I know it doesn’t say “Springs” on the bottle but the people who make it insist on calling it that. You’d think they’d put the name on the bottle but no, why would they do something easy and consistent like that? That brings me to wonder about all of the root beers named after springs. It usually has something to do with the soda works’ water supply, but not for this one. This one is actually bottled by Natrona. It has the same slightly too tall, slightly not enough root beer as the Red Ribbon Root Beer. It even has the same nutritional information and listed ingredients as Red Ribbon. If I didn’t know any better I’d say they were the same root beer simply relabeled. Luckily, I do know better as I called them to find out and they swear the two are different. The label says that this root beer is “Definitely Better” but doesn’t say just what it is better than. For lack of any further clarification on that part I’m going to say they mean than Red Ribbon.
The Body is dark and turns fruity after the initial contact. There’s some anise and wintergreen hints in there as well. There’s a strong Bite, mostly from carbonation, that hits after you first start drinking but it subsides quickly for a smooth finish. The Head is medium short and fizzes away quickly. The Aftertaste is fruity and minty and isn’t my favorite.
Take away the fruity and this could be decent, but not as it is now. It is better than Red Ribbon, though I wouldn’t say Definitely Better. Maybe they were comparing themselves to Free Natural in which case I’ll agree. See how it rates against other root beers.
There are many oddities about this brew. The first is that the bottle, while looking the standard shape and size, is actually about a millimeter or two taller than other long neck bottles I have. Why? I don’t know. The second that jumps out is the fact that while the bottle is ever so slightly taller, it contains 1 milliliter less root beer than a standard 12 ounce bottle. They all say 355 ml yet this one is only 354. If that isn’t nickel and dimeing you out of root beer I don’t know what is, especially since they oversized the bottle to compensate. Then there’s the “Pinpoint Carbonation” and the “Home Brewed Style” but the most glaring of all is the name itself. Red Ribbon is for second place. It’s like they didn’t even want to try to be the best, or have at least conceded that they’re not. You never see that on a product, “Second best soda” or “First Loser Brew” but yet, Red Ribbon is right here. 
