Jones Root Beer

This is a soda that i would wager nearly everyone has heard of. Or, i should say, of which everyone has heard (sorry grammar geeks). Jones Soda is a product of Canada and has authority to brew and bottle its sodas in Seattle, WA. Jones started out as an affiliate of another distributor and was officially established as its own company in 1996. Jones made a name for itself through its variety of classic as well as unique and "wierd" flavors, and for the variety of photographs shown on the labels of every bottle of Jones Soda. One of the appeals is that the consumers can get involved by sending in photos of... anything really. If Jones likes the picture, it will feature it on their bottles. The flavor of the soda has nothing to do with what pictures are featured. As far as i can tell, it's completely random. Jones also has different fortunes under the cap which are straight from fortune cookies. Consumers can also send in some of their favorite fortunes to see if they end up under the cap. So the interaction with the public is kind of a cool thing and draws a crowd.

Jones frequently puts out "holiday packs" of usually 4 different flavors that are related to a certain holiday. For example, with Thanksgiving fast approaching, maybe you'd like to pick up a pack with flavors like turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes. Maybe for Christmas you want to taste a "pear tree" or a "candy cane" soda. They don't stop there though. It seems they try and out-do themselves every year (or so...) on top of that. Kinda neat that they keep trying to develop new flavors like that. I would call them the Jelly Bellys of sodas, and that's because i'm clever.

It's a 12 oz bottle, clear, and it has a resealable cap. This bottle features a color picture of what seems to be a chandelier or something. Sometimes they are color, sometimes black and white. Again, as far as i can tell, it's completely random regarding which picture ends up on which flavor or bottle. I have seen the same picture on several different flavors. This photo is #8120, and another novelty is that Jones lists on thier bottle the name of the person who sends in the photo and where they are from.

It's a good tasting root beer. It has a classic, solid root beer taste with a very good vanilla after taste. But nothing about it really makes it an amazing root beer. It's good, but it doesn't stand out that much. I mean, i like root beer as much as the next person, but when you're looking at the whole range and scope of Jones flavors (meaning, there are a lot of them), you might look over the root beer for something else that you've never even thought of in a soda before.

My official review is that Jones gets 6 (six) IBCs. I like the root beer. It's a good flavor. But i think i am just more a fan of the soda in general. They have tons of great flavors, and the pictures and interaction with the public is pretty cool. So if i had my choice of Jones sodas, i probably wouldn't reach for a root beer. Hey, you can't drink root beer all the time, right? But i would recommend it if you're looking for a good tasting root beer.

Bawls Guarana Root Beer

Before i start with this, i am just going to say that from the name of this root beer, there is an obvious direction this review could take. However, i am electing to take the high road. All i will say is that from the website, the "mascot" for Bawls is this. (insert your own joke here) Anyway... Bawls is a relatively new company that includes guarana in all its drinks. Really, this should be considered a type of energy drink, or an alternative to an energy drink. Kind of a wierd concept. The website said it was looking for a drink that's an alternative to coffee. This means that this root beer contains caffeine, and a lot of it. There is even a warning label on the back of the bottle which reads, "Warning: This product contains high levels of caffeine." The company has deemed this "geek beer" (but written G33K B33R, because words that include numbers mean this product helps you improve on your math skills). I guess it's supposed to vitalize your mind or something, or so they claim.

The bottle is crazy. It's kind of a wierd shape. Long and skinny with a bulbous top, plus it has little bumps all over it (you can make them out in the picture). It's also only 10 oz., because aparently even the company thinks you shouldn't have too much of this stuff. I read on their site that their sodas are also available in color changing cans. So, you know... that's novel.

To be honest, it doesn't taste bad. I was expecting the kind of sickly sweet/mediciney taste you get from typical energy drinks. But this isn't a typical energy drink. It just taste like regular root beer. Not bad at all, except the flavor doesn't last very long and kinda falls flat quickly. Nothing specifically struck me as special or unique about it, except that moments after i drank it i had a huge amount of caffeine coursing through my veins. I am just glad i drank it in the morning. It is a great alternative to energy drinks if you don't like the taste of the typical energy drink.

