Labrador Root Beer

My daughter asked me something that really made me think the other day. We were outside walking down to the street corner to see some river stones which had been painted for Halloween and she asked, "Daddy, are birds good?" I wasn't sure what she meant at first and thought perhaps she was asking if they are good to eat. So i said, "what do you mean by that?" And she replied, "you know... for the world." 

Mind totally blown. 

I have never really stopped and pondered on this fundamental question; Are birds good for the world? I mean, from everything i can tell it's all signs point to yes, right? Birds are good for the world. Sure we all have experiences with birds which may be unpleasant. For example, pigeons are fairly reviled, but still, I kicked one once just for the fun of it and it is still a source of shame for me. So, you know, that one backfired on me. And i lived near peacocks in my teens and they used to crap on my car, which i didn't appreciate. 

Oh, and when i lived in Florida i parked my car at work under some telephone lines and when i came out after work my car looked like this. So i think there is evidence that could be presented that birds are in fact NOT good for the world. I just haven't heard any salient arguments against birds, but i am open to the notion. SOOO... i guess this is your call to action? Go out there and present your case for why birds are not good for the world. I'm eager to see where my blindspots are in regards to this inquiry. 

Alfred Hitchcock... i'd like to get his take on the birds question. Him and Sully Sullenberger. Probably some interesting insights from both those gentlemen…

Anyway, i suppose it's time to get another review in the books. I am cleaning out my fridge and the end is in sight, but i still have a few to go. Labrador Root Beer is another soda distributed by Rocket Fizz. I thought this might have been Canadian at first because i am pretty sure there is a region or territory of Canada near Nova Scotia and Newfoundland called Labrador. But it's not from Canada. It's from America. And that's about all the info i have on this root beer. It comes in a 12 oz brown glass bottle and I like the label. It's very professional and has a gorgeous image of a labrador retriever, i assume. I know nothing about dogs or dog breeds. But it is a nice photo realistic image and next to its head is what looks like the end of a shotgun shell that says "Champion Of The USA". So there's that. 

The label also says this root beer is "all natural" and distinctly says "butterscotch". You know what this root beer doesn't taste like? You guessed it; butterscotch. When my son cracked the cap using his swiss army knife bottle opener for the first time the initial aroma i was hit with was black licorice. That's what the label should have said; "black licorice", cuz that's what it tastes like. Not butterscotch. Not even a little bit. I almost got the distinct flavor of mint when first drinking it, perhaps wintergreen, but the more i drank it the less it tasted like that and the more the anise flavor crept in. And now that's all i can taste. And the sad part is i started off liking this quite a bit and ended up thinking i will never try this root beer again. Just straight up flip flopped on this one. 

My official review is that Labrador Root Beer gets 4 (four) IBCs. I am not in the best mood right now with the way this one toyed with my emotions like that and i was really teetering on the edge of giving this one a 3, but it probably deserves at least a 4. But don't go bragging about it around town Labrador, it's nothing to be proud of. The one takeaway from this whole experience is that at least now i can definitively say that this root beer is NOT good for the world.