Cool Mountain root beer

Background information: (from the website): "All Cool Mountain Flavors are made with Pure Cane sugar and 100% Caffeine Free. Lightly carbonated not overly sweet with a bold refreshing flavor since 1997. Our clear glass bottles are wrapped with custom pressure sensitive labels, capped off with a black and chrome twist off promotional bottle cap that seals in freshness. Our Master 24 pack carton is beautifully printed white tab lock box to display our companies trademark logo name and flavor with cut out handles. More than 50% of our package is made from recycled materials meeting all state, federal nutrition compliance and truth in labeling requirements."

Whew, their website is pretty boring. While most root beer sites like to tell an interesting history, this one just spouts out a couple facts, with the information all feeling very impersonal. Oddly enough, this lifeless content is juxtaposed with the image banner at the top showing exciting and adventurous people doing fun things like snowboarding, white water kayaking, rock climbing, motorcycling, and surfing. Perhaps they figure that people don't read anymore and will just see exciting pictures and assume that all the words must be exciting as well.


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Bottled under the authority of Evolution Brands LLC, Des Plaines, IL 60016. 160 calories, 40g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.coolmountain.com/


Ingredients: Filtered water, pure cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate as a presevative.


My thoughts: I wonder what other names they went through before settling on the name "Cool Mountain"? I imagine Chilly Molehill, Frigid Elevationally Exception Landmass, Awesome Alititudal Precipice or maybe Totally Excellent Peak? Well, either way, I can't help buy wonder, is this a root beer I would climb to the top of the highest bluffs to acquire? Read on to know the answer to this question that has haunted humanity from their earliest days.

My refrigerator maintains a constant 37°F, fulfilling the "cool" part of the beverage's name. As for the taste, there's a strong, but generic, root beer flavor. Unlike many other root beers, where I can taste a bunch of other individual spices, this one just has the one note: typical root beer. It's not bad or candy-like, but it's nothing special. Pretty much what I'd expect from a normal can of store-bought root beer, maybe slightly better. The aftertaste doesn't offer anything different, with the root beer taste just slowly fading off.

Sweetness is average, getting the job done while only leaving a moderate sugary coating behind. Nothing I can really complain about. Carbonation is where this root beer shines, with a nice strong tingle on my tongue that maintains it's strength all the way to the bottom of the bottle. Smoothness suffers a little here, partially due to the strong (but not overly so) carbonation. Combine this with the lack of creaminess, and this isn't a particularly smooth root beer.

At the end of the bottle, I concluded that I would not scale Mt. Everest to get a bottle of this root beer. To be fair, I wouldn't scale Mt. Everest for any sort of root beer, as I hate heights and detest the cold. I would, however, scale a small incline, perhaps even a moderate countryside hill, to drink this root beer. It's not exceptional, but it's right up there with the average root beer at the grocery store, and even those are worth a minuscule amount of exertion from time to time.


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

Iron Horse root beer

Background information: (from the website) "In 1869, Central Pacific's steam engine the Jupiter was nicknamed IRON HORSE. It met Union Pacific's #119 at Promontory Peak, Utah, uniting the Atlantic Coast with the Pacific. Today, IRON HORSE still unites rich flavor with original refreshment. Our commitment to authentic recipes blend quality ingredients with a cool, low carbonated taste enjoyed by those who built the rail lines so many years ago."


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Distributed by Iron Horse Products, Inc., P.O. Box 24824, Edina MN 55424. 180 calories, 45g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.drinkironhorse.com/


Ingredients: Carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, sodium benzoate (as a preservative), and natural and artificial flavor.


My thoughts: The label design and brand name are excellent exercises in advertising, as they connote a connection with a time of steam locomotives, when almost everything food related was manufactured from natural ingredients. This was an era where sugar came from the cane, well before high fructose corn syrup became commercially available in the 1970s. So it's ironic that in the world of small batch root beers dominated by cane sugar for sweetening that this drink would buck that trend by using the cheaper, lower quality HFCS. But does that translate into a worse drink?

