Bulldog root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Award winning honey root beer. Complex flavor blending root beer extracts, vanilla and organic honey. Sweetened with cane sugar, this top rated root beer is a rich blend of all the right ingredients for the perfect root beer flavor experience. Bottled in long neck glass bottles, each batch is made fresh at our facility in Mukilteo, WA. 12 - 12 oz. long neck glass bottled sodas."

(from the bottle) "Unleash the Taste"


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Orca Beverage Soda Works, Mukilteo, WA 98275. 160 calories, 41g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.orcabeverage.com/


Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, honey, maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, real vanilla, phosphoric acid, salt.


My thoughts: Bulldogs bring to mind the attributes of strength, stoutness, and maybe some face puckering, all of which this drink lacks.  It's not a bad root beer by any means, but is extremely underwhelming.  The flavor is fairly tame, but on the weak side.  After the rootiness fades, I'm left with a bit of vanilla flavor and perhaps a touch of honey; nice and pleasant, but also a tad weak.  I like the level of sweetness, one of this drink's strengths.  There is a very glaring weakness, however, as the carbonation is terrible.  As in almost completely flat.  Of course, this makes the drink incredibly smooth, but smoothness should be a balancing act with carbonation, and this one is out of whack.  Despite the good taste, this drink is all bark and no bite, dragged down by lack of carbonation, and isn't one I would particularly recommend.


Rating: C-
flavor: B
aftertaste: B
sweetness: A-
smoothness: B
carbonation: F