(from the bottle) "The Private Selection journey rewards your sense of good taste. Inspired by food artisans and crafted with authentic ingredients and tantalizing recipes, each Private Selection offering is sure to feed our passion for gourmet foods."
Product details: 12 fl. oz. Distributed by The Kroger Co., Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. 140 calories, 36g sugar. Glass bottle with twist off top. http://www.privateselection.com
Ingredients: Carbonated water, cane sugar, caramel color, natural flavor.
My thoughts: Having already tried another of Private Selection's non-root beers, and enjoying it, I'm hoping that this one also offers an interesting take on your every day soda. While I'm not a huge fan of strong ginger flavor, I am known to enjoy some subtle ginger from time to time. So, where does this fall? The main flavor seems very much like a ginger ale, with some hints of a root beer. I don't think they mesh very well, however, as the ginger isn't very natural tasting (I expect ginger to have a bit of bite to it), falling more along the lines of the fake flavor we're used to in the generic ginger ales. The aftertaste reveals a little more of the root beer and vanilla tones, but they seem to play second fiddle to the main taste.
Sweetness is okay, but the ginger ale gives what sugar is there a sickly sweet taste. Not entirely pleasant. I would have expected that the lower than usual sugar content would translate to a less sweet sensation, but the sweetness that is there is exaggerated by the combination with the flavor to the benefit of neither. Maybe carbonation will be the saving grace? Think again. While it starts off at a moderate level of effervescence, with small bubbles dancing on my tongue, those bubbles quickly subside as I make my way down the bottle. By the halfway point, it's pretty tepid as far as carbonation goes. Bah. I almost don't even care about creaminess at this point. With little foam and almost no carbonation to froth things up, it's not what I'd call smooth. Sure, it's not harsh, but lack of harshness doesn't necessarily make it smooth.
At the end of the day, this is more of a ginger ale with some root beer taste mixed in. I think it would have worked better as a root beer first and foremost, with a more ginger root flavoring (as opposed to the faker ginger ale flavor). As a root beer, it fails. As a ginger ale, it also fails. These two flavors just do not mix well at all, with both being a detriment to the other. I'm glad I tried a different Private Selection soda before this one, or else I would have written off the whole brand.
Rating: D
flavor: D-
aftertaste: D
sweetness: C-
smoothness: C-
carbonation: D+
