Luke's Birthday
Root Beer Tasting
2006
They gathered from far and wide for the annual root beer tasting, which featured some old favorites and some new entries. We tried eight brews this year: Abita, Barrel Bros., Captain Eli's, Fitz's, Henry Weinhard's, Sparky's, Sprecher and Virgil's Bavarian. While these root beers are from Maine, Louisiana, Wisconsin, Missouri and Utah, as well as California, we were capably supplied by one of our local sources, Yum (1750 Market in San Francisco, say hi to owner Paul for us), which carries all eight brands. This is the joy of living in the internet age, where premium microbrews from around the country are available down the street. But I digress...
Left: Bon vivant Leonard discusses the root beer, while Marge tries an Abita. Right: the set-up, with Sparky's, Sprecher's and Virgil's on display.
As usual for our summer tastings, we did not do a blind tasting, and most reviewers chose the short form (ranking each brew on a simple scale of 1 to 10 rather than ranking each root beer by eight different metrics as we do in the Cole Family Christmas Root Beer Taste-offs, see 2001 and 2002). More than 20 reviewers submitted their rankings, with David Cramer and Larry Lewis taking on the long form for each root beer -- bravo! Focusing on just eight quality varieties allowed our reviewers to avoid the eye-glaze that had accompanied earlier years (37 brews one year!). Our reviewers ranged in age from four to 75, see if you agree with their tastes...
And the results are:
1. Fitz's Root Beer, 7.2. Although Cap'n Eli's had more "10" rankings, Fitz's had solid support from all reviewers and came out on top. "Yum, perfect balance," said Charmaine. "Sweet but not clingy," said David C., "even taste that fades out nicely." Carrie noted the "brown sugar" taste. Dana's favorite.
2. Henry Weinhard's Root Beer, 6.9. Henry's won the recent root beer tasting we did for Chow Magazine, and it has long been a crowd-pleaser. "Very drinkable," according to Charmaine (left). Jenny and Marge's favorite. Larry, who didn't vote with the majority on this one, said "too thin, too vanilla."
3. Abita Root Beer, 6.8. "Deep molasses," said Carrie of her favorite of the day. Avi, Uyen and Helen's favorite, too. "Too sweet," said Charmaine, while David thought it "too metallic," a review I agree with.
4. Captain Eli's Root Beer, 6.5. The Captain had the most "10" votes and the most impassioned supporters, but also had some detractors, bringing down his overall score. Adriana, Lucy and Tom's favorite, Tom was even lobbying to get its ranking on my website moved up. David C. found it "good but a little too tangy." Carrie hated it: "tastes medicinal."
5. Virgil's Bavarian Root Beer, 6.1. Allan's favorite. "Too thin, but interesting pepperiness" said root beer commando Larry. The complexity wasn't for everyone (I didnt let them know the exorbitant price, either!). "Best bottle" said Carrie of the complex vacuum sealed wonder.
6. Sprecher Root Beer, 5.9. Surprisingly low finish for the winner of the Cole Family's 2002 blind tasting.
7. Sparky's Root Beer, 5.53. Rich and Heather's favorite, but didn't score well with other reviewers. "Flavorless" panned Larry (left). We took it out one more decimal place to separate the last two finishers.
8. Barrel Bros. Root Beer, 5.47. Slightly more admirers than detractors. "Flavor falls flat," according to Larry, though David C. found it "mild but satisfying."
Drink up!
(We've been doing this summer tasting for years, but the webmaster hasn't caught up with us yet, he's still back in 2003... get with it Luke! Results from 2004 and 2005 should be posted one of these years...)
Under Nancy's direction, this year we also conducted our first Ginger Beer tasting... a small but intrepid group of reviewers (nine) took on the challenge. The results...
Right: David knows what we all are...
1. Vernor's Ginger Beer, 6.2.
2. Buderim's Ginger Beer, 5.44.
3. Reed's Ginger Ale, 5.37. Nancy was sorry not to serve Reed's Ginger Beer, which is tastier.
4. Barritt's Ginger Beer, 5.1.
5. Ginger People Ginger Beer, 4.7.
6. Cock & Bull Ginger Beer, 4.1.
7 (tie). Blenheim Ginger Beer, 3.88.
7 (tie). Fentiman's Ginger Beer, 3.88.
9. Grown-Up Soda, 1.9.
Luke's Root Beer Homepage + Root Beer Rankings