My official review is that Bawls gets 5 (five) IBCs. It's just a typical tasting root beer, and i am rating it on taste. The high levels of caffeine aren't a big selling point for me, although i wouldn't mind something like this to stay awake on long drives or whatever. The taste is just good all by itself. Just don't drink a bunch of them close together, and that's not just me saying that... it's the company too (and probably your doctor). It packs a punch when it comes to caffeine, that's for sure. It also gives a crash when it all wears off. Hey... you can't win them all. So pick one up if you need some pick me up.

(p.s. that tagline is mine... i just made that. Maybe they'll buy it from me.)

Sparky's Fresh Draft Root Beer

Here is another one that took me completely by surprise. I was expecting one thing and got something totally different. It is brewed by Knox Brewing, a small family run operation in Pacific Grove, CA. According to their website, Sparky's has only been in business since 2000. Also according to their site, root beer is the only thing they brew. It started out as just a fun hobby that the Knox family would do and give out root beer to friends. Apparently there was a big enough demand for it that they decided to go into business. I still can't figure out who Sparky is, because on their site they have just a few pictures up of the family, and they list all the people in the picture and finish by saying "Sparky not in photo". Maybe it's a dog or a close relative.

The bottle is really basic in design. It has a white paper label with a glass of root beer on front and some phantom ovals (presumed to be fingers) around the bottom. The Sparky's name is strewn across the front in big bold red letters. Simple design, nothing extravagant. It's a short and stubby 12 oz.er (which i like), and it's also available in 22 oz. bottles. I saw these at the Pop Shop as well, but went with the little one instead. That's probably a good thing i did...

Here is why i was taken by surprise... the name Sparky's and the red colors on the label (as well as the red cap) gave me the assumption that it was going to be cinnamon flavored. Maybe even a little spicy or hot to the taste, like the little candy Hot Tamales. But it was far from that. What it actually tasted like was wintergreen. Now, if you've read my reviews, you'll know i like the wintergreen flavored root beers. Well not this one. It was an overpowering flavor. I seriously had a hard time drinking it. It was so strong that the first taste made me cringe a little. One of my techniques for tasting is to take two or three big swigs to let it really permeate my senses. Seriously... when i did this i almost passed out. It's like someone dissolved 30 Altoids mints in carbonated water. That's all i could taste, and it was so much that it was just not good at all. I got goose bumps every time i drank some, and i found i had to sip the rest of the bottle to finish it. It was just too strong.

My official review is that Sparky's gets 2 (two) IBCs. It kind of pains me to rate this one so low, seeing that it's such a new and small company and all. But seriously Sparky's, you need to go back to the drawing board. I guess someone likes this stuff, but i couldn't imagine who. I'm not really in the root beer brewing game, but if i was to give some advice to Sparky's it would be to tone down the wintergreen A LOT. It's just unpleasant to drink. Don't bother getting this stuff, unless you really really like the taste of a whole tin of Altoids all at once.

Dog n Suds Root Beer

Just as i suspected, Dog n Suds is actually a restaurant that just sells its root beer commercially. The Dog n Suds Root Beer site is here (i think this is just a tribute site) and the restaurant's site is here. It is located in Lafayette, IN. I am not going to get into a lot of the history of the diner itself, but Dog n Suds opened in 1956 and is still in operation today. If you want more particulars about the history, you can look on their site. I'm not about to do any favors for anyone from Indiana. You know who lives in Indiana? Serial killers. I'll just keep to myself, thank you.

It's a pretty standard bottle. The logo features a cartoon dog in a chef's hat with a hot dog and a pitcher of root beer. This is the same logo the restaurants use. It's fairly plain other than that. I wish i had more to say about it. But... i don't. Soooooooo... yeah.

You're probably asking, "how does it taste, Cosmo?" Well, it tastes like root beer. Just plain old root beer. Nothing particularly special about it. I know you're probably itching for more of a discription than that, so if i had to say something else i would say since it's from Indiana (home of serial killers), it tastes like murder. Yup, root beer and murder. I think i nailed it on this one guys.

My official review is that Dog n Suds gets 5 (five) IBCs. It's a really regular little root beer. Nothing stands out about it. Maybe the food is good at the restaurant, but i doubt i will have reason to go to Indiana any time soon to find out. I know, i know... looking at their site, they have other locations outside of Indiana. But the midwest isn't a prime real estate location for me, so i doubt i'll ever find out. Anyway, if you want a plain old root beer, go ahead and pick one of these up. Not bad, but not great.

