Luke's Root Beer Reviews
Journey Shenandoah Sassafras
Root Beer
"Brewed with pure mountain sassafras"
"Softbrewed Natural Sparkling Soft Drinks"
Journey Food and Beverage Company, Route 5 Near Town Farm Road, Putney, Vermont 05346
From the bottle:
Journey's softbrew is a steeping of whole, botanical herbs, roots, and spices by a unique time and temperature method. This uniquely steeped "botanical tea" is then folded into a fine balance of natural sweeteners and cold, purified sparkling water. Every drop is worth the Journey.
Review
A nose like cherry cough syrup, brought back those childhood memories of swilling cough medicine. A taste a little like cough syrup, too -- carbonated cough syrup. Actually, it is a delicious, complex sweet taste, which descends to a slightly chalky wintergreen aftertaste. There's some rootiness along the way, quite a pleasant ride. Light carbonation makes it smooth. A refreshing root beer, with a distinct taste -- this won't be for everyone, but it is quite tasty.
Luke's Numbers (7/16/03)
|
Flavor |
Mouthfeel |
|
Sweetness 10 |
Carbonation 7 |
|
Rootiness 8 |
Smoothness 9 |
|
Aftertaste 6 |
Over-all mouthfeel 8.5 |
|
Over-all Flavor 8.5 |
Over-all Root Beer Experience 8.5 |
|
Over-all average 8.19 |
Rank: 20 of 95 |
Ingredients: sparkling purified water, natural sweetener blend (unrefined cane sugar, brown rice syrup, honey, barley malt), root and spice brew (water, sassafras root bark,* star anise, mixed herb blend) phosphoric acid, natural flavors. 12 oz. bottle, 140 calories, 15 mg sodium, 35 g total carbohydrates, 29 g sugars. No preservatives, no alcohol. *Safrole free.
Links
Journey's homepage
Acquired: At Beverages & More, Bayshore Blvd, San Francisco. $1.59/bottle.
Luke's Root Beer Homepage + Root Beer Rankings
2001 Root Beer Taste-off + 2002 Root Beer Taste-off