Seal of Approval – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog

Spinning J’s Root Beer

Old Fashioned Fountain Root Beers No Responses »

Nov 052025

Back in September I was in Chicago for work. I say Chicago but really I was in Oak Brook Terrace which is a western suburb of Chicago. You’d think what’s the difference and the main difference is if you find a place like Spinning J Bakery and Soda Fountain being actually in Chicago, there’s a bit more planning that goes into visiting due to Chicago’s horrendous traffic. Not helping in my quest to visit it was the fact that it’s open from 9 am to 3 pm only, which is too late for breakfast before work and too early for dinner after. Nevertheless, I was committed, since they have are an old fashioned soda fountain with a jerk and house made syrups made with spices, botanicals, and essential oils. Fortunately for me, on Friday we finished our work about 1 pm and my flight didn’t board till 5 so I had some time to drive down and give their root beer a try.

The Body is dark and complex with a solid sassafras root beer flavor accentuated with many herbs and spices such as ginger, clove, allspice, cinnamon to name a few. The licorice flavor is very light and there isn’t much wintergreen so it isn’t as dark of a flavor as you’d expect. It’s quite a unique mix yet a very familiar root beer flavor under it all. The flavors are intense and feel very fresh. The Bite is amazing. All of those fresh spices really make for one of the spiciest, boldest Bite I’ve ever had. Carbonation is on the light side, though, sadly. The Head is quite short, the biggest flaw in this soda, but it’s there when they’re making it, it just fizzes away. Much more than the old 2-Second Head, but still less that what I’d prefer. The aftertaste is an herbal clove flavor that is quite pleasant that finishes with a warm ginger burn that stays with you awhile.

Wow! That has got to be the most amazing and intense root beer Bite I’ve ever had. I love the freshness of the flavors too. I was raving about it with every drink, pointing out the ingredients I could taste. When I finished they asked if I wanted another, because I seemed to enjoy it so much, an offer I couldn’t help but take them up on. As I thought of where to rate it, the head was a little lighter then I wanted, but that warm ginger burn, several minutes after I’d finished, really Sealed the deal. If you’re ever in Chicago, this root beer is a must.

**Look at this beautiful, old-fashioned, soda fountain.**

Old Keg Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Mar 052025

The root beer that could have been my 500th review. I bought the bottle after trying my 499th, but, I didn’t think it was “special enough” to be 500. It’s another resurrected brand from Orca Beverages, of which there are several, and that’s just a bit to plain a backstory for the storied 500th brew. I found this at the store formerly known as Blue Sun Soda, and I do like the motif of an old keg being called Old Keg. I mean, I throw pictures of old kegs all over this site of mine. But does it really have that, “old keg” flavor and profile?

The Body sweet with rich honey and vanilla complimenting a nice rooty sassafras core. It is really delicious. The Bite is spicy and prickly with a smooth finish. The Head is medium tall and foamy that fizzes away faster than I prefer by coalescing into increasingly larger bubbles. That’s rather unique. The Aftertaste is a delicious honey sassafras with hints of vanilla.

This is my kind of root beer. Darker than classic, with honey showing through. I love it. Honestly, as far as quality of the root beer goes, this would have been a better 500th than what I had, and while it didn’t have a backstory then, it’s lack of backstory has become one of the better ones. Ah, the brew and review that could have been, but at least it won the Seal. See how it rates against other root beers.

Hank’s Gourmet Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Nov 062024

I made a mistake 13 years ago. Back when I held my Ultimate Root Beer Showdown I said that Hank’s seemed better than I remembered. At that time I knew the bottle had changed, but I didn’t actually realized that they’d made a subtle change to both their recipe (substituting cane sugar for high fructose corn syrup) and their name (substituting Gourmet for Premium). What I thought was the Hank’s I’d reviewed in 1998 was actually a technically new root beer. I’d like to think that after seeing such a high ranking at gourmetrootbeer.com they strove to make their premium root beer even better, worthy of truly being, “Gourmet”, and renamed the brew once they’d achieved it. Regardless, change their recipe and name they did, and thus a new root beer I need to review. Since I’ve been drinking Hank’s continuously since then, the review itself comes as no surprise but I shall write it as if it did.

Sweet mother of root beer! This has an amazing Body. How root beer should taste. It’s sweet and rooty and creamy and spicy. It’s perfectly proportioned with nothing lacking. The Bite is solid but not overbearing. The Head is tall and foamy as a root beer should be. The Aftertaste is luscious vanilla that lasts the perfect amount of time.

I really, truly, love this stuff. It is perhaps as close to perfection as we can come in this imperfect world. See how it rates against other root beers.

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