Not the Roman Empire nor the Galactic Empire, or even the lesser known Ajuuraan Empire, this is the Empire Bottling Works which seems to have no ties to any empires at all. Rather they are from the smallest state in the Union which would be a more pathetic empire than the Ajuuraan (should Rhode Island empirify). This leaves me completely lost as to the reason for the name. It’s not even like they’re from New York with the whole Empire State nickname and whatnot (why you would want to call a state governed by representative democracy the Empire State is an entirely different matter all together) so really I’ve got nothing. They don’t even have a website (their empire is too small evidently) so it’s not like you can just look it up. They do provide a phone number on the bottle so I suppose if I really cared (or cared during business hours in the eastern time zone), I could just call them. Besides the phone number, the bottle has a little crown which is the only empire related thing other than the name.
The Body is dark and rooty, but it is also lacking in some essential flavors. The Bite is nothing special but it’s there. The head is a decent height but it doesn’t last long at all. The Aftertaste is a sticky licorice and wintergreen flavor that lingers annoyingly long, especially since it isn’t a good flavor to have lingering.
So, will this imperialistic root beer conquer the world or at least the root beer market or at very least my taste buds and sense for a quality brew? In a word, “No.” All in all, I really don’t like this root beer that much. If licorice and wintergreen is your thing, you may like to give this one a try, I’ll pass. See how it rates against other root beers.
