This root beer seems to be pretty polarizing among those who have tried it; people either love it or find it disgusting.  It is certainly different from most that are targeted to the American palette.  This is a product of Australia and seems to be pretty difficult to find, although they’ve been quite stocked at the local World Market recently.  The bottles I have do seem to be intended for export, as they are labeled “Root Beer”, and the ones for the Australian market are labeled “Sarsaparilla”.  The claim on this soda is “Traditionally brewed to a genuine old recipe”, and you can tell that it is brewed like a beer.  There’s quite a bit of sediment in the bottle and there is a recommendation on the label to invert before opening.

Now for the taste: brewed with sarsaparilla, licorice root, ginger root, vanilla bean, cane sugar and molasses; the root beer has an almost medicinal taste.  In fact, it reminds me of a cough syrup I had as a kid, but can’t quite name.  Lightly carbonated, and pretty sweet, it still has a strong tang to it thanks to the licorice and ginger.  I really enjoyed this, though it won’t be for everyone.

Monthly Root Beer Rating: 8

http://www.bundaberg.com

This soda is available exclusively at Target and is actually not bad.  It’s not agressive with flavor, but instead of blending roots, it relies exclusively on sarsaparilla root.  It’s smooth and lightly carbonated and goes down easy.  Made with cane sugar, and perhaps a little sweet for my tastes.  My 10 year old liked it!  Not something I’d have around the house all the time, but worth a taste every once in a while.

Monthly Root Beer Rating: 6