Parlor Beverages – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Parlor Pumpkin Root Beer

Mar 062024

I do love a seasonal root beer. I love root beer in general and then that variation that is flavored root beers, but seasonal flavored root beers are much more rare so they make me happy in a way that few things can. Parlor I’ve reviewed before. They do a fine job with their original and butterscotch root beer. Every fall they also release their pumpkin root beer, which is done in partnership with Blackcraft Clothing. They specialize in goth, cult, witch type clothing stuff, which fits the theme of Halloween. I got this in a trade with anthony, which is good because I didn’t want to mail order a whole case and they don’t sell it local at all. While I’ve had good experiences with Parlor, the only other pumpkin spice root beer I had didn’t turn out too well, so I was cautious coming in.

The Body is sweet and rich with a strong pumpkin spice complimenting a solid classic root beer core. It’s really delicious. The Bite is amazing with that aforementioned spice, clove being the prominent but others backing it up. The carbonation is good and it finishes smooth. The Head is great, tall and frothy. The Aftertaste is vanilla and clove and really quite pleasant.

Wow! This is a fine brew. I really love that pumpkin spice they’ve got. Parlor has done it again, took their classic, solid root beer flavor and amped it up to a work of art. The subtle pumpkin and the strong spice really make for my now most recommended Halloween brew and my favorite Parlor offering yet. Shame I can’t get it year round. See how it rates against other root beers.

Parlor Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Mar 022022

This was a birthday present from my lovely wife. It’s always easy to know what presents I want, just find a root beer I don’t have. She also got me some of their other flavor but more on that next month. So the people at Parlor are very passionate about their root beer. Their website says it’s “The best root beer you’ll ever slam down your gullet” amongst some other claims. They seem like fun guys and all they make is root beer and birch beer. Their mascot on this bottle is Patty Parlor, which I learned from their merch page. They also have a Betty Birch for their birch beer. Their merch also features a shirt which says “F*CK WATER DRINK ROOT BEER”, which, I mean, a little crass but also, yes. Anyhow, I’m not 100% sure what their parlor and their parlor girls are supposed mean, Google gave me some definitions which maybe fit… But they’re all tattooed and playing cards and stuff so I’m guessing this parlor of theirs is smoke filled with scantily clad, tattooed women and people playing cards. And you drink root beer there. Nailed it. Anyways. They make root beer so I like them for that.

The Body is sweet with a caramel cane sugar flavor and vanilla notes. The flavor is clean but rather plain, lacking the complexity you find in most root beers. There is very little Bite but the feel isn’t very smooth either. The Head is excellent, it’s tall and frothy but also doesn’t build too high nor last too long. The Aftertaste is rich vanilla, which builds the more you drink, almost like a root beer float vanilla.

Hmm, this is tasty but rather plain. It’s like a cheeseburger with nothing but meat cheese and ketchup. Good, but can be improved upon with more complexity of flavor. So is this the best root beer I’ll ever slam down my gullet? No. Is it even Seal of Approval? Also no. But it is yummy, it just needs more depth. See how it rates against other root beers.