I am a root beer lover. I have never tried to make it, although tempting, but I love me a good, cold mug of root beer. The NY Times has a great article on this elixir of the gods.
WHAT is it about root beer?
Photo: Stacey Cramp for The New York TimesA NICE NOSE? Ryan Trirett tastes Sea Dog root beer, made by the Shipyard Brewing Company in Maine.
No soft drink incites the passions the way root beer does. People love it or they hate it, but they don’t ignore it. Few sodas have the mystique of a frosty mug of root beer.
Nobody chugs root beers mindlessly the way a reformed smoker downs Diet Cokes. Instead, people dissect them and analyze them. They debate the merits. They break down the formula, if they can. They might even try to make root beer themselves.
Multimedia
7 thoughts on “Oh sweet nectar of life! Root beer…”
If you love root beer and can get ahold of it, definitely try Sprecher, listed in that article as their number 1.
I think I still have a bottle or two from my last trip back to Wisconsin, if you’d like. 😉
I rather like good old Barq’s, discovered it in Minnesota and was frustrated not to find it in New York. Do not care for A&W (even though it has a deep childhood significance – think Pittsfield, Massachusetts and other ancient stomping grounds) too sweet for my tastes. I like root beer that punches you in the tonsils and says “You will respect mah authori-TAH!” I will not be so arrogant to suggest Barq’s is the “best” and am quite open to other recommendations.
And while we are at it… nectar. Doesn’t your Mac have a spellchecker?
Thanks for the typo Rick. 🙂 I had not turned on spell check in the new Firefox. On now… And thank you Anne! I will have to look for it and give it a try.
Does anyone like “Frosty” root beer? I used to drink it a lot as a kid in Alabama. That would be in the sixties. Seems it had a lot of foam and I dont recall an over-sweetness.
John – I do indeed remember Frosty. And thank you for bringing my mind back to Richard’s comment about sweetness. That is why you must have an RB nice and cold, it cuts the sweetness and helps all the flavors of the roots and herbs come out. What I don’t like about Barq’s is the caffeine. I like to be able to have a drink that is not yet more drug.
Now I’m going to have to have a Diet Barq’s. Thanks.
Everyone knows it’s the mudwater in the Barq’s that does it. It’s the semi-secret ingredient.
But now you’ll put me on a quest for the greatest Diet Root Beer. I need a theme with a lot of brass to go with it, with lots of fast cuts in the titles video.
Can’t be worse than a lot of reality tv these days….