This root beer comes from Akron, Ohio. They liked their fair city so much that they wrote the name backwards to use it for their brew. It was founded in 1924 and died out in 1962. Then, last year, a resident of Akron realized that the city’s iconic brand was missing and decided to bring it back. And thus NORKA was reborn. They make three flavors of “sparkling beverages” in addition to their root beer and use all natural flavorings and pure cane sugar. You don’t see many brands calling their sodas sparkling beverages anymore, but maybe that’ll change. They kept the original logo and name. Though why the founders of NORKA thought making their name in all caps was a good idea is beyond me. I can think of approximately one person who’d be bothered by it more than me. The makers of it were kind enough to send me a four-pack to review, as all new root beer makers should.
This has a mild Body with a noticeable vanilla flavor to it. The cane sugar shines as well, though the other flavors are very subtle. The Bite is harsh; a lot of carbonation but not a lot of spice. The Head is very tall yet lacks staying power and fizzes away much too quickly. The Aftertaste is vanilla and cane sugar, which is pretty nice.
This is alright. I wish it were a little stronger and spicier, and the Head stayed a little longer. That said, it’s a decent brew with no unpleasant flavors, though nothing overly special. I wouldn’t make this the flagship of a soda line, but it certainly doesn’t hurt one. See how it rates against other root beers.
