Faygo root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Ben and Perry Feigenson, who were bakers in Russia, opened the Feigenson Brothers Bottle Works of November 4, 1907.  Their original flavors, grape, strawberry and fruit punch were based on their own cake frosting recipes."


Product details: 12 fl. oz. Faygo Beverages, Inc., a National Beverage Co., Detroit MI 48207.  170 calories, 43g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top. http://www.faygo.com/


Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, potassium benzoate (as preservative), citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, gum acacia.


My thoughts: My favorite scene in Faygo is when Gaear (Peter Stormare) is finishing up his job wood-chipping Carl (Steve Buscemi) and the foot is sticking out of the machine.  Oh wait, I was thinking of Fargo, the brilliant 1996 film by Joel and Ethan Coen.  Faygo, on the other hand, is decidedly not brilliant.  The root beer flavor is boring and bland, just your typical artificial root beer extract taste with some cooling, wintergreen flavor mixed in.  Aftertaste is just like Fargo's expansive, ice covered landscape; more of the same and cool.  Just as Gaear is caught flat-footed at the wood chipper by police chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), so too is this drink caught flat, but in a literal sense.  Carbonation is abysmal, with only the minutest hints of CO2.  Sweetness is okay, but not exceptional.  While I heartily recommend Fargo, I say "go far" away from Faygo, as it's not a root beer worth drinking.

Rating: D
flavor: C-
aftertaste: D
sweetness: C+
smoothness: B-
carbonation: F