Root Naturals Apothecary root beer

Background information: (from the website): "The year was 1937, the country was in the midst of the Great Depression and the entire City of Cincinnati was flooded as the Spring waters jumped the banks of the Ohio river. It was in this bleak setting that a young Deno Spaccarelli (pictured below!), perhaps acting on the challenge of President Roosevelt that there was “nothing to fear but fear itself” decided to open his first apothecary on Erie Avenue in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Cincinnati. It was here that he would compound custom prescriptions in the pharmacy and custom sodas at the fountain. And that is where our story begins. Eight decades later when the last Deno Apothecary was closed and the books were settled, we set out to keep the family tradition alive by bottling our apothecary sodas for all the world to taste."

Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Root Naturals, 9891 Montgomery Road #115, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242. 160 calories, 42g sugar. Glass bottle with twist off top. www.rootbeverage.com

Ingredients: Triple filtered carbonated water, cane sugar, botanical extract blend, natural flavor, caramelized cane sugar.


My thoughts: I like the marketing on the label for the "botanical extract blend" and calling it an "apothecary craft soda," as this brings to my mind rich, complex flavors that go beyond the basic rooty sassafras, vanilla, and wintergreen combo that so many employ. I'm hoping they mix things up with a few more of the lesser used spices, so we'll see if they deliver or not.

This has a strong, rooty sassafras flavor that has good flavor. There are hints of vanilla and wintergreen, though this one keeps the wintergreen a bit tamer, which I appreciate, not letting it dominate the taste. I feel like there are some other more subtle spices at work, but I'm not quite sure what they are. All I can say is that they lend a bit of a more sophisticated flavor profile than your usual root beer. The aftertaste is mostly a continuation of these flavors, though maybe I detect a hint of anise/black licorice? Maybe I'm imagining things as I search for the hidden flavors, but I would not be at all surprised to find out this is on the list of flavors they sparingly use.

It's a shame that a good flavor like this is paired with such a weak carbonation. It's a pretty flat root beer with only a smattering of bubbles, which shifts into almost entire flatness about 2/3rds of the way into the bottle. It's very disappointing. Sweetness is just about perfect, with a very minimal sugary feeling being left behind relative to other sodas. The flatness makes it pretty smooth to drink, but it doesn't have any of that frothy creaminess that make for a top tier soda. And anyway, having carbonation is kind of a key component to this aspect.

I like what they are doing with the flavor, but the root beer experience is really shattered by the incredibly weak carbonation. Fix the carbonation problem and this becomes a much better root beer, but in its current state, it's not something I'd seek out again.

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

Oak Creek Blonde root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Through a decade long journey, the team of Master Soda Craftsmen at OAK CREEK cultivated a unique process in which traditional sodas can be delivered in multiple varietals through time honored barrel aging techniques. This passion project was inspired and influenced by the rise of the barrel aged culture of wine, beer, and spirits. For the soda connoisseur with an eye for innovation and a thirst for a unique drinking experience, OAK CREEK Barrel Aged Sodas represent the next evolution of craft soda.

OAK CREEK uber-premium Root Beers are hand-crafted in American Oak barrels with a medium char which increases the oak’s influence on the color, aroma, flavor, and overall style. Naturally flavored and made with real sugar, each small batch of OAK CREEK Root Beer spends no less than ONE YEAR aging in the oak so that the full benefits can be drawn out and delivered to your glass."

(from the bottle): "Barrel aged root beer is a traditional root beer turned upside down. Well, more like turned on its side and the aged in a medium-charred American Oak barrel. We're paying homage to the original soda fountains while elevating the process for the next Millenium. Share your vintage!"

I noticed on this most recent bottle that it shows it's being made by the Sprecher Brewing Co. I'm not sure if they bought out Oak Creek or are just a manufacturer for Oak Creek now. No mention was made of Sprecher when I reviewed the regular Oak Creek root beer last year. The Blonde bottle I'm reviewing here, however, lists Sprecher as the manufacturer on the label as well as Sprecher's website instead of the www.oakcreekbarrelagedsodas.com site that was on the non-blonde label.

The Oak Creek website is loading very, very slowly as of this writing (I thought it was non-funtional at first, but after a minute or two finally loaded - though with some broken headers/images). In spite of the bottle pointing you to the Sprecher site, they make no mention of this root beer that I could find.

Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Sprecher Brewing Co. Glendale, WI 53209. 150 calories, 41g sugar. Glass bottle with pry off top. www.sprecherbrewery.com

Ingredients: Carbonated water, sugar, brown sugar, natural and artificial flavor, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate (as a preservative), potassium sorbate.


My thoughts: This is my second encounter with Oak Creek recently, with their last "regular" (non-blonde) root beer failing to impress. This one offers something a little different, however, with the label claiming "25% brown sugar/75% real sugar." I do like a well done, brown sugar sweetened root beer, so let's see if this gentleman [points to self with both thumbs] prefers blondes.

Much like its non-blonde counterpart, the flavor is a bit weaker than I usually like. Not too terribly so, but I wouldn't mind a slight boost in the sassafras strength. Still mirroring the other root beer offering, it has an interesting flavor profile. Maybe it's just the "barrel aged" moniker putting it into my mind, but it does have a slight woody hint to it, reminding me of the sensation of when I eat a popsicle and my tongue licks the wooden stick. I think I like it, though. It's certainly different. The aftertaste doesn't seem to have the wintergreen or anise I was sensing from the non-blonde version, as the "woody" sensation becomes a little more prominent as the fairly basic rooty flavor fades away. I will say, this root beer does make me take more of a pause (in a good way) to experience the taste profile, as there's something going on that I'm not used to and can't quite figure out what it is. Perhaps it's the vanilla and brown sugar coming together at the end.

The carbonation in this blonde version is pretty decent. It's not super aggressive, with a smaller bubble profile, but it seems to hold pretty consistent through the whole bottle. It doesn't have a foam or froth, so misses out on some of the finer creaminess points, coming in about average feeling. Interestingly, the brown sugar mix doesn't seem to add a ton to the flavor, but as noted above it might be adding a little flavor profile rather than beating me over the head with that taste. When it comes to the sweetness, I think it's dialed in fairly well, sweet, but not too cloyingly syrupy.

This one is a tough one to rate. It has a lighter flavor than I usually care for, but there are some really interesting flavors going on underneath that I think benefit from not being overwhelmed by a super strong sassafras flavor. With the different approach here, I think this is a root beer all aficionados should try, even if I hesitate to call it one of the best. This is definitely one I'll need to circle back to and try again.

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