Boylan Bottleworks Root Beer

Presentation: Label is directly printed on the glass. Old time factory looking font. Boylan Bottle Co is embossed on the glass. Very nice touch.

Ingredients straight from the bottle: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Natural and Artificial Flavors, Caramel Color, Natural Yucca Extract, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate (Preserves Freshness).

Calories: 170
Sodium 35mg (1% DV)
Sugars 42 g

Bought From: Super Fresh in Timonium, MD
Cost: $3.99 for four bottles.

Initial Uncapping: Smokey mist floats out the top. Great fizz sound. Has a heavy root beer sent.

Carbonation: Medium

The rundown: On the initial sip, you can feel the carbonation and it kind of foams in your mouth. The flavor is very solid yet creamy. There is a lot of sugar in this as with all the other cane sugar root beers I have tried. It has a great taste from start to finish.

Summary: Great presentation for a great root beer. Try it out!

TK Rating: 9 out of 10

P.S. None for today. :)

Trader Joe's Vintage Root Beer

Presentation: Splash circle. Orange and Brown. "Vintage" in script, "Root Beer" is big and bold. They let you know what you are drinking.

Ingredients straight from the bottle: Triple Filtered Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, Wintergreen, Birch, Anise, Sassafras, Tahitian Vanilla Extract and Citric Acid.

Calories: 170

Sodium 0mg (0% DV)

Sugars 43 g

Bought From: Trader Joe's (Duh!), in Columbia, MD

Cost: $3.99 for four bottles.

Initial Uncapping: Nice popping sound. Smokey mist escapes a little bit but then sits on the liquid until you blow it out. Kind of cool! It's got the typical root beer smell.

Carbonation: Very Light

The rundown: If you have never been to a Trader Joe's, you should find one near you, even if it is 5 hours away and check it out. They have got some pretty awesome food. Well anyways, about the drink! It's got ALL natural ingredients, which is a plus! I do like knowing exactly what I am putting in my mouth (TWSS). The sugar cane comes through while the root beer is swirling around and you can definitely taste the wintergreen on the way down, which may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your tastes. At first, I didn't like it too much, but the more I have been drinking TJ's Vintage Root Beer, the more I've been liking that wintergreen. However... and this is a big one, after a couple of sips, I did notice that it started to taste a little watered down and I confirmed this on my second bottle. Probably the light carbonation added to the wateriness. I like it fizzy.

Summary: Overall, a pretty decent, all natural, root beer.

TK Rating: 7 out of 10

P.S. There are two small labels on the side "(g+) No Gluten Ingredients Used" and "(V) Vegan". So I drank this while eating a meatball sandwich. I like to keep the world balanced.

Dominion Root Beer

Presentation: It's got a picture of a deer head and has a brown/gold theme going on. Label was peeling off pretty easily.

Ingredients straight from the bottle: Carbonated Water, Sugar, Honey, Root Beer Extract #214, Root Beer Extract #79-400, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate - a preservative, Yucca, Vanilla. Contains no caffeine.

Calories: 170

Sodium 35mg (1% DV)

Sugars 42 g

Bought From: Giant Food Stores, in Arlington, VA

Cost: $4.59 for six bottles.

Initial Uncapping: Popping it open, this drink smells sweet.

Carbonation: Light

The rundown: This root beer touts to be made with pure honey and, boy oh boy, you can definitely tell, almost too much. It's very overpowering. The honey does gives it a much different flavor than most root beers (even the cane sugar ones). The root beer taste is there, but that honey is just too much. There is an aftertaste that sticks with you for a while.

Summary: Good if you are looking for something sweet, not so much if you want root beer.

TK Rating: 3 out of 10

P.S. What is Root Beer Extract #214 and #79-400? And why is #214 separate from the all inclusive list of #79-400?!?

General Info

About Me:

My name is TK. I am 23 year old, Asian-American engineer who plays video games and enjoys running.

I do love root beer so I decided to post some reviews about ones that I drink. It is definitely my favorite drink, above beer, wine, orange juice and other sodas. I do like a good cream soda too, so there may be an occasional cream soda review in here.

There are a bunch of other awesome root beer blogs out there and I'll probably link to some.

My goal is to spread the love of root beer across the internet world!