GourmetRootBeer

Cool Mountain Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Feb 072015
 

Cool Mountain Root Beer Bottle I ordered this online a long, long time ago, in a state far far away … At least I think I did. I’m pretty sure I was living in Utah at the time. When I got it was was very impressed with the Indian chief fellow on it. I’m not sure why they choose to put that picture on the bottle, but I just went with it. Fast forward to the present when I was going through my extensive bottle collection and writing blog reviews of all of those old school brews. And, um, well, I lost the bottle. I don’t know where it is. I went through box after box and found every other root beer bottle I’d ever reviewed. I don’t know what happened. I can’t believe that I would have just lost this one, but evidently I did. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Consolation prize, they still make Cool Mountain Root Beer, and they sell it at The Root Beer Store, so I went out and bought a bottle. According to the owner this has the same recipe as Chicago Draft Style Root Beer, but they are bottled at different locations which leads to a different flavor. This time they actually have a picture of a rather cool looking mountain so everything makes more sense. The shiny purple background is also a nice touch, but I still think the chief was cooler … cooler mountain.

This has a strong, sticky Body. There’s kind of a “dark” flavor to it. It has a very solid Bite. The Head is acceptable, but it bubbles away quickly. The Aftertaste is anise-ish which is rather icky to me.

When I drank it, there was an explosion of flavor in my mouth. The problem, it just doesn’t stop exploding. It’s alright I suppose, good enough if you really just need a root beer and there’s nothing else around. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three kegs




The Groovy Taste Root Beer

 Bottled Root Beers  No Responses »
Feb 042015
 

The Groovy Taste Root Beer Bottle A gourmet root beer from Indonesia. It’s always good to have connections, and I have many. This one came from a student of mine (did you know that I’m an affiliate professor?). He was going home over the Christmas break, to Indonesia. I told him to get me some of this, which he promised to bring. And sure enough, he did. Joshua, you are the greatest student ever. This is made by KMI (Kreasi Mas Indah) Beverages. They started in 2008 and are located on the West Java, they have two carbonated soda brands, this root beer and some soda water, also “In addition to beverage product, [they] have personal care division with products Tabashi Bar Soap”. Because why not? Their bottle is small, only 250 ml compared to the standard 355 in this country. The label is simple and classic for a root beer.

The Body is sweet and creamy with a medium strength generic root beer flavor. The Bite is very mild with little spice but adequate carbonation. It’s smooth so I can’t complain much, just for lack of spice. The Head is extremely tall and frothy. It couldn’t really be any better. The Aftertaste is a pleasant vanilla and cane sugar flavor.

Very nice. Very nice indeed. This non-North American root beer tastes like a proper creamy root beer. I’ve never had that before. No strange fruity, weird herbal, or extra sour. Just creamy, sweet root beer goodness. It’s still rather generic, though, if I were in foreign lands and really craving a root beer, this would be good enough, unlike anything else I’ve ever tried from abroad. It also has that extra good Head giving bonus points. See how it rates against other root beers.

Three and a half kegs




Root Beer Bowl 2015 – Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Super Bowl XLIX Prediction

 Random Root Beer-ness  No Responses »
Jan 302015
 

Root Beer Bowl XLIX
It’s that time of year when the Super Bowl comes upon us. The biggest TV event in the US and massive celebrations shall ensue. Being from the Seattle area, this is especially exciting to see the Seahawks return as defending champions. There are many wacky ways that have been used to predict the winner, from rabbits, puppys, porcupines, search engines, and video game simulations. These are of course all rubbish. The most accurate predictor is one that I’ve known for years but only now make public. It is the Root Beer Bowl Predictor. Look at the three best bottled root beers from the respective teams’ larger home zone, Seattle area for the Seahawks, all of Massachusetts for the Patriots, and see the combined ratings. The keg difference in the rating multiplied by touchdowns gives the spread. The best root beer will win. Every time. Without question. Seriously.

So let’s get on to the teams. The team “captain” in this case is the highest rated brew from the city proper. For Seattle this is the Seal of Approval rated Jones Root Beer coming in at the lowest 4 kegs. The rest of the Seahawks’ root beer team comes from a 20 minute drive to the north in Mukilteo, WA, where Orca beverages makes the near peerless Bulldog Root Beer and the solid Brownie Caramel Cream Root Beer. This gives a team rating of 12.5 with nothing but Seal of Approval brews.

For the Patriots the captain is Emack & Bolio’s Rock It Root Beer. Very delicious but a poor Head relegates it to a mere 3.5. The rest Patriots’ Root Beer team line up comes from from Worcester, MA. The first is Polar Classics Root Beer with a respectable 3.5. Their final member is a sleeper, Ginseng UP, but not the Ginseng UP name brand root beer (which I haven’t reviewed yet), but their default private label recipe that they supply to the world’s private labelers. A Seal of Approval brew at 4 kegs. Then the Patriots’ final lineup gives them 11.

Prediction: Though the Patriots have a strong root beer lineup, it isn’t enough to overcome Seattle’s all-star lineup. I see the Seahawks winning this by 10 points. GO SEAHAWKS!!!

Root Beer Bowl Team Lineups:
Seattle: Jones – 4; Bulldog – 4.5; Brownie Caramel Cream – 4 = 12.5
Boston: Rockit – 3.5; Ginseng UP – 4, Polar – 3.5 = 11




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