Ben's Old Fashioned Root Beer

Happy New Year to all! I only have a few root beers left in my fridge, and while i don't currently put them out at a very fast rate, it might be time for me to reorder again soon. Today's root beer is Ben's Old Fashioned Root Beer from Ben's Kosher Deli. This is one of the root beers i got from… you know what? I don't even know where i got this one. I can't find it on either The Root Beer Store or Soda Emporium sites, so i can't verify i got it from either of those places. And it comes from Merrick, NY, a place where i have never been and have not been near in several years. So i really am at a loss this time. Sorry to whoever gave this to me that i cannot give you proper credit. But i do appreciate it. The website isn't super helpful on info about Ben's, but it's a New York kosher deli with several locations and a 4 out of 5 star rating on Yelp!. I don't trust Yelp! anymore by the way. Most of the time the reviews are written by the owners and/or close friends or persons with a vested interest. Yelp! hasn't done me much good, especially not here in Ocala, FL. The local flavor here is pretty dismal.

This one comes in a clear glass bottle. It's 12 oz. to be sure. The label is pasted on a little crooked like the machine was misaligned or the guy doing it manually doesn't get paid enough. It's one of the more simple designs i've seen. Not a lot of imagination or flashiness to it. I'm thoroughly unimpressed. Really don't know what else to say about it. Way to disappoint the customer right out of the gate Ben.

I can't say much for the taste either. Really, i can't say anything about the taste. It honestly doesn't taste like anything. It's so watered down that you barely get a sense that you're drinking root beer at all, let alone a soda of any variety. It's just so unnoticeable that i don't really even know what to say about it. I guess it tastes vaguely like sugar, even though it's sweetened with HFCS, but even that flavor is so fleeting and shallow that i can't really even call this a root beer. I'd call it… sugar. In water. ("Eggar… your skin is hanging off your bones…"). For reals though, i work with a guy who looks just like that guy right now. It's pretty exhilarating/unsettling.

My official review is that Ben's Old Fashioned Root Beer gets 3 (three) IBCs. It's not cutting it in the root beer world, and i am not even sure it can measure up as a soda. I've had root beers more offensive than this, but being offensive isn't Ben's problem. It's being distinguishable. I mean, kudos for doing the kosher thing and all. But even if that's your thing, i can't really recommend this stuff. It just doesn't do anyone any good.