Hi,

What criteria would you suggest when evaluating root beer?

I'm helping to organize the NY Food Festival and we would like to have a competition for Root Beer. I thought that I would go to the experts to see what you think should be taken into consideration when evaluating different brands.

Thanks,

Eric Devlin

No sense in reinventing the wheel. I'd use the same scale as all the other root beer evaluators.

Pick whatever scale you want to use, letter grade, mugs, barrels, numerical.

Then break it down:
How much head does it have when poured? If any
Ingredients
noticeable ingredients wintergreen, anise, cinnamon
Aroma
Mouth feel (texture)
Sweetness/sweetner
Carbonation
Smoothness
Creaminess
Rootiness
Overall Flavor
Aftertaste
Gag reflex: Natural Brew, A&W float, Faygo

All of my reviews are 100% original, I review my drinks on a minimum of 6 qualities: taste, at the beggining and end of the bottle ( the flavor is different once your palate is used to it) on a scale of 1 to 10, aroma, sweetness, also on a scale of 1 to 10 ( 10 is the sweetness of coca cola and 1 is the sweetness of the drink, it is just a comparison, 10 out of 10 would most likely be too sweet), color, body(amount of bite and thin or thickness), and foam(amount and color)
to see my reviews check out: http://www.adamsrbreviews.synthasite.com

it all comes down to how much you enjoy it. sure you can suggest criteria to look for, sweetness, creaminess, foam, spices, flavor, etc. but i don't think most people will agree just where on each of those scales a "great root beer" will fall. it is subjective, just as any other food or beverage tasting will be.
the stuff suggested above is great for helping describe what you do or don't like about a soda though. i just don't think it should get that snooty and technical.
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anthony's root beer barrel http://rootbeerbarrel.com