Tree Fort Root Beer

066 - Tree Fort Root Beer

Producer: Tree Fort Soda, Minneapolis, MN
Obtained At: My brother Nate
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, white honey, natural flavors, caramel color, quillaja extract, malic acid, sunflower oil, phosphoric acid, xanthan gum
Calories: 180
Sugars: 45g
Caffeine: No

My older brother Nate lives in Minneapolis so he has access to local root beers that I don’t see here in Connecticut. Lo and behold, Nate came through and sent me several bottles of root beer, including this one here: Tree Fort Root Beer, based in Minneapolis. I have seen this brand online before while looking for new root beer in Minnesota, but I have never seen it in person before this. The label is fairly basic and keeps the theme of a tree fort. The soda itself is lighter in color than most root beers. The flavor is weird and definitely different than most root beers. It’s not a bad taste as far as that goes; it just has a lot of different spices or something. All in all, it’s worth a try if you’re into natural sodas and want to try a unique root beer.

4/10

Original Pappas Pizza Downtown Diet Root Beer

065 - Pappas Pizza Downtown Diet Root Beer

Producer: Original Pappas Pizza, Stamford, CT
Obtained At: Original Pappas Pizza, Stamford, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Carbonated water, pure cane sugar, caramel color, natural & artificial flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate
Calories: 0
Sugars: 0g
Caffeine: No

Another root beer from the pizza place that I walked by for several months without noticing (see first review here).  I always like it when I find a new root beer and there is also a diet root beer or a sarsaparilla. The label here is basically the same as their regular root beer. The taste is alright. It starts out like a good diet root beer but somehow the taste disappears. It has absolutely no lasting root beer flavor. It’s not bad, but overall it is pretty weak.

5/10

Hank’s Gourmet Root Beer

064 - Hank's Gourmet Root Beer

Producer: Hank’s Beverage Co., Trevose, PA
Obtained At: Big Y in West Hartford, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Filtered carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, natural and artificial flavor, sodium benzoate, yucca extract, citric acid, and acacia
Calories: 180
Sugars: 44g
Caffeine: No

This one is so good. Like most root beers, I have had this one before. But unlike most, I forgot how delicious this one is. I went into Big Y and found a couple different kinds that I had tried before but had not yet reviewed. I chose this one because it had been the longest since I had tried it (probably 5 years) and I was not disappointed. It is really rich and creamy, but it still has a complex flavor which complements that nicely. Plus, the bottle is really cool and unique, which is always a plus as well. All in all, if you see this, get it and drink it. You won’t be disappointed.

10/10

Pappas Pizza Original Downtown Root Beer

063 - Pappas Pizza Downtown Root Beer 2063 - Pappas Pizza Downtown Root Beer

Producer: Original Pappas Pizza, Stamford, CT
Obtained At: Original Pappas Pizza, Stamford, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Carbonated water, pure cane sugar, caramel color, natural & artificial flavor, citric acid, sodium benzoate
Calories: 180
Sugars: 44g
Caffeine: No

For five months I walked past Pappas Pizza and glanced at the glass bottles they have in their front window. For some reason I never stopped to look at what the bottles were, but finally I did and what do you know? They have their own root beer and diet root beer. The label is pretty bland, with its white background and red lettering. But I guess for an in-store root beer they don’t need anything fancy. The slogan “Laugh More, Be Original, Say Yes, Order Pizza & Love Life” is by far the strangest slogan I have ever seen on a root beer label. But I can’t say I disagree with any of the advice. As you can see from the photos, I got the root beer, the diet root beer, and two slices of pizza. The root beer is really good. Quite surprising, actually. It is creamy and has a strong root beer taste. I highly recommend this one if you’re ever in Stamford.

8/10

Twisted Root Beer

062 - Twisted Root Beer a062 - Twisted Root Beer b062 - Twisted Root Beer c

Producer: Twisted Root Burger Co.
Obtained At: Dallas Fort Worth Airport
Container: Soda fountain
Caffeine: No

Over Thanksgiving, my fiancée and I flew out to New Mexico to visit her dad. We had a layover in Dallas and I was barely off the airplane before my fiancée was pointing out this restaurant to me and asking, “Do you think they have root beer?” And sure enough, they had root beer. She is always one step ahead of me in finding new root beer. So we went in and got lunch and, of course, root beer. The root beer is actually really good. It is surprisingly rich and creamy. I don’t really expect such a full flavor from a restaurant’s root beer but this one is really good. It doesn’t have much head, as you can see from the pictures, but it is a pleasant surprise on a day when I wasn’t really looking for a new drink. If you stop by a Twisted Root Burger Co. restaurant, definitely get the root beer. Oh and enjoy the t-rex bumper sticker décor.

