Finally, after a years-long dry spell, I have found a root beer that has surprised and delighted me. I admit I was skeptical at first. Since when has Old England been associated with root beer? In what way is it “Traditional?” Why is there a cute dog on the neck label? But once I tasted it, I stopped caring about these minor details.

The label says the beverage is “botanically brewed,” which I usually interpret as marketing drivel, but in this case seems to be genuinely true. A glance of the ingredient list shows that it does indeed contain a variety of real ingredients, including fermented ginger extract, sarsaparilla, dandelion root, burdock root, and even pear juice extract. The flavour doesn’t disappoint, with clear notes of anise, and a hint of clove and pear. The blend is not the same as a traditional American root beer, which is delightful for someone who has tasted too many business-as-usual brews.

I also like the bottle. It is smaller than usual, at 275 mL, which is good in my opinion. It has a no-nonsense screw cap instead of the fussy bottle cap favoured by most boutique brands. It has the words botanically brewed embossed in the glass.

It is indeed a product of the UK.

8.5/10

Reviewed in London, ON 2019-12-26

newyorkseltzer.com

What a delight to experience a root beer that brings something a little unique to the game. This charming soda has a refreshing twist on the typical “old time soda shop” branding by being – gasp! – fully transparent. That’s right, no caramel colour here. It’s served in a cute shorty 296 mL bottle, which in my opinion is a better size than your typical giant-sized 341 mL bottle. I adore the New York Art Deco stylings.

The root beer itself is completely uninteresting. I’m not sure what Seltzer is, exactly, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t it. Nevertheless, I’m going to give it a higher rating than usual because I like the bottle and it’s Christmas.

7.5/10

Hires root beer, with vodka mixed in!  They sell this in a can, pre-mixed, at the liquor store.  Slightly thinner colour than usual root beer — it’s actually semi-transparent.

It smells like Hires root beer, but with paint thinner mixed in!  The flavour is not complex, and it’s a touch sweeter than I would like.  Not bad, bad basic.  It has an aftertaste of distillation column.

It’s hard to imagine drinking more than a couple of these at a party (think of all the sugar!), but it’s not a bad thing to have in the fridge.  If I was designing a root beer alcoholic drink, I would take a “root beer cocktail” approach, like adding root beer extract to a martini.  But if you just want to buy a can of something, you could do worse.

Bear ‘N Beaver… So Canadian, OR SO IT SEEMS!  But to bears and beavers really hang out together?  NO!  And if they did, would they do it over top of a brown-tone Union Jack?  NO!  Does it matter?  Not really… the label is actually pretty nice.

On the clear side (fairly transparent).  Rootbeery nose with no other obvious tones.  Taste is surprisingly effervescent, despite it having few bubbles in the glass.  The description on the bottle claims it’s the “ceramist recipe”, but I disagree — it’s more on the acidic side.  They added yucca root extract to make it more “authentic,” whatever that means.

This root beer is made in White Rock, BC, Canada, by a company called “Double D Beverage”.

www.bearnbeaver.com

I found this empty bottle of Bulldog underneath my bed today.  I don’t remember drinking it.  It must have consumed it late one night, smelling of booze, a little fuzzy-eyed, and then let the bottle drop there, unnoticed, until now.

I don’t recall anything about this root beer.  I don’t even recall drinking it.  Maybe I wrote something down, but it hasn’t surfaced yet.  If I knew where to buy another bottle, I would pick up another one and give it a fair review.  But considering how widely I roam to find these things, it could have been from anywhere.

So here’s my assessment: an excellent post-bar root beer.