Jan 232013
 

The very first grad school class I ever took involved having assigned homework partners for the entire class and lots of Matlab coding. As the Matlab expert on my team, I was assigned the task of writing the scripts to solve the problems. But I wanted to make sure that any script I wrote would be able to solve any problem of that type and spent extra time writing them. I said that I was writing robust code, though I’m not sure that is the proper term. I went on so much on the robustness of my code that one of my teammates called our team The Robusters. This was of course the first thing that I thought of when I saw Robusto Root Beer. The next thing I thought of was Robinson Crusoe, who doesn’t actually have the same name but it is phonetically similar. So evidently the Caruso family loved to make sodas, and though they’ve departed this world, they left the legacy of root beer (Robusto nonetheless), which is the best thing to be remembered by.

What an unbelievable Head! It foamed up so much that it spilled over and I still had a quarter bottle left to pour. It was frothy too though it could be frothier. The Body was rather unimpressive. It was good on the initial contact and slightly creamy, but after that it was very hollow. Then there was that amazing Head, taller than Henry’s. The Bite was decent. Nothing special though. Did I mention the Head? Wow! I had to lower my pouring height for the subsequent bottles so it wouldn’t overflow. The Aftertaste was rather lackluster like the Body. It was kind of icky with a hint of fruity and vanilla.

It seems that the Carusos really only wanted to be remembered for one thing and one thing only, unbelievable Head on their root beer. The rest of it is pretty meh, not bad really but nothing spectacular. I do have to give bonus points for the Head though. It’s pretty unforgettable and with that, the Legacy of the Caruso’s lives on. See how it rates against other root beers.




Jan 162013
 

Those neck-less brothers are back. After my scathing review of their attempt at an orange juice substitute it seems they went back and reformulated and renamed their brew. I didn’t realize this for many years and passed it by as I went searching for root beers. I was even conversing with someone on the subject of gourmet root beer (which is something I do quite a bit actually), about which ones had a strong vanilla flavor, and they mentioned Barrel Brothers. I told them they were crazy and Barrel Brothers was nasty. One day I took a closer look and realized that they’d added “New” to the label and “Creamy Vanilla” to the name. I dug up my bottle and compared ingredients and nutritional info. They were different. Yay! A new root beer. I quickly ordered some from Beverages Direct and got down to business.

Firstly, this smells rancid. I don’t know why but it does. The Body, however, doesn’t taste like its aroma at all. It has a very mild flavor with lots of rich, creamy vanilla. There’s a hint of something out of place with it. I can’t put my finger on it, but something doesn’t taste right. The Bite is ok from carbonation but no real spices to speak of. It is very smooth, as I prefer. I wish it had a bit of spice tingle to it, though. The Head is perfect. Yup, nothing more to say about that. The Aftertaste is vanilla, lovely vanilla. There’s the slightest hint of that out-of-place flavor but it quickly vanishes and is replaced by that wonderful vanilla.

So this root beer truly lives up to its name. So much so that it seems to be more of a cream soda than a root beer. Though I used to describe a cream soda as a root beer with a lot of extra vanilla so no harm there. It’s quite an improvement over their original root beer for sure, but not quite Seal of Approval stuff. I will agree with my friend though that it is a seriously smooth vanilla concoction. See how it rates against other root beers.




Jan 092013
 

Every year for Christmas I receive at least one new type of root beer from my family. It’s a pretty safe bet on their part that if they give me a new glass bottle brew, I’ll be thrilled. About four years ago my sister gave me a six pack of this. She picked Zuberfizz because it had such a funny name. I must admit, it is a pretty funny. I imagines that it must be zuber fizzy with a name like that. It’s made by Durango Soda Company and has a simple yet attractive label with some catch phrases including “Feel the Fizz!” as the official flavor text plus some of the standard “classic” and “draft” and whatnot.

The Body is very crisp and clean with all of the right flavors in the right proportions. Love that cane sugar. The Bite is very mild. It is a nice and smooth brew. The Head is a little weak but frothy and lasts. You can “feel the fizz” to the end. The Aftertaste is sweet and creamy that lingers just the right amount.

Yum! I really like it. Also, I find that it is zuber fizzy and I can feel it. Congrats on that Zuberfizz! It could be better of course but this is a solid brew worth getting more of. My sister, of course, was extremely happy that I loved it and that I gave it the Seal. I even had four bottles of this at my official launch party for the updated and improved website. See how it rates against other root beers.