a massive cut from around 50 just a few weeks ago.

Is this just a sign that the UK just isn't into root beer?

Spring Grove root beer

Normally I buy root beers in threes from my local Cyber Candy shop, here in Brighton but the shelves were nearly bare after the Easter break. No doubt all the visiting foreign students were spending the Euros trialling root beer or perhaps my blog is having an effect on the local economy (in my dreams anyway).

So this Spring Grove was only one of two I bought with a Hosmer White Birch Beer - review coming soon. Drinking straight out of the bottle and the fizziness hits you first and I expected quite a flavourless root beer. A few more swigs and a good head starts appearing through the clear glass bottle. This makes the taste a little creamy, hints of vanilla and then your teeth alert you to the pure cane sugar. Normally I wouldn't recognise the sugary-ness but after checking the bottle's ingredients I spot there's actually a mixture of cane sugar and corn syrup. Its not as bad as Daddies root beer but I certainly wouldn't drink more than one bottle a day otherwise my dentist would have a heart attack. Towards the end of the bottle the caramel flavouring comes through reminding me of warmed up Coca Cola when your molars feel they have a sheen of sugary coating.

Whilst I appreciate the full-headed, creaminess this is just a little too sweet for me.

7/10

Hosmer Mountain White Birch Beer review

With my local source of root beer running low after Easter I had little choice so opted for this White Birch beer from Hosmer Mountain. Hosmer Mountain's Sarsaparilla was my highest rated drink since starting this blog so had high hopes. However, the Lurch Birch I had previously wasn't the different taste I was expecting.

To recap, Birch beer does taste similar to root beer using herb extracts usually birch bark. The best way I describe this is comparing this with chocolate. Root beer is like good, quality milk chocolate and birch beer having less flavour. This White Birch beer is like white chocolate i.e. sweeter than milk chocolate but also, for me sickly sweet after a few gulps. It also reminds me of cheap vanilla ice cream at times but never really satisfies me.

I rate this White Birch beer:

6/10