And is it nice?
This beverage is becoming available in SA for the first time and I'd like to try it. Someone told me it tastes like the horrible beer that Quentin Tarantino drank in "Desperado" but I dunno.
It tastes sort of like like Pepsi Cola except quite a bit sweeter. It doesn't have alcohol in it. At least not the stuff I've always known as root beer.
lol it's a soft drink. I love it
It's amazing with vanilla ice cream
It tastes like foamy joy with a dash of beauty.
what is this "love" of which you humans speak
My wife used to say it tasted like medicine . . . but now she likes it. I have always liked it.
I recently learned that sasaparilla is the same thing as root beer. I had no idea. I was visiting the famous Tombstone, Arizona, and picked up a bottle of Souix City Sasaparilla because I remember Sam Elliot's cowboy character in The Big Lebowski ordering one in the film. Quite possibly the best soft drink I've ever consumed.
Give it a try . . . it's cold, brown, and fizzy, very sweet, but doesn't have the Coca-Cola "burn". IBC Root Beer is the best commercial brand I've tried, with A&W a close second.
However, neither are in the same league with that nectar of the gods, the elixir of life known as Dr. Pepper. :teddyr:
The main flavoring in real root beer is sassafras. Like Flick mentioned, its known as Sarsaparilla in most non-U.S.A. countries.
I was curious if there was a comparable soft drink in South Africa and discovered there is actually a Facebook page titled 'Bring Root Beer to South Africa', with an impressive 8 members to date. :smile:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4709942319 (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=4709942319)
HEAVEN! I agree with Sleepyskull, put some Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla and you, Trevor, will have a very good desert, you might actually forget about your underpants being hazardous! :buggedout: :buggedout:
Very sweet but with a faint licorice/fennel sort of tang to it.
Sweet pepsi cola with more spiciness about covers it. You can get good quality stuff, or the stuff Pepsi or Coke makes. I actually prefer the cheaper root beer.
The brand sold here is called "Frosties" ~ I'll buy a bottle and let you know what I thought.
Dr Pepper was marketed here about six years ago along with Cherry Coke but not enough people liked it so it went off the market. :bluesad:
Quote from: indianasmith on June 07, 2010, 03:58:23 PM
IBC Root Beer is the best commercial brand I've tried, with A&W a close second.
I agree. Its soooo good. :smile:
Quote from: Trevor on June 08, 2010, 09:59:05 AM
The brand sold here is called "Frosties" ~ I'll buy a bottle and let you know what I thought.
Dr Pepper was marketed here about six years ago along with Cherry Coke but not enough people liked it so it went off the market. :bluesad:
Where exactly do you live?
:question:
Quote from: Starsky on June 08, 2010, 10:35:37 AM
Quote from: Trevor on June 08, 2010, 09:59:05 AM
The brand sold here is called "Frosties" ~ I'll buy a bottle and let you know what I thought.
Dr Pepper was marketed here about six years ago along with Cherry Coke but not enough people liked it so it went off the market. :bluesad:
Where exactly do you live?
:question:
I was born in what was once known as Rhodesia - what's left of it is called Zimbabwe - and I now terrorize the inhabitants of Pretoria , South Africa. :wink:
I may be one of few people alive who do not like Root Beer. :bluesad:
Quote from: The DarkSider on June 08, 2010, 11:13:14 AM
I may be one of few people alive who do not like Root Beer. :bluesad:
It's OK, I haven't ordered any in years, though.
People who don't like it are wrong, it's very good
Quote from: lester1/2jr on June 08, 2010, 11:40:02 AM
People who don't like it are wrong, it's very good
People who like it are big poopoo diaper heads. :teddyr:
Stop the fighting people!
Who's to say that a drink is good or bad?
As a matter of fact, I am. Root Beer is an incredible substance with a taste that is nearly impossibly good.
Those of you that don't like root beer, I feel sorry for you.
I don't hate you, I just want to educate you.
Your lives are much worse off. :bluesad:
For those who like it: You are 1 step further towards total enlightenment. Congratulations! :thumbup:
I really doubt anti RB's can appreciate b movies. so why are they here :hatred:
I will say it is awfully sweet for my adult palate.
I suppose it could be an "acquired taste" as it tastes quite a bit different from Coke (and Pepsi, in my opinion). It has a licorice /spicy flavor. I guess I assumed that since it has been around so long, and there's no patent, it would be available worldwide, even more so than Coke. Just be sure it's COLD when you drink it-preferably in a frosty mug!
Quote from: lester1/2jr on June 08, 2010, 05:15:12 PM
I really doubt anti RB's can appreciate b movies. so why are they here :hatred:
I'm anti-your face. :bouncegiggle:
That was uncalled for. I can't stay mad at you. I'm sorry. :cheers:
Root beer is awesome! :thumbup:
I agree with Oscar about making sure it's cold.
Warm or room temperature root beer is nasty.
Ice cold root beer in a frosted mug is divine.
A really good root beer will have a foamy head similar to a good quality beer.
