Photo Credit: JoeinSouthernCA (http://www.flickr.com/photos/joebehr/)
Yeah, I don’t know about this one, peoples. It was a “limited edition”, and perhaps for a reason. The caption on the bottle said that Jones “captured winter in a bottle”. That’s probably true if winter tastes like a sickly sweet overly creamy soda that barely tastes like the fruit it’s named after. My wife liked it and that’s never a good sign…
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 2
http://www.jonessoda.com/files/products-canned.php
http://www.jonessoda.com/files/products-glass.php
Contains: carbonated water, inverted cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosporic acid, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate (as preservatives).
So the first time I tried svagdricka a few years ago, I was expecting a root beer like flavor and was shockingly disappointed. It tasted like total crap to me. Now, I went in prepared for something tasting more like beer and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it! Svagdricka is basically a primitive beer that is still enjoyed in Sweden. This particular recipe is from 1884, so the stuff has been around a while… It’s made basically the same way as beer, but with corn malt, hops and brewer’s yeast. However, the fermentation process doesn’t produce much alcohol as there isn’t as much sugar in the malted corn, apparently. Sugar is then added after brewing to create a beer/soft drink hybrid with anywhere between .5% and 1.5% alcohol by volume. To me, the beer it tastes closest to is a bock. There is an undertone of horehound root in there, however, and it took me a while to try to figure out what that taste was. Anyway, if you’re in Sweden, ask a local to help you find some, you can get it in any grocery store. This particular recipe is from 1884, so the stuff has been around a while…
www.kopparbergs.se
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 7
This’ll be a pretty simple review. This tastes just like a very dry champagne with no alcohol in it. This is another Swedish specialty, and as I am currently in the frozen north for the holidays, you’ll be seeing several more Swedish specific beverages. There seems to be a good story behind this, but I’ll let you read it on Wikipedia.
Image by Jon Åslund via Flickr
www.pommac.se
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 6
Where should I start with this? Julmust is a pretty unique beverage to Sweden. Swedes go absolutely apeshit for this stuff and it’s only available at Christmas, when it outsells Coke by a wide margin. The name comes from a combination of Swedish words; Jul=Christmas, must=juice. Julmust=Christmas Juice, remember that one, dear readers. Strangely, it is available at Easter too, but it’s called Påskmust. Some people say that påskmust is a bit lighter in flavor, but frankly, the only difference I can tell is that it has yellow chickies on the label instead of the fat man with the beard.
My wife, who happens to be Swedish, loves this drink and gets excited like a little kid every year when it’s available (Swedes also like Glögg and surströmming, but that’s a whole other article). We did come to an understanding that she probably enjoys Julmust in the way that I enjoy root beer and that we would probably never understand that about each other, and that it was OK that way. Every year I try it again to see if my impression changes and every year I have the same reaction:
Who opened a bottle of Dr. Pepper, left it on the counter for three days opened and then gave it to me?
I can see some theoretical parallels to root beer in that Julmust is made with hops and barley malt extracts as well as a pretty secret blend of spices, but despite all claims, there is no comparison. If you want to try it, you can find Nygårda at your closest IKEA. There are several other varieties in Sweden, but this one is pretty much the standard.
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 3 (sorry, honey)
Oh boy, Cheerwine! It occurred to me as I saw a bottle of “retro” Cheerwine in the grocery store (12 oz glass bottle, cane sugar) that most of you probably don’t know this soft drink. It’s a native of North Carolina and produced not far from where I live. The Carolina Beverage Company that produces it doesn’t seem to care much about spreading the good word too far outside the Carolinas, and that’s fine by us, it just means more at home.
This soft drink is a highly carbonated wild cherry flavored beverage that has a bracing taste and is a bit bitter. Many people say that it’s overly sweet, but I find that to be specific to the high fructose corn syrup variety. I will concede that it does taste a bit artificial. I can’t really compare Cheerwine to anything else, I’ve never tasted anything like it, yet it’s always been around me and never seemed odd. If you can get your hands on it, it makes a fantastic homemade ice cream! Last year, Cheerwine partnered up with Krispy Kreme to make Cheerwine filled Krispy Kreme doughnuts that almost sent us North Carolinians over the edge with salivation.
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 8.5
As
a refresher to the readers of this blog, I didn’t really like Thomas Kemper‘s root beer all that much, but everything else I’ve tried from this craft soda maker is a clear winner. Their Orange Cream soda was fantastic, and the Black Cherry follows suit. The first sip hit with a brisk, surprising sour and almost biting strong black cherry flavor. This impression was quickly offset a bit by the honey used to sweeten the soda. It’s a very true flavor to the fruit it’s named after, and almost makes me thing they squeezed a bunch of black cherries, added some hney and cane sugar and brewed it a bit. The rich and full flavor lasted throughout the soda without ever becoming too sweet or thick. This is natural soda at it’s best, and I’m looking forward to trying more of their flavors.
www.tksoda.com
Monthly Root Beer Rating:9
I picked this soda up at World Market. They occasionally have interesting sodas and other curiosities. I had seen this many times and decided to give it a try. Apparently, the Pig Iron is a barbecue joint in Seattle claiming to be very authentic to southern barbecue. Now, being from NC, and currently living very close to the epicenter of the world’s best barbecue (Lexington, NC), I’m a bit skeptical. But, one thing I can verify is that they make a damn fine cola.
Simply put, this tastes like Coke should taste. It tastes like I remember Coke tasting when I was a kid. It tastes not too differently from those magical Mexican Cokes you can find periodically here and there that are made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. My only complaints were that it was slightly too sweet and thick in mouthfeel. Very enjoyable for a cola and I would definitely drink again.
http://www.pigironbbg.net
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 8
Included in the shipment from Maine was a 16 oz bottle of Moxie. In fairness to my friend, and even though it’s not a root beer, I thought I’d review it. First impression was: slightly medicinal with a very unusual presentation to the nose. I guess this could technically be a root beer, as it’s only identified flavoring is “gentian root extracts”. I was warned that this was an acquired taste, and I won’t argue with that after consuming the bottle.
My wife, who is Swedish, introduced me to a soda called Julmust that is available twice yearly in Scandinavia; at Christmas and Easter. Moxie reminded me a lot of that, however, she disagreed vehemently!
Since this is claimed to be the “oldest continually produced” beverage in America, I can certainly understand the nostalgic appeal in trying the drink, but it will never be on my favorites list…
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 4
Again, not a root beer, but a damn interesting drink. This has some similarities to root beer in that there is a strong aniseed presence. I’ve seen this and some of their other sodas around, but never tried them before. Somehow, I was expecting a bitter taste, but this was super sweet, and a complex mix of flavors that were really quite pleasant. Worth a try and I’ll definitely check out some of their other sodas.
www.fentimans.com
Monthly Root Beer Rating: 7
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