Santa Cruz Organic Root Beer Beverage

I found Santa Cruz Organic in a Mrs Green's store on my way home from work one day. I'm always on the look out for a new root beer, so of course I bought it, but the idea of an organic root beer is particularly appealing. Organic and soda aren't typically words that one finds in the same sentence.

At the same time, I was also a bit taken aback. Santa Cruz Organic comes in an aluminum can. Even IBC comes in glass bottles, but this comes in a can? What's the deal? Isn't glass supposed to be more environmentally friendly? Or maybe not, being heavier and all. But I digress - my real point here is that aluminum seems to interfere with the flavor of its contents, whereas glass doesn't. And what's with a root beer beverage?

That said, Santa Cruz Organic's root beer is a pretty good beverage. The drink is light and crisp, pleasantly sweet, and appropriately carbonated. On the other hand, it lacks the taste and personality of root beer, and tastes a lot like cream soda, or maybe a root-beer-cream-soda blend. Vanilla and sugar are the most prominent tastes, with maybe a bit of licorice at the end, but very little of the earthiness of a root beer.

So, while this is a pretty good soda, it's not very successful as a root beer.

Grade: 5 (grade 7 or 8 when simply considered as a soda)

150 calories per 12 ounce can = 12.5 Calories per ounce (moderately low)
Organic (USDA, Organic Trade Association, Quality Assurance International)
www.scojuice.com
made with 100% certified renewable energy (according to the label)