This was a Christmas present from my lovely wife. Remember that the best presents are root beer. Always, forever. Especially if it’s a brand new root beer. Rusted Rodeo Craft Soda is a recent startup out of Wyoming, that only sells directly to customers, so if you don’t live near Gillette, WY (which statistically is basically everyone), you’ll need to mail order. This root beer is their flagship soda, with flavor text of “a bold, courageous, adventure-seeking, 8 second kin of guy … he’s a mad cowboy” that’s written in about 5 different font sizes. The ingredients are similarly written in different font sizes, and I doubt they listed them in order, or else this has more natural roots than carbonated water in it. It also has a rather unique bottle, which rather fun. Now, the brew itself?
The Body is complex and earthy with honey, sarsaparilla, and herb flavors mingling to give a very unique root beer that’s still not too far off of the expected flavor to come across as weird. It’s quite refreshing and not overly sweet, but well balanced and layered. There’s a notable spice Bite with clove standing out, but it’s on the milder, smoother side with a nice smooth finish. The Head is second to none. It stays forever and foams up like crazy. It’s basically perfect, so pour with caution or you’ll be waiting for a while before you can finish your pour. The Aftertaste is a nice spiced honey with faint sarsaparilla that leaves you feeling refreshed.
This is a very nice brew, a little different than your standard, archetypal root beer, but still satisfying in nearly every way. Now my only real complaint is the name. This is a quality, fine, complex and refreshing soda which is a pleasure to sip and enjoy. None of that connotes some crazy adventure-seeking mad cowboy. More like the mad cowboy’s grandfather, lazily rocking on his back porch, with a fresh batch of the family brew, enjoying the sunset while the roots and spices mingle and caress his tongue. See how it rates against other root beers.
Another brew from my good pal Rick. This one is from Oak Cliff, Texas. Real Sugar Soda. Evidently for them, real sugar means cane sugar, which I’m sure the beet producers in Michigan would take issue with. Heck, I even consider corn syrup as “real” sugar, inasmuch as it isn’t some artificial sweetener. But cane sugar is trendy these days, so it makes sense. They’ve been around since 2009, yet I’ve never heard of this root beer, and I’ve been doing this for longer than 2009. Maybe their root beer is new but their soda company isn’t? Maybe it’s only recently they started bottling. Whatever. It’s vintage. We all love vintage root beer. Nearly everyone’s got a vintage root beer. They even address that on their bottle, saying that it “definitely belongs here”. 
