Frostie Vanilla root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Frostie Old Fashioned Root Beer was first bottled in 1939 in Catonsville, Maryland near Baltimore.  George Rackensperger, then president of The Frostie Company rented an abandoned jailhouse to launch his Frostie operation.  A garage formerly housing the police wagon was used for bottling equipment and jail cells were employed to store sugar, crowns and other supplies."


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Frostie is a registered trademark of Frostie Root Beer Co. LLC, Detroit, MI 48234  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.frostie.biz/


Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Sodium Benzoate (a preservative), Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavors.


My thoughts: Having tried the non-vanilla version of Frostie's root beer (review here), I'm curious how this one will compare. As a general rule, I like vanilla in my root beer, so if that continues to hold true, all other things being equal, I suspect I'll like this vanilla version even more. Considering that the regular version got one of my worst scores so far, it wouldn't take much to top the original one.

My initial impression is that the vanilla overwhelms the root beer taste. I'd describe the rootiness as "anemic", leaving me with the feeling that it's watered down. The flavor is a pretty simple affair, with little distinguishing characteristics to make any spices apparent. The aftertaste is more of the same, with a bit of wintergreen leaving a slightly minty feel. One interesting note is that a minute or so later the vanilla aftertaste was hanging in strong, which is something I like.

Sweetness is fine, though I've found that particular aspect is hard to screw up too bad. My mouth was left a little on the sugary side, but part of that feeling may stem from the lack of carbonation to draw my attention away from the sugar aspect. The first few sips out of the bottle were okay, though nothing amazing. It quickly went downhill and devolved into pretty dang flat. No bubble dancing on my tongue makes me an unhappy root beer consumer. Despite the flatness, I wouldn't call this particularly smooth. Sure, it doesn't crackle and tickle the tongue, making it seem smooth, but it lacks any sort of creaminess and froth.

Well, I'm not impressed. I certainly appreciate the added benefits of the vanilla boost, but besides that, this drink continues to be a letdown. I purposely didn't read my previous review from five years ago while writing this review, but now that I can go back and look at it, it seems this is more or less the same one dimensional root beer with a kick of vanilla to give it a little variation (and slight improvements to the flavor score).

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

AJ Stephans root beer

Background information: (from the website) "AJ Stephans Company makes the finest elixirs and mixers in New England"

(note: the website is terrible and lacking information and seems to not have been revised since 2006.  Their "news" hasn't been news since 1998!  Now I'm not expecting them to maintain a fully interactive, multimedia-enabled HTML5 page with video, music, and such -this is just root beer we're talking about- but to advertise your website on the label and then not update it with any content in the last 6 years is just plain lazy!)


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  AJ Stephans, PO Box 5115, Fall River, MA 02723 (508) 646-9929.  170 calories, 43g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  www.ajstephans.com


Ingredients: Pure carbonated water, cane sugar, flavor, caramel color, sodium benzoate as a preservative.


My thoughts: Judging by the sound the top made when I twisted it off, I had low expectations for the carbonation.  From the barely audible hiss of the escaping gas, to the lack of bubbling noise, this drink betrayed it's flatness from the beginning and was soon confirmed by the almost complete absence of detectable carbonation.  I suspect that the guy responsible for carbonating their drinks is the same guy who maintains their website, as both are poorly done (note: don't let your website programmer run the carbonation machine, nor vice versa).  Flavor starts with a moderately rooty taste (nothing too strong however) with a hint of wintergreen.  The aftertaste quickly develops into a strong wintergreen, with no other detectable flavors.  The wintergreen is pleasant, but ends up being too overpowering in the end.  I wouldn't mind drinking this from time to time if it had a reasonable amount of carbonation.  As it stands, however, I can't recommend this.


Rating: D+
flavor: C
aftertaste: C-
sweetness: B
smoothness: B
carbonation: F