Jun 012022
 
Rocket Fizz Boosted Root Beer Bottle

Another one I got back last summer at Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store. It was my caffeinated root beer run, and is always a pain to review these. Rocket Fizz decided regular caffeinated root beers were too weak evidently so they amped this up to having nearly twice as much as the Sprecher with 4 ounces less soda (pop/coke). They also put guarana and ginseng and b vitamins in it. So an energy drink basically. Usually Rocket Fizz just copies some other soda with their root beer flavors, but I can’t think of another one that’s a pure energy drink root beer, so maybe they’ve found some originality? It’s got a sleek metallic label too, like they wanted to do that energy drink in a can but realized that I wouldn’t drink it if they did and since my review is more important than anything else they put it in glass. Thank you for that. Now on to the review.

The Body is sweet and creamy with a soapy medicinal flavor underneath a rather generic creamy root beer core. Faint flavors of ginseng and guarana accent this. The Body is spicy and complex and it finishes pretty smooth. The Head is very nice, tall and foamy. The Aftertaste is a little strange, a little soapy, a little medicinal and a little vanilla.

Overall it’s good, which is surprising considering all they put in it, but still tastes a little off, which is entirely expected for an energy drink, vitamin fortified brew. I would rather drink the Sprecher if I need a caffeine boost, but if I needed a full energy drink (which is basically never), I wouldn’t pass this up. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs

Dec 042019
 

Rocket Fizz Root Beer with Nutmeg Bottle So Rocket Fizz is at it again. Not to be content with having essentially cornered the market on celebrity root beer (the uniqueness of each is growing increasingly dubious), they’ve taken to copying other “premium” root beers that are out there. Like how they copied the Indian Wells Special Reserve with their Gold Mine. So now they look to copy Virgil’s Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg, spring top bottle and all, with their own root beer … with nutmeg … And that’s what they called it. Root Beer with Nutmeg. Not sure why they couldn’t come up with anything else. I mean, why not reach out to some other region of some other country completely unaffiliated with root beer and add nutmeg. Like Rocket Fizz Limited Edition Dublin Nutmeg Root Beer. Cause the Irish in Dublin are just as knowledgeable about root beer as the Bavarians. Anyhow, while they could copy the waxed cap of the Indian Wells, they seem unable to bottle a spring top bottle on their line, leading to the bizarre spring top bottle that’s just capped with a regular cap. So that spring cap is there to just, reseal it after drinking half, a pint? It’s only a pint. We can drink a pint. Plus the gasket is probably all dirty from being out in the open air. I honestly don’t think Rocket Fizz thought this thing through well enough before they launched production. But the taste?

The Body has nutmeg! This is without question. It just blasts in your face. But nutmeg is good so this isn’t a bad thing. There’s also a sweet sarsaparilla flavor with some wintergreen and other spices. Maybe a tad of vanilla? There’s a lot happening here and the balance is a little off. The Bite is undoubtedly very spicy from the aforementioned nutmeg, and the other spices, and the carbonation level is good. The Head is magnificent. The Aftertaste is some wintergreen and nutmeg that turns bitter and herbal.

It’s not quite proportioned well for me. Like the name and the bottle, it seems they rushed the recipe. I guess they didn’t want to miss the bandwagon for the whole special nutmeg root beer that’s existed for the past 20 years … It isn’t bad though, so there’s that. I appreciate what you’re doing Rocket Fizz, giving me more stuff to review and all, but maybe slow down, make a plan, get a good brew, and then launch your product. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




Jun 052019
 

Growler of Rocket Fizz Double Barrel Root BeerI’m sure you’ve all been thinking, Eric, you never review growler root beers anymore, and you know what, you’re not the only one thinking that. The fine folks at Rocket Fizz, who never tire of creating new root beers and ways to package them seem to be thinking the same, so they released a new brew and a waxed sealed growler so someone like yours truly could come and do that type of review. Why thank you Rocketfizz. This is called Double Barrel Root Beer, which I guess is continuing their hunting theme introduced with the Dad-Gum-It!. Now the only problem with Rocket Fizz’s continued gifts to root beer reviewers is the lack of any of their shops in the state of Minnesota where I currently reside. Enter that great root beer collector Vince to save the day! He graciously sent me the growler in trade for some of my Canadian bounty. Thanks Vince, from the bottom of my heart.

The Body is rich and complex and dark. There’s some wintergreen and some other flavor I can’t place that doesn’t really ruin it but doesn’t quite work either. The Bite’s OK, but nothing extraordinary. Vanilla comes through in the Aftertaste and it’s really quite good.

On the whole it’s not my favorite flavor profile but isn’t really bad, per se. I was on the fence for 2.5 and 3 but hey it was Christmas time so I broke for 3, you know, as a Christmas present and all. I mean, it did compliment roasted chestnuts pretty well.

Three kegs