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Disclosure: We were contacted recently by an individual from Thomas Kemper's PR firm who offered to send us samples of their new low calorie root beer. We received three free bottles and I am reviewing it here.I had never heard of Thomas Kemper before this, since they apparently don't distribute much on the east coast. I must also say that I'm not a fan of diet sodas but I understand that there is a market for them and, as someone who--in his other life--is a healthcare professional, I support efforts to reduce our caloric intake as a nation.
This diet soda is a little unique I think in that it's not totally artifically sweetened. Rather, they've used a combination of honey and sucralose (Splenda) for a total of 20 calories. I've never seen this approach before.
When the bottle is opened, it smells like vanilla, caramel, and a subtle spice, maybe anise ("natural flavor" says the label). The head is very creamy and surprisingly sweet with an excellent bite. Everything about this initial experience is good, but there is no escaping the aftertaste of sucralose. Though it typically lingers as a sickly aura at the back of one's tongue, I think that's been attenuated in this soda somewhat by the addition of honey.
This is a good root beer as far as low calorie sodas go. I wouldn't reach for it myself because I'm not a fan of Splenda, but I am certainly keeping my eyes open now for Thomas Kemper's regular root beer because if it's anything like this sans the aftertaste, it's going to be worth trying.
Grade: 7d*
* d is for diet I guess.
