Hank's root beer

Background information: (from the website) "The Hank’s Beverage Company is a privately held, Philadelphia based Company, with a history in the beverage business that goes back over 40 years.  Hank’s Root Beer  was first introduced in 1996.  Hank’s initial success was in the restaurant trade in Philadelphia and surrounding areas. Consumer demand drove expansion into all types of accounts, from chain and upscale restaurants, to deli’s, supermarkets chains, and hotels.  Currently, Hank’s is a national beverage company producing products on the east and west coast,  as well as the mid west.  Hank’s offers a full line of  gourmet flavor premium beverages, and is sold in over 40 states in every region of the nation."


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Manufactured by Hank's Beverage Co., Trevose, PA 19053.  180 calories, 44g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  www.hanksbeverages.com


Ingredients: Filtered carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, natural and artificial flavor, sodium benzoate (to protect flavor), yucca extract, citric acid and acacia.


My thoughts: The bottle looks like it would provide a thick, hearty root beer and that is exactly what this drink delivers.  It has an interesting and strong root beer flavor, with some sort of taste that I can't quite identify and maybe some vanilla.  This is one smooth drink, with an aftertaste very similar to the initial flavor, but extremely creamy feeling, as if there were a layer of cream left behind on my tongue.  The extra creaminess helps this root beer to go down extremely smoothly.  While I don't specifically taste wintergreen, there seems to be a slight minty-cooling effect going on as well.  I've read some other older reviews on this root beer and they complained of way too much wintergreen and a syrupy consistency.  It seems Hank's has significantly reformulated since then, as they replaced the HFCS with cane sugar (making it pleasantly sweet without being syrupy) and turning the wintergreen down so far that I'm not even sure if it is there any more.  Carbonation is dialed in just right, providing just the right amount of crispness without leaving any hint of soda water flavor.  With all the root beers I've been drinking lately, usually by the time I've finished off a bottle I've had enough.  After drinking down this one, however, I wished I had another bottle because I wanted another!


Rating: A
flavor: A
aftertaste: A
sweetness: A
smoothness: A
carbonation: A-