River City root beer

Background information: (from the website) "River City Root Beer MADE FOR ICE CREAM!! The Best on the River! River City Root Beer was designed to be an old fashioned style root beer using the 3 best features of over 50 root beers we stock. It contains Real Cane Sugar and the finest ingredients available. We make this in small batches to ensure quality control. We found this pairs especially well with vanilla ice cream. Enjoy a River City Root Beer Float today!"

(from the bottle) "River City Root Beer brings back memories of a time gone by -- when the sky was bluer and the clouds whiter and the breeze off the river kept you cooler. Enjoy doggone good soda pop the way it used to be!"


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Produced by Blue Dog Beverage, LLC, Sacramento, CA. 180 calories, 46g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.bluedogbeverage.com


Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural Flavor, Quillaia Extract, Phosphoric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preservative), Potassium Sorbate.


My thoughts: With only a single "A" grade root beer for quite some while, I was ready for something to wow me. The bottle claims it's "made in small batches with the finest ingredients" so I'm hoping for something special. Popping off the top, I'm greeting with a pleasant whiff of rootiness, and my first taste is exactly what I had been hoping for: pure natural root beer flavor. It's been a while since I've had something with a strong sassafras flavor and this delivers. There's some obvious vanilla and the aftertaste leaves an interesting "dry" sensation in my mouth.

Sweetness is spot on, as have been a lot of root beers. It's hard to mess that one up too bad. The carbonation is nice and crisp, with small, lively bubbles giving it a nice effervescence. But one of my favorite parts of this root beer is the smoothness. I can't remember the last time I've had a root beer that felt this creamy. In some ways, it reminds me of a root beer float. I'm guessing the ingredient of Quillaia extract is contributing strongly to this aspect.

Having consumed a wide variety of root beers, I sometimes feel like I'm getting a bit tired of the drink. This one is the first in quite some time to make me excited about root beer again. They absolutely nail the amount of carbonation and creaminess, and the flavor is excellent and natural tasting, with the only knock on it being that I feel like it could be slightly more complex, offering a hint of another spice or two. But I'm just nitpicking at that point. This turned out to be one of my favorite root beers so far.
Rating: A
flavor: A
aftertaste: A
sweetness: A
smoothness: A+
carbonation: A