On a completely unrelated note, my wife is watching Top Chef (i hate all reality TV shows), and one of the chef's is named Fabio. How unfortunate.

That's all.

Filbert's Old Time Draft Root Beer

Anyone from Arizona will know exactly where i am about to go with this. Filbert's is a root beer that has absolutely no affiliation with Filiberto's, a crappy Mexican fast food chain here that is basically on every corner. The conditions of cleanliness at their places of business always give the impression that the establishment is visibly on the verge of being shut down by Health Inspectors. It's the only place on Earth that serves the most disgusting/delicious food known to man. It's so dirty that it's amazing. Even the font and the colors used for the logos bear an eerie resemblance. But anyway, this post is about root beer, not burritos with questionable meat content.

Filbert's was started in Chicago, IL in 1926. They don't have a website that i know of, but i got some info from this distribution site about the company and it's humble beginnings. It is still a family owned and operated business, which if you care about that kind of thing might pull on your heart strings a little.

It's a very colorful label on an otherwise ordinary bottle. The colors remind me of Mexico, or at least the inside of an Americanized Mexican restaurant. There is a big barrel of root beer pictured on the label. Other than that, it's a fairly simple design, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The bottle might be good for breaking over the head of a white guy for dancing with your Mexican women (i actually saw this once in Mexico. No really, i did).

As far as taste goes, i had very low expectations. I guess i shouldn't have, because just like Filiberto's, it's really good despite the unappealing surroundings. I liked it a lot. It has a good classic root beer taste with a very rich and creamy vanilla finish. The after taste is almost like you're eating a vanilla ice cream cone. This took me by surprise, but it's not the first time i got something completely different from what i expected with regards to root beer.

My official review is that Filbert's gets 8 (eight) IBCs. It's a good buy, but because it is so sweet i might consider it more of a dessert root beer. All in all though, i was pleasantly surprised by this one and i would recommend you pick one up if you get the chance.

Virgil's Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer

So i know we just did Virgil's, but this is part two of our two part voyage of enjoying Virgil's. One thing i failed to mention in the last post is that Virgil's makes several other flavors of soda besides just root beer. However, this is a "Special Edition" root beer that Virgil's makes, and therefore earns the right for me to review it (sorry diet root beers, you do not earn that right).
Now, we already know all the care and effort Virgil's pours into brewing it's root beer. So what makes this one different from their regular recipe? Well let's get into that, shall we?

For starters, the bottle is a lot different. One, it's a lot bigger. In fact, at 24 oz. it's double the size of the standard bottle. It's also shaped differently and has some crazy contraption for a cap. Again, i am taken with the packaging choices Virgil's makes. This is a big bottle of soda, and it's not your typical twist top. It has a ceramic cap with a little clip system to reseal the bottle after you open it. When you first open it, it makes a pop, kind of like a champagne bottle does (only without sending a cork flying across the room and possibly damaging a priceless work of art or sending a pregnant house maid into early labor after been struck in the eye and tumbling down the stairs, as commonly happens when opening a bottle of champagne). I took a video of it and wanted to post it, but unfortunately, i was at work and only had my cell phone as a video camera. And while that might have worked for the Flight of the Conchords, it didn't work so well for me. But i promise to take some proper video footage and post it. I know you're all so eager to see it.

Addendum, 6/11/2010: ok, so it has taken me nearly two years to get this video done, but i am a man of my word and i am posting it in all it's glory. Most likely you have all tried this root beer by this time, being as diligent followers of my word as you all are, but for the new comers, here is what i meant to convey nearly two years ago...

Here's where Virgil's gets me. It's delicious. It's really really good. I would say much better than their regular recipe. It has that nutmeg, pumpkin cookie taste to it, but it's more like a good pumpkin pie with whip cream. The vanilla cream after taste is fantastic, and i really enjoyed it from start to finish. Here's where Virgil's loses me. It's $4.25 a bottle. OUCH! I know it's double the size of a normal bottle, but by that logic, a normal bottle would be over $2. Any way you look at it, that's an expensive bottle of root beer. Now granted, $4.25 isn't going to break the bank, at least not for a well-to-do and classy guy like me, but it's still the principle of it. Should i get a double sized bottle of really good root beer for $4.25, or should i get a six pack of the best root beer on the planet for $4.00 (and sometimes on sale for $2.50)? I think my point is clear. Regardless though, this is a good root beer, and sometimes it's worth paying the price for the experience.


