Root Beer Tasting

My Sister with two of her girls, Mom, Dad and ME! did a Root Beer Tasting. I got my beer tasting glasses out for this big event. Each glass holds about 2 oz. I bought these glasses at my favorite dollar store for 50 cents each – what a deal.

With 6 people and four different Root Beers we needed 24 glasses. The four different Root Beers are:

Stewart’s - Frostie (fond memories from childhood)  - Virgil’s  - Goose Island

Each person had their voting slips (not to be shared till the final results).

Interesting: My sister and her two girls each had Frostie and Stewarts as 1 and 2.

My Dad voted Stewart’s as number 1 and did not rank the others – Okay, it is Fathers Day, I won’t give him too hard of a time for being noncompliant.

My Mom voted Stewart’s and Virgil’s as 1 and 2.

My vote – Virgil’s and Stewart’s.

Also, interesting was that my sister and her two girls voted Virgil’s 4th.

I asked my one Niece, ‘why did you vote Frostie over Stewart’s,’ and she said, ‘Stewart’s was too original.’ Where in the world did that review come from? Okay, now looking at the Stewart’s bottle – it says, ‘Stewart’s Original Fountain Classics.’ Now, I understand! I guess. Funny, anyway.

Here is my assessment: Virgil’s has some great flavors. Stewart’s has a very good creamy style and then mainly a caramel flavor. Frostie and Goose Island seemed like caramel flavored water.

Let’s take a look at the ingredients.

Virgil’s Mirco Brewed Root Beer: (listed on the bottle) Purified carbonated water, unbleached cane sugar, caramelized unrefined cane sugar, {THEN -}Anise, licorice, vanilla (bourbon), cinnamon, clove, wintergreen, sweet birch, molasses, nutmeg, … {also} gluten free. Using all natural ingredients.

Stewart’s Original Root Beer: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, natural and artificial flavor, sodium benzonate… {other stuff}.

Frostie Root Beer: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate, natural and artificial flavor, citric acid.

Goose Island Chicago Style Root Beer: Carbonated water, cane sugar, natural and artificial flavor, caramel color, sodium benzoate,…{other stuff}.

Will kids gravitate to all natural ingredients – NO! Sugar – Yes! High Fructose Corn Syrup – Yes!

Message here: parents, teach your children about flavors not just sugar.