Eric's Famous Root Beer

It's time i start reviewing the batch of root beers i got from The Root Beer Store. Technically, i already reviewed at least one i got there, but i reviewed all the root beers i ordered from the Soda Emporium together and now i will endeavor to do the same with this group. Eric's Famous Root Beer is one i've heard of for a long time but only now have gotten my hands on.  It was started by a guy named Eric around the year 2000 (the distant future) up in Millcreek, WA. Eric's Famous is a line of sports drinks (a la Gatorade) as well as 4 flavors of soda, root beer being one. The sodas are energy drinks, so this is technically an energy soda. I've reviewed a few energy root beers on this blog before (see Bawls G33K B33R and Root Jack) so this isn't necessarily new to me, but i was caught off guard a little. I guess i was expecting kind of a more classic crafted root beer, but this is definitely not that. It's one of the few root beers containing caffeine, along with ginseng, guarana, and all those other things that give you energy. Granted, i think most energy drinks overload you with sugar and caffeine to the extent that you feel sick afterward. So i will give it to Eric that he tried to make an "all natural" energy drink. And speaking of being caught off guard, if i'm looking at the website right i think Eric is a black guy. Good for you Eric. I didn't know black guys even liked root beer. But i think i speak for all root beer enthusiasts when i say we're glad to have you.

Side note: Sorry that first paragraph was so hyperlink heavy. I apologize. Where are my manners?

This energy root beer comes in a classic 12 oz. brown glass bottle. The label looks very professional and classy. It has a lot of silver metallic elements to it and it's flashy and eye-catching. It almost looks like a beer label. My first impression was Coors Light, but when i looked up pics for comparison it didn't really match up as well as i thought. Something about the label says "silver bullet" to me though. It has a real machine quality to it. But maybe that just comes from the pics i saw on the website of the root beer next to something that looks like a chromed up drill press and a circular saw. Not sure what to make of it all. Maybe that this stuff is just for men? Men working in construction or other blue collar jobs? I don't know. But regardless, i like the label. 

However, the taste is up for debate. If you read the reviews i did on the other energy root beers, you'll know i'm not really a fan of how they taste. So right out of the gate, Eric's has a heavy bias against it. I will say for the record though that this is definitely better than Root Jack. And it's been a long time since i tried Bawls, but it's probably better than that too. As i mentioned, it's made with natural ingredients, including cane sugar. It has a fair root beer flavor and decent carbonation, but the energy drink side of it basically dominates the aftertaste. I think Eric did good at making his energy drink taste like a root beer, but unfortunately it's not really what i'm looking for over all. The taste has grown on me the more i slowly drink it, but it was quite jarring at first and still doesn't quite settle right with my expectations of what a root beer should be. 

My official review is that Eric's Famous Root Beer gets 5 (five) IBCs. My wife thinks i am out-of-my-mind crazy for rating it this high. From that statement you can probably gather that she's not a fan. But she had the same jarring first experience i had without the luxury of finishing off the rest of the bottle; a practice i try to do with every root beer i have reviewed and only failed to do with a very select few of truly awful root beers. So while she tapped out early, i gotta say sticking with it has it's benefits. I can appreciate this root beer, but still... that doesn't mean i have to like it. Sorry Eric, but this stuff really just isn't for me. I'm still glad you're with us though.