Thomas Kemper Low Calorie Root Beer

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.

Jones Pure Cane Soda

I've always liked Jones (Sooper Dooper) sodas, especially their cream soda. They're a little company who will put photos that customers send them on their clear glass bottles. I decided to try their root beer.

It's made with cane sugar, and as such it smells like cotton candy. It's also made with "artificial flavors" not otherwise specified.

The consistency is totally devoid of creaminess. The flavor is good, if overwhlemingly sweet, and the carbonation just right. The aftertaste is pleasant, but it's not that of root beer. Nowhere is any part of the earthy spectrum I would expect. Note that I don't describe much else of the flavor because there isn't much else. It's a sweet soda that tastes kind of like root beer. I suppose it would be unfair to compare it to Boylan's or Virgil's, as it doesn't compare, especially since it's not that much cheaper.

If you like sweet, thin root beer, this isn't a bad one. Otherwise, you might want to try their cream soda. It's very good. But this is not Cream Soda Eval is it?

(Jones also makes a sugar-free root beer which is absolutely abominable and I will not rate it.)

Grade: 5

Steaz Green Tea Soda

It seems conundrums abound in the world of root beers. Obviously, I'm about to discuss one of them.

I like green tea. I like root beer. I like soda sweetened with cane sugar. The combination is not compelling, though, and I can't imagine why anyone thought it would be. I can think of a few combinations that might make sense--root beer plus vanilla, root beer plus licorice, maybe even root beer plus chocolate (hmm...)--but I kept an open mind about this one and I really thought that if they're selling it, somebody must be buying it, or at least before it left the factory somebody must've tasted it and said, "Yeah, I'd drink that. Let's sell it."

After twisting off the cap, it doesn't smell like root beer at all. In fact, it smells more like cream soda. It is appetizing anyway. The head distinctly lacks bite, however, perhaps because of the soft carbonation and intrusive flavor of fresh-cut grass. The root beer taste is conspicuously weak. Still, the first few sips are interesting. I wasn't put off.

After a while the mildly bitter aftertaste of oversweetened green tea and the light carbonation hardly recalls root beer. It's not a bad soda, it's just not root beer, and as such it may have a place in my fridge next to the lemonade and the V8. All the same, I applaud the effort to craft an organic soda with the benefits of green tea and will probably try their other flavors.

Grade: 5

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