The first thing that came to mind was “Nostalgic”.  This root beer tastes to me like what people think root beer should taste like.  Smooth, pleasant, sweet, and creamy, this beverage is made with cane sugar and comes off as draft style with a light carbonation.  It’s flavored with “Root Beer Flavoring”, which always makes me skeptical, but tastes predominately of sassafras.  This root beer has been around since 1939 and is a true classic.

This was a bit of a nice find for me, as this is originally from Baltimore, and not found often around my part of the country (NC).  It’s always nice to drink a true bona fide piece of root beer history!

Monthly Root Beer Rating: 7

Well, it’s a classic, right?  Consistent, and pretty yummy, but not the first thing I would reach for anymore.  This root beer tastes like my youth, when my dad always had A&W and Hires around. I hadn’t had A&W since the last time I ate an A&W restaurant, where they serve it draft style.  I prefer it in a can, where the carbonation is a little stronger, and I like it ice cold.

It’s a good fallback, and always a pleasant drink, but my tastes have matured a bit…

Monthly Root Beer Rating: 6

www.rootbeer.com

Encore? Really?  I thought you had to have a success to have an encore, and that you usually brought out your best to please the crowd and leave them with something they can’t forget?  So, some research informed me that Blue Sky has produced another root beer called “Creamy Root Beer”, and that soda is a “natural” soda, where this one is “certified organic”.  I’m imagining that the Creamy Root Beer must be pretty good to have warranted an encore.  It’s too bad that I couldn’t find it, because now I’m stuck with 5 more cans out of a six pack of this Encore that tastes like Biz Markie’s singing sounds on “Just a Friend“.

Seriously, I’m all in favor of organic ingredients and sustainable production methods, and I’m even willing to pay a premium for the products produced in this way as I truly believe they’re better for you and for the earth.  But not when they taste like ass.  The only reason this gets a 2 is because I gave Zevia a 1, and nothing can be that bad…

Flat, acidic, unnatural tasting, and too heavy on the anise/licorice flavors, this is one encore that should have been stopped before the performer got back on the stage.

Monthly Root Beer Rating: 2