Oct 182017
 

Bottle of Hummingbird Hill Birch Rootbeer Another flavored brew. This time it’s a birch root beer. Not a birch beer. Technically this says “Birch Rootbeer”, which, if you are getting deep into the semantics of things you’d try and say isn’t really a root beer, but luckily the proper semantic definition has been established by the Standards Committee of the International Association of Gourmet Root Beer (IAGRB). It is in Standard NC 023.2-2007. I’ll only summarize it, because it costs a lot of money to buy those standards. Basically a root beer is defined as combinations of ‘root’ and ‘beer’, such as root beer, rootbeer, root bear, root beir, as well as translations such as cerveja de rais, cerveza de raiz, bière de racine, racinette, etc. Additionally, other flavors that proceed the term root beer do not disqualify it from being a root beer while flavors afterwards may do so, such as root beer and chocolate or root beer float. Got it? Good. Now on to Hummingbird Hill. I didn’t like their regular root beer so I didn’t have high expectations for this.

The Body is very birchy, but not full at all. There’s a good amount of wintergreen and it has some sour hints to it. The Bite is unimpressive. There’s some carbonation burn but not much else. The Head is inconsistent in height but lacks staying power so it is gone quickly. The Aftertaste is empty. There’s some wintergreen and a tad of vanilla but it doesn’t last at all.

This brew is unfulfilling. It it’s not gag level or anything, but it just isn’t good. Nope. I think it’s worse than their first attempt, which was also pretty bad. See how it rates against other root beers.

2 out of 5 root beer kegs




Jul 222015
 

Hummingbird Hill Rootbeer BottleI’m bugged when people write root beer as rootbeer. I don’t like it. These people have clearly done it on their bottle, and so that’s what their soda is named. So that’s what I have to put. I wish they hadn’t. Okay, I’m done. Funny story about this root beer. It’s made in Silverdale and sold in that area including the Port Orchard farmers market. So why didn’t I find it when I went to both of those places on my quest for the Silver City Root Beer? I’m not sure. I didn’t spend much time at the farmer’s market because my wife wanted to leave, but I’m not going to blame her. I blame myself. My New Root Beer Sense was tingling and I thought it was only for the Silver City stuff. I’ll need to pay closer attention to my Sense on future journeys. A few months later I learned about this and contacted them but they didn’t seem interested in shipping it. I let the people at The Root Beer Store know about it, and told them they should really support the local brews by carrying it, so I wouldn’t have to wait until I found myself over there again. Thankfully The Root Beer Store came through and I was able to save some gas. This soda is made by a retired couple who couldn’t find a better way to spend their golden years than making root beer. Considering that the only thing better than making root beer is drinking root beer, I don’t blame them.

The Body isn’t very sweet and is rather hollow. There’s a strong wintergreen and spice flavor, but it feels like there’s a big gaping hole in the flavor profile. Something is missing. It’s also a little bitter. The Bite is strong with wintergreen and cloves featuring prominently in the burn. The Head is short yet lingers. The Aftertaste is the fading traces of the Bite which ends bitter.

This brew is unique. However, it’s missing a lot and I don’t like it. I wish I liked it, you know, support the local root beers and all, but it just isn’t something I’d drink again ever. See how it rates against other root beers.

2 out of 5 root beer kegs