The flavor is very sweet up front, with not a whole lot of sassafras rootiness and just a touch of vanilla. There is also the slightest bitter taste, one that I had to keep searching for to determine if it was really there or not, but it was. Besides the weak root beer flavor, there isn't much else going on with the flavor. There might be a very minute hint of wintergreen in the aftertaste, but maybe I'm imagining things.

Buster is just as excited about this root beer as I am.

While the sweetness isn't bad, in fact it would serve quite well in many other root beers, I feel like it overwhelms the weak flavor, making it seem stronger than it really is. They say they purposely keep the carbonation low to "keep the flavor rich", but I didn't find it to be very low. While it may not assaulted my tongue with spark and tingle, it certainly seemed up to the task and lasted all the way until the bottom of the bottle. This drink is a little bit creamy, giving it a nice smoothness that contrasts well with the carbonation levels.

At the end of the day, this isn't a root beer I'd invest in again. I think it has serious flavor issues (not surprising as "flavor" is the bottom ingredient on the list). The carbonation is great, but isn't enough to save this drink. Just like the steam powered locomotive, this drink can't keep up with modern competition.





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

edited to add: many times after I write my review I will browse other reviews to see how other's thoughts line up with mine. I never read the reviews before I drink a root beer (so I don't go in with a preconceived notion). What I found interesting is that there are quite a few extremely good reviews for Iron Horse, saying it had fantastic flavor. I noticed most of these reviews are from ~2011 or earlier. The couple more recent ones I found weren't super impressed with this drink, drawing similar (though not always agreeing) conclusions as I. It just seemed interesting that the once lauded flavor seems to have been abandoned for a recipe that hasn't received nearly such effusive praise.

St. John Brewers Virgin Islands root beer

Background information: The St. John Brewery website seems to be primarily dedicated to their alcoholic beverages, with only a passing mention of their root beer. Even their "root beer" page is just advertising their bar. So not a great resource for learning more about the soda side of the business.

If you want to read more about them (it's a pretty interesting story), they have a fairly decent history of the company here: http://www.stjohnbrewers.com/ourstory.html


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  165 calories, 49g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.stjohnbrewers.com/


Ingredients: Water, cane sugar, caramel coloring. natural & artificial flavors including wintergreen oil, anise, vanilla spices, herbs, citric acid, sodium benzoate as a preservative.


My thoughts: The great question in my mind is this: Has this root beer been blessed by divine Sainthood to be a rapturous event, or will it be devilishly bad? Does the palm tree logo with a tap in it indicate that this drink will taste like palm tree, or was the graphic designer trying to trick me? Inquiring minds want to know!

Well, in the flavor department, this drink is more angelic than it is demonic. There is a nice blend of spices, with a strong, rooty taste and very distinct vanilla, anise, and -mildly- some wintergreen. I like that each of these flavors is present and notable without any one being overpowering. What I find interesting is that as I drink, a different flavor becomes slightly more pronounced than the others, only to have a different one overtake it on the next swig. Aftertaste is nice, with the wintergreen lingering the longest, but never overpowering.

With such good flavor, this drink is certainly destined to be heavenly, right? Smoothness is nice, with a decent creaminess to it. Sweetness seems right on point too, as it is definitely a sweet drink, but I didn't feel that was overly sugary, with only a moderate sugary coating left in my mouth. This was surprising to me, as it has about 20% more sugar than most other root beers, so I was expecting it to be substantially sweeter and leave a much more prominent coating in my mouth.

So far this root beer is a slam dunk! Sainthood achieved! Wait! Stop the press! A scandal has come to light that causes it to fall flat! Unfortunately, with sainthood virtually guaranteed, the devil in the details rears its ugly head, for it seems that somebody forgot the effervescent aspect of this root beer. It has a little bit of bubble, but not much, coming across as fairly flat. What little carbonation it has is maintained throughout drinking the entire bottle, but the problem is just that it is too flat to begin with.

So, does this root beer deserve to enter the pearly gates of rootbeerness? Despite the sin of flatness, I'd give it a pass to get in. All saints have minor flaws and St. John overcomes this weakness with an overall goodness that is hard to contest. I really with this had a bit more bite to the carbonation, as it would join the elite root beers if did. As for the tree logo, I did not taste any tree flavor in this drink, so the logo is mercifully inaccurate.