Quote from: Flick James on June 08, 2010, 12:07:16 PM
Quote from: lester1/2jr on June 08, 2010, 11:40:02 AM
People who don't like it are wrong, it's very good
People who like it are big poopoo diaper heads. :teddyr:
Yeah well you're all ugly and your moms dress you funny.
I agree with both Oscar and Ash, make sure it's cold before you drink it.( PS, i like in a bottle :wink:)
I like all root beers, Barq's, IBC, Abita, Mug, A&W, etc....
(http://z.about.com/d/collectdolls/1/0/w/8/hires.jpg)
Quote from: Ed, Just Ed on June 09, 2010, 01:23:39 PM
(http://z.about.com/d/collectdolls/1/0/w/8/hires.jpg)
Ugh... If that creepy baby is a root beer mascot, maybe root beer is overrated after all...
Fine... a scene from an Annette Funicello film.
(http://www.adclassix.com/images/56hiresrootbeer.jpg)
Here's the Ferengi take on Root Beer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hdiuRMK3UQ
Reading this page is making me thirsty. I might have to stop at the store and get some RB soon.
I honestly don't drink root beer all that often, but more because I usually just drink whatever's available, usually pepsi or coke, its just not something I think to buy.
I live on the edge of south jersey, near Pennsylvania, and we have Penn. Dutch Birch beer, which is a variant of RB, and quite delicious in its own right (I think I might be related to the Penn. Dutch myself, I know I have German ancestry on my mother's side, and I was raised Lutheran).
For some people, RB is serious business, this site for instance:
http://www.lukecole.com/Root%20Beer/lukes_root_beer_home.htm
Root Beer has a honey taste to it, along with Vanilla and a little bit of Coke. Its very good.
I honestly didn't like Root Beer when I was a kid but have learned to enjoy it as I got older. I think it was because it reminded me of its horrible red headed bastard cousin Cream Soda. God I hate that stuff.
Also getting off topic but I have noticed there are a variety of soft drinks that are purely local, what are some odd ones around where you live. I always wanted to know what Moxy tastes like, but you can't find it here in Wisconsin.
(http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q195/ShinneryOak/ROOT/frosty-mug-of-sno-cap.jpg)
Trying AGAIN to post a picture
Looks like I finally held my mouth right...
I don't mind commercial root beer, but after trying some of the real stuff, there's no comparison.
(http://www.rootbeerreview.com/images/stories/bottles/real%20brew%20draft%20root%20beer.jpg)
I occasionally pick this up from the health food store. Natural sarsparilla, licorice and vanilla extracts, sweetened with cane juice, rich and creamy feel, not too fizzy. Delicious.
A lot of non-Americans don't like it, but the large majority of Americans do. It's a very difficult to describe flavor, but the people in the thread here so far have done a good job.
I might also add that there's a pretty big variance in quality. It's not like cola, where any variant of it is fairly similar. Higher end root beer actually is much better. I can't remember the brand, but there's some local variant here in St. Louis I had once that was around $3 a bottle (looked like a beer bottle) and was the best root beer I've ever had.
If you like it, remember to try floating a few big hunks of quality vanilla ice cream in it. Root beer floats are god damn delicious.
I brought up Sioux City Sarsaparilla in an earlier post. That's the best I've ever had.
The only problem I have is that premium root beer almost always seems to come in long-necked brown bottles. I get self-conscious driving down the highway sipping on one of those. :drink:
I could have sworn I'd posted in this thread...According to wikipedia, the first "root beer" was made and drank on the same day I was born -- May 16th. So I kind of have a bond to this Prince of Beverages.
I freakin' love Root Beer. I've largely given up drinking pop/soda (I'm from a geographic area of America that refers to carbonated sugary beverages as pop, as opposed to those who call it soda or worse, "Coke"), but I still have a soft spot for Root Beer.
Has the Root Beer arrived in South Africa yet? Do you have Cream Soda there? I prefer Cream Soda over Root Beer.
I used to love root beer when I was a kid, at least the mass produced stuff, but as I grew older I lost all fascination with sweet food in general.
Then I was at a restaurant in Colorado that brewed their own root beer, which I thought was great. The other people I was with did not like it because it tasted too much like real beer. Probably the very reason I liked it.
One thing I have noticed about soft drinks, when I grew up in Alaska, I drank regular soda. Then I moved to the desert, Arizona, and I started drinking Dr Pepper, which most everybody else here did too. I don't know if it has to do with climate, or just general taste, but here in the desert, Dr Pepper reigns supreme.
Hey Trevor, did you ever get to taste root beer?
Quote from: Flick James on June 22, 2010, 12:56:24 PM
I brought up Sioux City Sarsaparilla in an earlier post. That's the best I've ever had.
If you can find it try their birch beer as well. It is a like a light cream soda. Not so much vanilla and a refreshing spice note. There are a few others Sioux City makes that are along the same vein. The best, they quit selling it locally though. Grocery store change.
I'll quip in with Oscar as well and say have you had a chance to try it yet? Would be interesting to hear someone's take on Root Beer that hasn't tried it.