Suds and Duds III

In my continuing mission to explore strange new brews, I have come across five more that I'd like to share with you. I get most of these from BevMo, so thanks to them for keeping such a delicious variety in stock. I'd also like to add that ThinkGeek has enabled me to use a gift certificate I received last Christmas to purchase my very own DIY Root Beer kit. I'm looking forward to jumping into that this weekend.

Let's Begin.

You've all heard of my love for Virgil's all-natural approach to root beering, and it doesn't end just because they release a special edition Bavarian Nutmeg Blend. But that doesn't mean that all things Virgil are just as amazing as all others. While I definitely appreciate the bite of this brew, the high licorice content really overpowers the remaining spices and flavours. It pervades in the aroma as well. If you're way into black licorice (the good stuff, not freaking twizzlers or red vines) then I would definitely recommend this to you. However,I'm not all that in to licorice. It also comes up short in the wonderful creamy flavour to which I've become accustomed with this brand. For now, I'll stick with the basic Virgil's, and I'm looking forward to trying the wide variety of their other all-natural sodas: Dr. Better, Cream Soda, and Orange Cream soda.

Interesting note: I tasted this with a group of friends among whom were some very accomplished adult beverage connoisseurs. We discovered that this brew becomes AMAZING with a Mexican liqueur, Xtabentún. The liqueur's super-sweet honey taste is diluted by the overhwelming licorice of the Nutmeg Blend, which becomes a fabulous hybrid of an adult beverage enjoyable by anyone (21 and over, that it.:))

 Next, I blind tested Captain Eli's. The aroma filled me with a spice-heavy creaminess that I might have enjoyed two or three times too many. The taste had a great husky bite to it and it left me feeling like I'd just taken a mighty swig from my favorite porter at English Ales. It was a full-bodied concoction that I enjoyed to the end, when I mixed it with another brew in this review to make an awesome root beer float.
It should be noted that, among drinks with naval rank in their names, this doesn't stray from quality. Captain Eli wolud mix wonderfully in the company of Captain Morgan, Sailor Jerry, and/or Admiral Nelson.

Third on this list is a brew I may have mentioned previously, but shall remain unmentioned until the end of this review. It came to me in a small cup with a creamy, frothy aroma that filled my olfactory sense with a wonderful vanilla. When I tasted it, I was reminded of summer days in the pool at my Aunt Whitney and Aunt Donna's old house. Smooth like velvet, the flavour encapsultated my taste buds to hold them hostage with a gentle bite, full flavour, and a lingering creaminess that didn't evaporate slowly. It was the best-tasting of those reviewed here. I said that aloud after my second generous taste and was immediately surrounded with stifled laughter. My girlfriend sneaked in an imposter. I've said that Henry Weinhard's was an old favourite of mine, but since they switched out real sugar for that deleteriously inferior high-fructose corn syrup sweetener wanna-be, I've stayed away from it. She wanted to see if I could taste the difference, and I can say to you that I could not. Nor do I know if I'll ever be able to. But it did remind me that just because something tastes good, it doesn't mean it's good for you. C'est la vie.
Last on this list, and as a favour to another friend of mine in Yosemite National Park, is Waialua. I regret that I didn't even bother to inhale the fragance of this brew, as I was all-too eager to imbibe the contents of my glass. What resulted was an intense mouth-feel followed by the most unique sweetness of any root berr previously reviewed. It was very full0-flavoured and I enjoyed every drop. I did note, however, that the aftertaste was markedly similar to cough syrup, a very sweet one. It's also worth noting that I was able to determine which root beer this was based on its original sugar content - Maui Cane sugar.

And now for an as-I-write demonstration:

I've got a bottle of Route 66 sitting on my desk which has probably just warmed up to optimal flavouring right about now. Before I taste it, I wanted to share that I bought this root beer because my late grandmother, Doris, was one of the world's foremost authorities on the Dust Bowl. During this time, millions of mid-westerners across the U.S. packed up everything they owned and moved out to California. The route they took was US Route 66. It's basically synonymous with the Dust Bowl migration. I'm dedicating this review to you, Gramma, and I hope the root beer lives up to your memory, in its own small way.

Aroma - Just out of the bottle, I can detect and intense, spicy, full-bodied vanilla cream aroma that, because of the previously elicited memories, reminded me of waking up at Gramma's house on Christmas morning...usually around 2 a.m. I would lie awake waiting in eager anticipation for my queue to rip through some wrapping paper and discover wonderful things. Here's to that association!

Taste - The mouth-feel and bite are at the right level to make the perfect tingle in my mouth, but the vanilla cream flavour is gone in moments, leaving me with root beer that is more a memory than actual taste-bud blowing explosion of spice. Fitting. The sweetness is in all the right places and I can practically feel a heft oomph of flavour as it hits my stomach. White it's not the best I've had, it is a far cry from the worst.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for more Suds and Duds.