Island root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Experience the island’s award-winning root beer, handcrafted with all-natural ingredients and plenty of aloha. Our non-alcoholic Island Root Beer is brewed with cane sugar, local honey, and rich Hawaiian vanilla, creating a smooth, authentic flavor that captures a taste of the islands. Sip it straight from the can or enjoy it over Macadamia Nut ice cream for an island-style root beer float."

• Naturally Caffeine Free

• No Artificial Colors or Flavors

• No High Fructose Corn Syrup"

Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Brewed and canned by Maui Brewing Co. Kihei, Maui Hawaii 96753. 160 calories, 39g sugar. Aluminum can. https://mauibrewingco.com/

Ingredients: Carbonated purified water, cane sugar, local honey, natural root beer flavor, Hawaiian vanilla extract, citric acid, potassium sorbate (preservative).

My thoughts: More root beer in a can, but this time it comes all the way from Hawaii, where it is sweetened (partially) with honey. I'm looking forward to this one.

This is one of the more interestingly flavored root beers I've tried. It has a good rooty flavor, but even up front there is a very interesting side flavor that I can only presume comes from the honey they use. It has a strange taste to the drink that reminds me of something...maybe malt? It's not necessarily pleasant, but nor is it bad. It reminds me of the chocolate float soda I had earlier this year (that was awful, this one is better). There's some vanilla in there as well, but it's a bit buried beneath the main flavor, and maybe a hint of wintergreen, though that's more felt from the cooling sensation than it is the flavor.

The carbonation is solid, with a decent frothiness and bite to the bubbles. It maintained that level of carbonation through the whole can. It is a fairly sweet soda, with the double hit of cane sugar and honey. It did leave me feeling a little sugared out and my tongue and mouth felt a bit coated. It does have a fairly creamy, smooth texture to it, which I like

I had a bit higher expectations from this. As I think through my score, it comes out a little above the bog-standard average canned A&W root beer you find in the store, if for no other reason than it's fairly unique flavor profile. On the other hand, it reminds me of that chocolate float soda I tried earlier this year and ended up tossing out, but fortunately this is a better version of that flavor. Who knows, maybe I'll try this on a different day and will decide I love it. I do think it's certainly worth a try.

Rating: C+
flavor: C
aftertaste: C+
sweetness: C+
smoothness: B

carbonation: A- 

Popwell Prebiotic root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Popwell is a Better-For-You soda that delivers all the soda satisfaction you crave—without the excess sugar and empty calories. Made with prebiotic fiber, real fruit juice, and our Cold Crafted process, Popwell offers bold, refreshing flavors with low calories, 1g of sugar or less, and gut-friendly benefits."

Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Talking Rain Beverage Company, Preston, WA 98050. 35 calories, 1g sugar. Aluminum can. https://drinkpopwell.com/

Ingredients: Carbonated water, soluble corn fiber, contains 2% or less of: apple juice concentrate, acerola fruit juice powder, fruit and vegetable juice (for color), natural flavors, niacinamide (vitamin B3), calcium pantothenate (vitamin B5), biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12), stevia sweetener, citric acid, zinc sulfate, mushroom glycolipids.

My thoughts: There has been a surge of pre/pro-biotic sodas hitting the shelves in recent years, many of which offer root beers. While not usually my preferred root beer, I'm here to review them all, so I try to at least give them a fair chance.

Cracking open the can, it has a very root beer candy smell to it. The flavor is rooty as well, but with a very strong wintergreen component. The wintergreen quickly overwhelms the rooty flavor, however, and absolutely dominates the aftertaste, leaving me feeling like I just ate a breath mint. If you like your root beers extra minty, then this might be one for you.

Carbonation is on the light side, with fairly tame and tiny bubbles that lend a sense of carbonation, but don't really stand out. While it doesn't feel flat, I think it needs more prickle to really feel properly carbonated. Some of these pre/pro-biotic sodas have a thick texture to them, but this one is lighter and crisp. It doesn't exactly foam up or create a creamy sensation, but feels smooth nonetheless. Sweetness is actually quite decent for a stevia-sweetened drink, as I didn't get too much sense of the stevia flavor (probably overwhelmed by the wintergreen) and my mouth was left feeling fairly clean and fresh...a bit too fresh.

This was a bit different. I'm. not a huge fan of super mint heavy root beers, so this one ranks a fair bit lower than it otherwise might have. In fact, by the end of the can, it tasted more like a mint soda than a root beer.

Rating: D+
flavor: D+
aftertaste: D
sweetness: A
smoothness: B

carbonation: C-