In 1929 the great depression began. A man by the name of Frank Duffy, who didn’t know how to use apostrophes correctly, began selling a root beer. His mascot was the Duffys’ Elf for no discernible reason. But he was not the only man to do so that year. So did the folks who made Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer, though their brownie (elf, sprite, pixie, whatever, they look the same) wasn’t green. I wonder which came first or if they knew about each other when they started. Either way. When Frank died, his soda company ran dry … get it? … no? … moving on … since he didn’t tell anyone else the recipes to his various drinks. So they shuttered up and went home. Years later, a safe was found in an abandoned warehouse, that when opened, contained the original recipes. Or so the story goes. Either way, Duffys’, like it’s other pixie themed competitor from days of yore, has been resurrected for the world to enjoy.
The Body is moderately sweet with a light flavor profile. There’s an out of place herbal bit that comes in and is sort of bitter as well. It’s most unwelcome. Thankfully it soon is replaced by creamy vanilla. The Bite is very sharp from carbonation yet lacking in spice. The Head is very tall and also frothy and lingers, but not quite as long as the greats. The Aftertaste is vanilla with a hint of fruity.
This is okay. I like the vanilla and the Head, the herbal bit, not so much. I’m not sure what makes this rowdy, maybe the whole combo of good and bad switching up. I suppose, after thinking long and hard about it, that I would in fact drink this again, if there wasn’t anything else about. See how it rates against other root beers.
Another recently resurrected brand bottled by Orca Beverages. I’m not sure (as of the time of this writing) if Orca is the one doing the resurrecting or if there’s just a mad rush to find a brand as part of the Great Root Beer Revival and these people are sending them all to Orca. As with the others (Red Arrow, Brownie Caramel Cream, Anchor Ginger, Hippo Size), this has a retro looking label with a prominent centered picture and then a few sentences written vertically off to the side that give some explanation about the brew. This particular iteration is supposedly named after a bull called Red Eye who was old and cranky. The only way to coax him out of his pen to do his daily “duties” was to pour his favorite root beer in a bowl for him first. I’m not sure then if his favorite root beer was this one, and if it was, how that all worked, maybe they took over another brand or it was homemade or something. I’m also not sure about what a bull had to do daily that required some coaxing. Last I checked a bull’s job, when not fighting colorfully dressed Spaniards and Lusitans, was breeding, so you’d think he wouldn’t need to be coaxed into it. 