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

Maine Root root beer

Background information: (from the website): "Handcrafted soda made with Fair Trade Certified organic evaporated cane juice.  Open a bottle and taste the flavor of extracts of wintergreen, clove and anise.  Our recipe combines these ingredients with FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED ORGANIC SUGAR to allow the flavor of each of these extracts to come through.  This is the one that started it all.  Pop a top off and see why. CAFFEINE FREE."

"For 6 years now, Maine Root's FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED organically sweetened sodas have been thrilling fans from New England to Texas. This all started when younger brother Matt, a boat builder and former fishing guide, was helping a friend, Bobby Morgan, build the oven at Flatbread Pizza Company in Portland, Maine. Finding the restaurant's current root beer less than palate pleasing, he brewed his own. Praises and orders flowed and soon brother Mark quit his software sales job to expand their distribution."


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Maine Root Handcrafted Beverages, Portland, Maine 04101. 160 calories, 41g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://maineroot.com/


Ingredients: Carbonated pure water, Fair Trade Certified organic cane juice and spices.


My thoughts: Natural and organic, how could you go wrong? Well, the first way to go wrong is to have a very weak and short-lived rootiness. While the sassafras seems to be nice and natural, it unfortunately doesn't make enough impact, quickly dissipating into a mild aftertaste of spices, with vanilla being the predominate one. Now, the taste isn't bad. In fact, it's quite good and refreshing. So it's too bad that it fades so quickly.

Carbonation levels are great. This is a nice crispy drink that maintains a good carbonation until the end. It isn't one of the smoothest drinks, however, as the carbonation doesn't exactly translate into froth, falling a bit short in creaminess. Sweetness seems to be in line with what I expect from a root beer, so I have no complaints there.

This is a root beer that I wished I liked more. It doesn't have anything particularly wrong with it other than the flavor is too weak. What flavor is there is pretty decent, tasting nice and natural. I would certainly drink this root beer again, but given a selection of root beers, I can't say this one makes a compelling enough case to beat out many of the others.


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

Chicago root beer

Background information: The website doesn't provide much information, merely telling us the root beer is available in 12 oz. bottles, kegs, and syrups for restaurants.


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Cool Mountain Beverages Inc., Des Plaines, IL 60016. 180 calories, 40g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.chicagorootbeer.com/


Ingredients: Filtered water, pure cane sugar, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate and potassium as a preservative.


My thoughts: Well, sorry to disappoint, but this is another candy-like root beer with a strong, artificial rootiness to it and little in way of other flavors. Once the initial flavor subsides, it turns into...well...less of the original taste. No additional notes become apparent, with the main flavor just fading away.

Despite the candy-like taste, overall sweetness levels aren't too bad. I would have expected from the initial flavor to have more of a syrupy coating in my mouth, but it really wasn't too bad. Carbonation is decent, providing a nice little *pop* to my tongue, but isn't too aggressive. The drink doesn't provide a particularly creamy experience, so smoothness is just average.

To sum it up, this is just another mediocre root beer, certainly not worth the additional premium paid for it over a plain old regular can of grocery store soda. Absent any other root beer selection, this will get the job done; it just won't excel at it.


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

Crater Lake root beer

Background information: (from the website) "Crater Lake Soda is made with pure cane sugar, as opposed to the high-fructose corn syrup that many of our competitors use. In addition we don't use additives such as caffeine or foam enhancers. Foam enhancers are present in some soda products, especially root beers and cream sodas, to promote a stable head for visual appeal. Crater Lake Soda varieties are all lightly carbonated for a full, crisp taste. We are happy to brew our sodas the old-fashioned way to meet consumer demand for healthier products and a true gourmet soda. Crater Lake Soda varieties are also Kosher and gluten-free."


Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Crater Lake Soda Co., Portland, Oregon 97220 USA. 160 calories, 41g sugar.  Glass bottle with twist off top.  http://www.craterlakesoda.com


Ingredients: Sparkling water, pure cane sugar, caramel color, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate (preserves freshness), citric acid.


