#Are there root beer brands out there which taste a bit more natural? i guess maybe not widely distributed in the uk

[sixohsixoheightfourtwo]

Oh man I should have done tasting notes!! instead of talking about a very specific shop in london. The weird thing about it for me was that it was mostly JUST that initial blast of that v distinctive aroma that was putting me off (and the memory of not liking it when I tried it before... probably 10-15 years ago). but once I actually drank it the flavour seemed pretty mild actually. Part of it is probably just being more of an adult, having tasted / enjoying more herbal & bitter & minty flavours. eg. herbal liqueurs, amari, fernet, chartreuse etc. with root beer I feel like I need to taste / smell sassafras and wintergreen in isolation to really GET it tho.

A continuation on my post about unloved foods, specifically this is my in-depth defense of root beer.

Root Beer isn't inherently gross, it's just one of those weird local flavors that's off-putting to people who didn't grow up with it. We all like different things and also we all tend to like flavors that are similar to what we grew up with. That's okay! But honestly root beer is pretty unique and, in my opinion, delicious.

One of the main complaints against root beer is that it tastes like medicine. Funnily enough, it was originally marketed as medicinal! This is true for most OG sodas actually. Pretty much as soon as carbonated water was invented, people were drinking it to soothe various ailments. A lot of the original soft drinks were actually invented by pharmacists. I just think that root beer is especially cool because the main flavor came from the root bark of sassafras, a common North American shrub. Because it's so widespread and aromatic, all parts of the sassafras plant have been used in food and medicine by many different Native American tribes throughout history and was subsequently picked up and used by European colonists. In the 1960s, some studies indicated that that safrole oil, which is produced by the plant, can cause liver damage. Whether or not this would actually remain true after it had been boiled and added to root beer is unclear, but it was really easy to replicate the flavor, so the sassafras in commercial root beer these days is artificial. Another fun fact about safrole is that it's a precursor in the synthesis of MDMA. None of this information has stopped my childhood habit of eating sassfras leaves right off the shrub whenever I walk past it on a hike. I'm like 85% sure it's safe and also mmmm yummy leafs go crunch.

Another root beer complaint is that it tastes like toothpaste. I think this is probably because another key flavor in most root beer recipes is wintergreen. I'm assuming that the people who think this are the same people who think mint chocolate chip ice cream tastes like toothpaste. I can understand and even respect that some people don't like mint and associate it only with brushing their teeth, but like. Mint is a pretty common flavor. I mean I think it's safe to say that humans have been eating mint flavored stuff for longer than toothpaste has existed... anyway!

Other common flavors in root beer (real or artificial) are caramel, vanilla, black cherry bark, sarsaparilla root, ginger, and many more! There's not one official recipe, and root beer enthusiasts often have strong opinions about different brands. Some root beer is sharper, with more strong aromatic flavors, and others are mild and creamier.

Another thing I think is cool about root beer is that it's foamier than most sodas. This was originally because sassafras is a natural surfactant (and why sassafras is also a common thickening agent in Louisiana Creole cooking.) These days, other plant starches or similar ingredients are added to keep the distinctive foam. Root beer foam > all other soft drink foams. That's why root beer floats kick more ass than like, coke floats.

If you've never had root beer before, imagine if a sweetened herbal tea was turned into a soda, because that's basically what it is. If your first response to that is a cringe, fair enough. That's why lots of people don't like it. If your first response to that is "interesting... I might actually like it, though" then I encourage you to track down a can of root beer today, hard as that might be outside the US and Canada. Next time you see an "ew, root beer tastes like medicine/tooth paste" take, know that there's a reason for that, but also the same could be said for literally any herbal or minty food/drink.

My final take on root beer is that it would be the soda of choice for gnomes. Thank you and good night.

[seniorbrief]

We Settled the Cola Debate: Find Out Which Brand Tastes Best

Food Fun & News

Lisa KaminskiJul 16

Coke vs. Pepsi is one of the most heated debates in foodie history. We tried these brands, plus six others, in a cola taste test to put this argument to bed.

The Coke vs. Pepsi Debate

Taste of Home

Growing up, there was always a major debate in my house: Coke vs. Pepsi. My sisters and I were Team Coca-Cola while my mom was very much Team Pepsi; my dad, on the other hand, was very frugal and was Team Generic, or whatever was on sale—he’d love these 12 thrifty ways to use soda around the house! I’m sure that this scenario sounds pretty familiar.

Since we had our biases, we never managed to settle the Coke vs. Pepsi debate at home. We’d all reach for our favorites in the fridge and claim that the other options were far inferior. But I realized, we never did a test to confirm whose preferred brand was better—we just assumed our favorite was best. But maybe if presented with Coke, Pepsi and Dad’s pick of the generics, I wouldn’t automatically gravitate toward my favorite. But there was only one way to know: to give all of these brands (plus a few new ones) a try today.

As fun as it would be to grab my parents and sisters to give all these colas a try, I decided to recruit a panel of Taste of Home testers instead. I think they’d be a bit less biased than my polarized fam! For this blind test, we gave eight cola brands a try:

Blue Sky Cola

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola, Mexican-style (there is a difference!)

Faygo Cola

Fentimans Curiosity Cola

Pepsi

RC Cola

Sam’s Cola (from Walmart)

Let’s see how all these colas stacked up and settle the debate (hopefully) for good!

Honorable Mention (Small Brand): Blue Sky

Taste of Home

Score: 7/10

Natural brand Blue Sky definitely deserves a mention in this test. It was the only high ranking cola we tested that’s sweetened with real cane sugar (not corn syrup). Plus, this beverage is made with just five ingredients. Of course, it’s still a soft drink so it’s not healthy, but it seems like the slightly better option if you’re more concerned about what goes into your more indulgent treats.

Flavor-wise, this cola was unique. Testers definitely got that traditional caramel-cola taste, but with a hint of vanilla (psst��� learn how to make our CokeCola Cake). In fact, a few testers said it tasted like a cola-root beer hybrid. Sounds good to me!

Honorable Mention (Major Brand): Pepsi

Taste of Home

Score: 7.5/10

As one of the big players in the cola game, I imagined Pepsi would place somewhere in the top. Pepsi got good marks when it came to fizz (our lower ranking colas got poor marks for tasting flat, even straight out of the bottle or can). However, Pepsi missed the top honors in the test because it didn’t pack the same level of flavor as other brands and some testers said it had a hint of diet soda taste. We just wanted more out of this one!

Runner-Up: Sam’s Choice

Taste of Home

Score: 8.8/10

Just shy of the top honor was Sam’s Choice, a Walmart brand. My dad would be pretty happy to know generics are nearly as good as big names (and it’s true—generics got exceptionally high scores in our cookie dough test, our ice cream sandwich taste test and our chicken tender test).

Sam’s Choice got high marks for its refreshing quality and fizziness. A few testers even hazard guesses on their score sheets asking if this was indeed Coke. I can attest that this generic cola definitely had some Coca-Cola-like qualities, but in the end wasn’t quite as flavorful as the real thing.

Original Source -> We Settled the Cola Debate: Find Out Which Brand Tastes Best

source https://www.seniorbrief.com/we-settled-the-cola-debate-find-out-which-brand-tastes-best/