Getting this brew was frustrating. When it first came out they listed Cost Plus World Market as carrying it. I went to all of the ones in the area and they had every flavor of Swamp Pop except for the root beer. They were uncertain if they had merely sold out or never had it to begin with. After awhile it became evident that they didn’t have any and wouldn’t. So I emailed the company. They replied back that The Root Beer Store had it. But the people at the Root Beer Store didn’t have it and hadn’t even heard of it. So I was left wondering what to do and finally gave up and drank lots of other root beers. Then one day, I was at The Root Beer Store and they had it. Finally. This comes from down in Louisiana in the heart of Cajun country. It’s made with filé powder, which, if you don’t know, is ground sassafras leaves. It’s used for gumbo and other Cajun cooking. Since sassafras is a traditional root beer flavor (the roots anyways). The fine folks at Swamp Pop decided they should put it into their root beer to create “a flavor profile reminiscent of early, traditional root beers.”
This has a very sweet Body with an herbal, almost cola flavor. Vanilla stands out as well. There really isn’t much Bite other than the carbonation, but it isn’t overly smooth either. The Head is as good as it can be. So tall I have to pour with caution; lasting throughout the whole drinking experience. The Aftertaste is light and cola-ish. Is it from filé powder?
So really cola like and sweet. Not anything like the vast majority of root beers I’ve ever had. But, this reminds me of Barq’s, a lot. And Barq’s was made in the late 1800s and is also from Louisiana, so I’m thinking that this was their target from the beginning. It is better all around than Barq’s, plus it’s caffeine free, but it’s still a little too far outside of the standard root beer spectrum for me. See how it rates against other root beers.
Finally, I’ve gotten a hold of a clear root beer. I’ve been trying to do so since the beginning. Since that Snapple Tru Root Beer that I just missed in the late 90s. Then there was Tommy’s Naked Righteous Root Beer, that I also missed. So when someone tipped me off about this stuff, I had to buy it, no matter the price. Thankfully, the price wasn’t much so I didn’t break the bank. This is the second root beer to come in a little stubby clear bottle. The first was Dr. Brown’s which was also from New York. It must be a thing over there. Though I’ve long wanted to try a clear root beer, I don’t actually have very high expectations, since root beer, if made from it’s original ingredients would have color and it says “All Natural”. So with that in mind I unscrewed the cap and gave it a try.
Another premium gourmet root beer. This one comes from Orange, CA. The company specializes in small batch private labels with their own recipes for several flavors including root beer and butterscotch root beer. They also sell under their own name, but when they do, they don’t label it, ironically, but just wrap a tag around the bottle with twine. It’s a fancy spring top bottle that’s wax sealed. I’ve never had a waxed sealed spring top bottle before. When I learned about this I asked one of my Tesla Motors Club friends, Paul, to get me some when he was down at Disneyland. He tried to get their plain root beer as well, but they were out of stock the two times he went. Oh well. He gave it to me at TMC Connect. But I was planning on flying home so I gave it to another friend, to drive up to Seattle for me, but then I ended up doing a last minute road trip with Paul all the way home. So then I had to wait for my other friends and then, finally, I got to drink this fancy brau.