I’ve had many different “flavored” root beers. Vanilla root beers, butterscotch root beers, maple root beers, birch, sarsaparilla, honey, caramel, and even cherry root beers. But I’ve not yet had one that calls itself a “brown sugar” root beer. Not that there hasn’t been brown sugar in other root beers I’ve drank before, it’s just no one has ever decided to make that their main selling point. Interestingly, brown sugar isn’t listed on the ingredients, just “pure cane sugar”. This could include brown sugar but it’s kind of odd to not list it separately. Batch is a relatively new soda company. It was established in 2013 with the goal of evoking a connection to authenticity and inspiring the creation of new memories through their soda recipes. They list the batch number on the label, in this case, 714, but I’m not sure if they change that every run. A quick google image search does not reveal any labels with numbers other than 714, but there’s also not many pictures period, so I can’t make a definitive conclusion. Anyways, on to the review.
The Body is mild and generic with fruity overtones and some vanilla. It’s got the kind of fruity that you get if you put too much brown sugar in your oatmeal. There isn’t much Bite and, unfortunately, it isn’t very smooth. The Head is nice and tall with medium staying power, so it’s pretty good. The Aftertaste is more fruity vanilla flavor.
I said it already, but the flavor really reminds me of the times I’ve put ridiculous amounts of brown sugar in my oatmeal and it has an kind of fruity flavor. And you know how I feel about a lot of fruity in my root beer. It’s a shame really, I could have seen this being much better. See how it rates against other root beers.
Last week I was in Sacramento for work, meeting with the local utility as I’m wont to do these days. Now if you’ve kept up with this blog, you’ll know that Sacramento is a city that has quite the storied past with me, though it’s been the first time I’ve been back there in around five years. On top of visiting relatives, I needed to hit up a brewery for root beer. Not any brewery would do, however, I was looking for River City Brewing Company, not to be confused with 
Imagine a root beer that’s more than just a root beer. It’s a root beer with a mission. A mission to enrich the state of New Mexico, through local economic support. A mission to achieve a sustainable earth for the next seven generations. And a mission to benefit the Native Tribe of Zia Pueblo. Congratulations, you’ve imagined ZIA Root Beer. The company name, ZIA Energia means sun energy. And the symbol on the bottle is the sun, with rays in four directions, symbolizing many sets of four things like North, South, East, and West; Earth, Water, Air, Fire; and even Clear Mind, Strong Body, Pure Spirit, and Devotion to the Well-Being of Others. The design and the font are all very Pueblo-y, if that’s a style. I think it’s a style. I’m saying it’s a style. Feel free to correct me in the comments about what the real style is. My rudimentary Googling fell short. My only comment on their mission is what about the poor eighth generation?