Eric’s Gourmet Root Beer Blog – Page 17 – The blog of the gourmet root beer site.

Sprecher Caffeinated Root Beer

May 042022

I found this last summer at Minnesota’s Largest Candy Store. I’d known about it for awhile and had tried to find it. Everyone told me to just get it from Menard’s, but every time I went to one they didn’t have it. I’m convinced Sprecher purposely makes new root beers hard for me and me only to find. Anyways. Caffeinated root beer. Can’t say I’m a fan in general as I don’t really drink much caffeine so it affects me a lot. Especially since I usually drink my root beers in the evening, I had to make sure to review these in the middle of day. Any ways. It seems like it is just original Sprecher with caffeine added to it, so it should be good.

It has a rich full body that’s sweet and smooth with vanilla and honey flavors. There’s some slight soapy notes and feel from the caffeine, but this isn’t too much to pull it down much. The Bite is good and spicy, on the milder side yet present enough. It has a smooth, yet slightly soapy finish. The Head is very tall and foamy, better than regular Sprecher. The Aftertaste is a vanilla and honey with that hint of soapy.

I was right, it is just regular ol’ Sprecher with that slightly alkaline caffeine flavor and feel, which is 100% expected and still quite delicious though not quite as good as the original. If I ever need to stay up late, this is what I’ll be drinking. See how it rates against other root beers.

Parlor Butterscotch Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Apr 062022

The second root beer of my birthday present of Parlor. This one is a butterscotch which is nice because while that type of brew used to be quite popular to add to a soda maker’s lineup, I haven’t seen a lot of new ones in the past few years. I guess 2020 was kind of a big stoppage in new flavor creation amongst all of the other problems. Anyways this brew. Now there is a parlor guy on the bottle and I don’t know his name. Couldn’t find anything about him on the website, but I think he looks a lot like a Brian, Brian Butterscotch? Maybe Bill. Yeah, Bill Butterscotch, better pay your Bills if you know what I mean.

The Body has a rich butterscotch flavor accented by vanilla and a root beer core. The flavors mingle beautifully so that neither overpowers the other. The Bite is mild for a root beer, as butterscotch, not spice takes the main stage. The Head is nice height and frothy. The Aftertaste is of vanilla and butterscotch.

Wow, good job. They nailed it and butterscotch root beer is hard to nail. This takes the simple plain root beer flavor of their original and expertly adds butterscotch to make it a thing of excellence. If their original brew had been more complex, maybe with more wintergreen and other spices, it may not have worked, but dang! (on purpose) It sure did this time. See how it rates against other root beers.

Parlor Root Beer

Bottled Root Beers No Responses »

Mar 022022

This was a birthday present from my lovely wife. It’s always easy to know what presents I want, just find a root beer I don’t have. She also got me some of their other flavor but more on that next month. So the people at Parlor are very passionate about their root beer. Their website says it’s “The best root beer you’ll ever slam down your gullet” amongst some other claims. They seem like fun guys and all they make is root beer and birch beer. Their mascot on this bottle is Patty Parlor, which I learned from their merch page. They also have a Betty Birch for their birch beer. Their merch also features a shirt which says “F*CK WATER DRINK ROOT BEER”, which, I mean, a little crass but also, yes. Anyhow, I’m not 100% sure what their parlor and their parlor girls are supposed mean, Google gave me some definitions which maybe fit… But they’re all tattooed and playing cards and stuff so I’m guessing this parlor of theirs is smoke filled with scantily clad, tattooed women and people playing cards. And you drink root beer there. Nailed it. Anyways. They make root beer so I like them for that.

The Body is sweet with a caramel cane sugar flavor and vanilla notes. The flavor is clean but rather plain, lacking the complexity you find in most root beers. There is very little Bite but the feel isn’t very smooth either. The Head is excellent, it’s tall and frothy but also doesn’t build too high nor last too long. The Aftertaste is rich vanilla, which builds the more you drink, almost like a root beer float vanilla.

Hmm, this is tasty but rather plain. It’s like a cheeseburger with nothing but meat cheese and ketchup. Good, but can be improved upon with more complexity of flavor. So is this the best root beer I’ll ever slam down my gullet? No. Is it even Seal of Approval? Also no. But it is yummy, it just needs more depth. See how it rates against other root beers.

Older Entries Newer Entries