"Our botanically driven Root Beer marries a classic bite with a creamy sweetness with extracts of sweet birch, smooth-vanilla bean and naturally sourced burdock root. We recommend pairing it with your favorite ice-cream."
(from the can): "We've spent years crafting a drink that;s as good for your digestion as it is delicious. OLIPOP combines the benefits of prebiotics, plant fiber and botanicals in a sparkling tonic that supports your microbiome and benefits digestive health."
Product details: 12 fl. oz. Manufactured for OLIPOP Inc., Oakland, CA 94610. 35 calories, 2g sugar. Contains 3% juice. Aluminum can. www.drinkolipop.com
Ingredients: Purified water, OLISMART (Chicory Root*, Jerusalem Artichoke*, Kudzu root*, Cassava fiber, Cassava syrup, Marshmallow root*, Slippery Elm bark*, Nopal cactus*, Calendula flower*), Apple juice, Organic Root Beer Flavor extract*, Stevia*, Burdock root*, Pink rock salt, Vanilla bean essence, Sweet Birch*. *extract
My thoughts: Okay, I'm feeling adventurous. Not only is this not a bottle, but it hits all the buzzwords: Prebiotics; botanicals; plant fiber; digestive health. Seems like it could be a perfect pairing with my avocado toast. I jest. Sort of. Avocado toast is tasty.
Okay, this is an interesting mix of flavors. I can tell it's a root beer, as it has some of the classic sassafras rootiness, but there are a lot of other competing flavors. A lot of the flavors I can't identify, as they are way outside my normal wheelhouse: Cassava, chicory root, Jerusalem artichoke, Kudzu root, etc (see the ingredients list above and most of those I have never had before). These flavors do lend a slightly "healthy herbal medicinal" sensation to the flavors, and I'm not entirely sure I like it. Vanilla is somewhere in this mix and I can taste it a little. The worst offender is probably the stevia, of which I have never been a fan. The stevia lingers strongly in the aftertaste, making me regret this drink.
With my first swig, the carbonation wasn't too bad. Weak, but okay. The effervescence quickly dissipated, leaving an almost entirely flat drink. (note: I had purchased this once before and only noticed it was past it's "best by" date after trying it and discovering it was totally flat, so I dumped it out. Giving it a chance with a newly purchased, fresh can, it seems that being flat is just how this drink rolls.) It's hard to judge smoothness in the near-complete absence of carbonation, but there is a sense of some creaminess. Sweetness is awful, not due to the texture, but the fact it's primarily sweetened with the awful stevia sweetener. Gross.
So this was an absolute failure as a root beer, or even as a moderately drinkable beverage. There is so much going on flavor-wise, with a few hits but mostly misses. I get that this is supposed to be a healthy alternative to regular soda, but they certainly didn't do a good job of convincing me that they are a viable competitor with my regular, not-at-all healthy, root beer. I had a hard enough time finishing this one can and certainly won't be consuming this again.
Rating: F
flavor: F
aftertaste: F
sweetness: D-
smoothness: C-
carbonation: F
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