GourmetRootBeer

Claeys Old Fashioned Hard Candies Root Beer

Jan 162019

Claeys Old Fashioned Hard Candies Root Beer A Claeys root beer candy

Candy post number 2. This time some old fashioned hard candies from Claeys Old Fashioned Hard Candies. They’ve been around since 1919 and have had 3 generations of candy makers perfecting their “smooth textured deliciously flavored old-fashioned hard candies”. They are little sugar drop candies, which I more associate with lemon drops than a root beer candy, but why not. They do actually make lemon drops, as well as a host of other flavors. But I only care about the root beer.

The little sugar covered egg drop dusted in sugar tastes very similar to your standard root beer barrel. It’s got that generic root beer flavor which is perfectly pleasant when you’re looking for a root beer flavored hard candy.

I like this. It’s definitely a higher quality hard candy than most and it’s root beer flavor is spot on. So do I recommend it? If you’re looking for a root beer hard candy, this will do the trick.

Theo Root Beer Barrel 55% Dark Chocolate

Jan 092019

So my first root beer product review in my new format. Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading these as much as much standard root beer reviews, or at least they’ll be like, three keg blog posts, “drinkable” as it were, enough to get you through to the good times of proper reviews. If you think of any way to improve these, do let me know in the comments. Anyways, what to pick for my very first? I picked this Theo Root Beer Barrel 55% Dark Chocolate bar because one of my coworkers was kind enough to anonymously leave it on my desk. How very kind of them. I did eventually find out who it was after a few wrong guesses, and I am going to publicly say, thank you Brian, you’re the best! So Theo is an organic fair trade chocolate company coming out of my old stomping grounds of Seattle. They have a bunch of different specialty flavors including this root beer barrel one. I’ve had root beer barrels before (I’ll write about them soon enough) but never mixed with chocolate. So how is this?

It’s a nice dark chocolate with crunch coming from crushed root beer barrel candy. The flavor of the root beer barrels doesn’t really come through much at all. It does seems to enhance the chocolate a bit, but it’s still so subtle I doubt I’d be able to tell it was root beer barrels if I weren’t told.

It’s a nice chocolate bar, yet it leaves me disappointed as a root beer lover, since the root beer didn’t shine. Maybe a chocolate connoisseur would appreciate it more than a root beer connoisseur, but I got to call it as I see it. Good dark chocolate, poor root beer chocolate. So do I recommend it? Not if you’re looking for a root beer flavored candy, but it is a good chocolate bar.

Gold Mine Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Jan 022019

Gold Mine Root Beer Bottle Another super premium packaged root beer. There’ve been more of these as late, and I for one am happy to see root beer taken to the next level. This is from Rocket Fizz, maker of many celebrity root beers of varying quality. The bottle size and wax seal immediately made me think of Indian Wells Special Reserve. They actually are both made at the same place, but are unique recipes. Plus this has shiny gold wax. In keeping with the old-timey feel, they have stock certificates in the Rocket Fizz Gold Mining Company. Each stock certificate is worth 1/5th of a root beer, a Death Valley Root Beer, which is also made by Indian Wells, but well, um, isn’t a root beer worth getting at all. So, yeah, stock in a worthless root beer is available as part of the gimmick with this. But what about the brew itself?

It has a rich creamy Body with distinctive, yet not overpowering licorice. Like, just enough that I still like it, which isn’t a lot. There is a minty hint to it as well. The Bite could be spicier, but it is present. It’s mild and on the smooth side. The Head is most excellent. Very tall and foamy and just perfect. The Aftertaste is a sweet, spiced vanilla. Very pleasant.

It’s a complex and yummy brew, though not as good as the Special Reserve, it still squeaks by at a Seal of Approval, just barely. I was quite on the fence with this, but the second bottle won me over. Who cares about those stock certificates, just give me more of this. Though, at the price point ($7/bottle), I doubt I’ll be buying much more. See how it rates against other root beers.

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