7/10

 

062 - Twisted Root Beer d

Virgil’s Root Beer

061 - Virgil's Root Beer

Producer: Reed’s, Inc., Los Angeles, CA 90061
Obtained At: The Fresh Market in Avon, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Purified carbonated water, unbleached cane sugar, caramelized unrefined cane sugar, herbs, spices and citric acid.
Calories: 160
Sugars: 42g
Caffeine: No

This is the last one I found at the Fresh Market and to be honest it has taken a lot longer to drink these ones than I thought it would. But it’s always nice to have root beer in the fridge so I guess I can’t complain. I’ve had this one before since it is pretty much everywhere that sells “gourmet” soda of any kind. I like the bottle. It has a lot of information about the flavor and awards it has won and so on. That kind of information always makes the bottle unique. The flavor is pretty much what I expected but is also very unique and a little bit like the “organic” root beers you find at Whole Foods and places like that. Except this one isn’t awful. So there’s that. It isn’t the best root beer I’ve ever had but it definitely breaks away from the standard root beer flavor if that’s what you’re looking for.

6/10

Bundaberg Root Beer

060 - Bundaberg Root Beer

Producer: Bundaberg Brewed Drinks PTY Ltd., Australia
Obtained At: The Fresh Market in Avon, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, root beer brew (water, sugar, molasses, ginger root, sarsaparilla root, licorice root, vanilla bean, yeast), caramel color, citric acid, preservatives (potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate), antioxidant (ascorbic acid), root beer flavor
Calories: 190
Sugars: 44
Caffeine: No

Root beer from Australia. This one is actually more common in America than I would think, but I have seen it several places and had it several times before. Everything about this root beer is unique. The bottle, the label, the cap, the ingredient list. It gets extra points from me for being from outside the United States. As far as the taste goes, it is quite unique as well. You can really taste the licorice and molasses. Those are flavors that can sometimes be overwhelming and not very good, in my opinion. But this drink does it well. If you’re looking for a normal root beer, try something else. But if you want something different and still good, go for Bundaberg.

7/10

Wild Spur Sarsaparilla

059-wild-spur-sarsaparilla

Producer: CBC Sales Inc.
Obtained At: Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Triple filtered carbonated water, pure cane sugar, caramel color, citric acid, sodium benzoate, natural and artificial flavors
Calories: 180
Sugars: 42g
Caffeine: No

I have never heard of Wild Spur Sarsaparilla before, but that what makes the Big Yellow Barn so exciting. The label, like so many other root beers and sarsaparillas, is old west themed. However, this one makes sense, considering it’s called “wild spur”. There aren’t as many sarsaparillas as root beers so it’s nice to change it up once in a while. One weird thing about this one is that I can’t seem to find any official website for the root beer or the company. The taste on this one is good, but a little weird. It has a weird start and then turns into a good creamy flavor, which is a weird transition. It’s not a terrible drink in my opinion, but my wife hated it, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

6/10

Dad’s Diet Old Fashioned Root Beer

059-dads-diet-root-beer

Producer: Dad’s Root Beer Company, LLC, Jasper, IN
Obtained At: The Fresh Market in Avon, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Carbonated water, caramel color, sodium benzoate, sucralose, acesulfame-k, and natural and artificial flavors
Calories: 0
Sugars: 0
Caffeine: No

Dad’s Root Beer was the first root beer bottle I kept as part of my collection. I remember enjoying it a lot. I have also had their diet root beer before, but don’t remember it at all. I like the label of this one. The vertical stripes are something I don’t remember seeing elsewhere, so that’s cool. I like when the diet labels are a lot different than the regular label. The taste is decent. It tastes exactly like what you would expect a diet root beer to taste like, which I think is a good thing. I don’t expect diet root beers to blow me away. This one might be a little too sweet. I don’t know if they use more sweetener than other diet root beers, but it sure tastes like it. Alas, this is a good diet root beer and worth a try.

5/10

Abita Root Beer

057-abita-root-beer

Producer: Abita Brewing Company, Abita Springs, Louisiana
Obtained At: The Fresh Market in Avon, CT
Container: 12 ounce glass bottle
Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, root beer flavor, phosphoric acid
Calories: 177
Sugars: 38g
Caffeine: No

Another root beer from my spontaneous trip to The Fresh Market. I have had this one before and actually have two different bottles of it in my collection. I like the label. It’s blue with some green and a very strong Louisiana feel to it. It breaks away from the traditional brown and orange color scheme that most root beer labels have. The taste is above average. It is a good flavor but doesn’t really stand out in any particular direction. Nonetheless it is a solid root beer and worth a try if you haven’t had it.

6/10