Natural Brew Draft Root Beer: To the bitter end

This is one of four root beers I received as a thoughtful gift from Badger. A Smucker brand root beer, Natural Brew is a bit of a quagmire, flavorwise. Again, here's a soda made with unbleached cane sugar (I assume that's what "evaporated cane juice" implies). It smells wonderful, and promises a nice blend of licorice and vanilla. On first contact with the brew it is delicious, with a strong birchy-minty sweetness that I could enjoy if it lasted. It is creamy, not too sweet, and the carbonation seems just right.

But as I said the flavor is a quagmire because after a few seconds there is a bitter aftertaste that is almost off-putting and all the more surprising when contrasted with the initial flavor. The odd thing is that sip after sip I get the same sequence of licorice, vanilla, and sweet birch that is terminated by an odd stale bitterness that clashes strongly with the rest of the experience, almost leading me to believe that I just might have had a bad bottle. Then again, vanilla does have a bitter aftertaste. So, because of how good this root beer tastes initially, I may give it another try at some point and render another evaluation at that time.

For now, however, I'm going to have to knock off some points for the bitter aftertaste. A shame.

Grade: 4