Boylan’s Root Beer

In the absence of Virgil’s, Boylan’s root beer is probably the root beer that I reach for first. It’s well great straight from the fridge, with a sweet taste of honey (a bit strange, given that it’s sweetened with pure cane sugar” a bit of vanilla, and a bit of wintergreen. The company says there’s a taste of sassafrass in there, too, but I don’t know what sassafrass tastes like, so I can’t say. I don’t taste any licorice, which I would normally say is a bit of a shame, but somehow doesn’t seem to matter here. It’s not syrupy, but not too thin, either. Boylan’s is a solid, simple, straightforward, great root beer, and is well worth your time.

Boylan seems to know that they’ve got a good thing in their root beer, too, as it appears to be the flagship soda (flagsoda?) of their flavored soda product line-up, appearing first in lists and centered prominently in group soda photos. This may also becaue their bottle looks good, too, with butterscotch-tan and white printed directly onto the brown glass.

*Note, though, that the Boylan company has two root beers out there (excluding diet varieties). This is their normal, traditional variety, not their “Natural” variety, which I reviewed earlier.

Grade: 9

170 calories per 12 ounce bottle = 14.2 Calories per ounce (moderately high)
Kosher Parve (Kosher Technical Konsultants)
www.boylanbottling.com

Boylan Bottleworks: Near perfection

One of the four root beers gifted to me by Badger, this one fared much better than the last. Much better.

To be clear, this is different from Boylan's 'Natural' variety of root beer, as reviewed by Badger.

The cap comes off and for a few seconds the smell of licorice and even cinnamon is quite strong. It has a fantastic head, with crisp carbonation and an absolutely creamy consistency. In fact, it's the creamiest root beer I've tried yet (yes, creamier than Virgil's). It has a sweet, woody, rooty aftertaste that tugs at you to take another sip.

The bottle is also attractive; it's tall and slender, and it's dark brown with yellow insignia printed right onto the glass. There is also embossed lettering on the bottle ("Boylan Bttlg Co Vintage Soda Pop Family Owned Since 1891").

A big plus for Boylan is that it's sweetened with cane sugar. But it is also, for me, where it falters because it is a little too sweet for my taste. But that will not keep me from seeking out more of this brew.

Grade: 9

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

Steaz Green Tea Soda: Root Beer

If you're a root beer purist, then you needn't read any further than this: Steaz isn't pure root beer. Instead, they appear to have mixed our beloved drink with tea - green tea, based on the label - and this as caused a divide in the badger community. Since those who do not classify Steaz as root beer ("root beer is made with roots, tea is made with leaves - entirely different") won't be drinking it anyway, this review is for those who are willing to classify it as root beer.

Steaz tastes of sweetened iced tea (say, Arizona?) mixed into cream soda, with a bit of lemon for character. It's sweet, but not really syrupy. Carbonation is mild, yielding a smooth drink, and the bouquet is of vanilla. All in all, Staez reminds me of the old Lemonade commercials with the old guy on his front porch, and I think that's really where this drink would fit - at the end of a full day, watching the sun go down, when you want something cold, something like root beer, but don't want all the fizz of soda. It would probably also fit in at an occasion where soda was deemed too vulgar, as tea brings with it the suggestion of genteelity.

Incidentally, Syteaz is another clear-glass-beer-bottle soda, but the tea aspect of the drink somehow makes this acceptable.

So, a neat idea, and a neat drink, but not one that I expect I'll purchase regularly.

Grade: 6

90 Calories per 8 ounces = 11.25 Calories per ounce (low)
Organic (USDA, Organic Trade Association, Quality Assurance International)
[Price] for four
www.steaz.com