My official review is that Virgil's Special Edition gets 9 (nine) IBCs. This stuff lives up to the tag line on the label. It's really rich and creamy, very smooth, and the over sized bottle is a treat. The price is not, but this is one of those root beers you just have to get every once in a while. I liked it a lot, and i think you will too. And if you don't, kill yourself.

Just kidding.

But seriously, if you're gonna be a butthole like that, you should probably just kill yourself.

Virgil's Root Beer

Alright, now this one has a lot to it. A friend from work swears by this stuff for a lot of reasons. The fact that he swears at all and offends my tender and delicate ears should be enough to end my friendship with him, but he makes up for it in other aspects. Besides, i'm merciful. Anyway, so Virgil's is a root beer that takes itself very seriously. Just read their "About Virgil's" page on their site. Everything from their method, to their ingredients, to their numerous awards for their root beer. Virgil's is now distributed through Reed's Inc. out of Los Angeles. The source of all truth indicates that it was bought out by Reed's in the early 2000s, and from what i can gather from off the bottle, it was originally brewed in the north of England. I am not sure how long it has actually been around though. But the story of what goes into Virgil's is quite astounding. They make it very clear that they use only 100% natural ingredients. No artificial flavors, no preservatives. And it's not like they just run down to the corner store and pick up what they need. Just take a look at this laundry list of ingredients from around the world...

Virgil's Ingredients List
Virgil's Microbrewed Root Beer contains these key all-natural ingredients:

carbonated water

unbleached cane sugar

Along with these natural herbs and spices (including point of origin):

anise from Spain

licorice from France

vanilla (bourbon) from Madagascar

cinnamon from Ceylon

clove from Indonesia

wintergreen from China

sweet birch from the southern US

molasses from the US

nutmeg from Indonesia

pimento berry oil from Jamaica

balsam oil from Peru

cassia oil from China

Pretty impressive so far. But it might be a bit too much. Virgil's gets a little cocky and bad mouth's a couple other root beers, one of which is Wienhard's, which isn't difficult to do. Kudos there. However, in the same breath, they claim to be better than IBC. Alright... hold on now... let's not get carried away and say something we're going to regret now, ok Virgil's?

The bottle is your standard 12 oz.er with an elaborate label of multiple colors, including golds and regal reds. It wants you to know it doesn't mess around, but that it's also for the whole family. They do this through the picture on the label. A cloudy background to create the feeling you're in heaven in the presence of God (their tagline is "...We brew a root beer so pure, so rich and creamy, you'll swear it's made in heaven."), two well behaved and simply dressed children sitting on both sides of a table, and a giant of a man with an unruly and vicious man-beard standing in the middle of them holding several pictures of root beer. Why, it's as if Michelangelo himself painted it. It's quite impressvie, and they are definitely going the intimidation route with the bearded man. You only put a bearded man on your label to say one of two things; 1) this stuff is totally awesome, or 2) this is about to ruin your life in the worst way.

But wait! Virgil's is just getting warmed up. Not satisfied with a plain old bottle of root beer? Need something more to prove to your friends that lifting weights and combing your chest hair isn't the only way to show your manhood? Well then why don't you pick up a mini-keg of this stuff? That's right... Virgil's packages and sells it's root beer in a mini-keg. Four words... holy geez that's awesome! Man... if IBC made one of these, there wouldn't be a price too high. I would sell my house to buy one. Here is a picture of the mini-keg that i took when we went to the Pop Shop. I put a regular 12 oz bottle next to it so you could get an idea of the scale. Seriously Virgil's, bravo on that.

But let's talk about taste. With that crazy mix of ingredients, your palate should be just going wild. But what i found was that the dominant flavor was the black licorice again. A little disappointing (again, i just don't care much for black licorice). However, it wasn't over powering and it had a good creamy vanilla aftertaste that kinda saved it for me. It is an award winning beverage, but to me, it's just "good, but not great."

My official review is that Virgil's gets 7 (seven) IBCs. Honestly, it's not the taste that draws me to this stuff. It's decent, but i should really give it just a 6 based on that alone. However, the story of what goes into this drink, the accolades it receives, and the fact that you can get it in a mini-keg all lend to the experience. Well done Virgil's. It's a root beer worth trying, if nothing more than to just see what all the hype is about. If you have a chance, grab one.