My thoughts: Keep Portland weird. That's one of the taglines for the city of Portland, OR, so I expect them to also keep their root beer weird. In a good way. Well, they don't exactly do that. Instead, this root beer settles for a very generic root beer flavor; strong, but not complex. It mostly delivers a general sassafras flavor, with little else.  The aftertaste doesn't really offer anything additional, as the original flavor just sort of fades away. The overall taste, therefore, is just "meh".

Carbonation is some moderately weak sauce. Sure, there are some bubbles, but it feels like it's on the verge of going flat. There really isn't any foam or creaminess, so I wouldn't say it's particularly smooth, with the majority of the "smoothness" coming from the lack of carbonation. It seems a little on the sweet side, feeling a bit more sugary than it really needs to be.

What a letdown. This drink does a couple things okay, but also a few things less well than average. I was hoping they had managed to bottle up some of Portland's weirdness, but instead they delivered a bottle of indifferent "whatever". If you're looking for an average or better root beer, look elsewhere. While it isn't a gross drink, it doesn't really do anything particularly well and there are better root beers for less money.

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

Fireman's Brew root beer

Background information: (from the website): "In December 2000, Rob and Ed were sitting on a steep hillside of an extinguishing brushfire above the Glendale Mountains. They were staring into the midnight sky, dreaming of the cool smooth taste of a fresh beer to quench their scorched dry mouths. From this point, these two Los Angeles based firemen set out to brew the best Fireman's Brew in the world.

The result was Fireman's Brew, the perfect choice to "Extinguish Your Thirst" & "Ignite the Party"! In a brief moment in time, the two men gave birth to a vision that they are living out today. Their thirst for beer and coffee after that exhausting day launched them into developing a hero's brand of products that every American could relate to. With every product sold, Fireman's Brew donates a portion of its profits to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation in Emmitsburg, Maryland. So whether your beverage of choice is beer, coffee, or root beer, sit back and relax with the smooth taste of a fresh Fireman's Brew!"

(from the bottle): "Extinguish your thirst" and "Ignite the Party". If they wanted to be extremely clever, they should bottle this stuff in fire extinguisher shaped containers, but I suppose the current logo on a regular shaped bottle will have to do for now.

Product details: 12 fl. oz.  Bottled by Fireman's Brew Inc., Inyokern, CA.  180 calories, 45g sugar. Glass bottle with twist off top. http://www.firemansbrew.com


Ingredients: Natural Artesian Spring Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Natural Flavors, and Citric Acid added.


My thoughts: It's been mega-hot the past week and it seems that being doused by a firehose would be a refreshing way to cool off. Unfortunately, I don't seem to have any firehoses handy, so I'll have to make do with this Fireman's Brew root beer, hoping that it'll provide the cool refreshment that I'm in dire need of.

It may just be the heat talking, but this cold root beer started off by doing exactly what I want, giving me a cool, rooty flavor. The sassafras taste is nice and natural, with a hint of other spices, with wintergreen seeming the most prevalent and a little vanilla. As the initial flavor fades into an aftertaste, the wintergreen takes on a little more prominence without becoming too minty. The flavors disappear almost as quickly as the drink is swallowed, and I wish the taste stuck around a bit longer.

I really like the crispness of this drink, with lots of carbonation. Unfortunately, this makes it not so smooth, as I don't detect any creaminess and my mouth is left feeling a little too clinical and clean, almost like I just drank straight carbonated water. Don't get me wrong, I like the clean feeling, but it feels a little to sterile. Fortunately, smoothness is the least important quality to me. Sweetness, on the other hand, is great, with just the right amount of sugar. There is hardly any sugary coating left behind, which may also contribute to the "sterile" feeling.

Well, just like a firefighter doing his job -get in, get things done, then get out of there- this drink does a fantastic job while in my mouth, but once it's done in there, the flavor gets right on out and moves on. While not the absolute best tasting root beer I've had, it's pretty solid and I wish the flavor would stick around after putting out the fire.

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