Bulldog

Who Made This Stuff? Orca Beverage Soda Works,

Website: www.bulldogrootbeer.com

Where’d It Come From? Cost Plus World Market

Review Date: 5/6/08

Commentary: Hmmmm. I’m just a little confused. The first time I ever drank this stuff, over a year ago, I thought it was awesome – quite possibly the best I’d ever tasted. It’s been a long time since I last had any. Maybe I was just visiting my local Cost Plus on the wrong days when they were all sold out. When I finally found it there on the shelf again, I was quite happy. This time around, it wasn’t so awesome. It wasn’t bad, just not as good as I remembered. It’s still a really good root beer. I did notice the “Orca Beverage Soda Works” name on the side of the label. I don’t seem to remember that being there the first time around. Maybe a change in production crew/locale has affected the recipe somehow. I know the Dad’s label also mentioned Orca, but these are definitely two different brews. This one is still creamy, but it had another flavor in there that I couldn’t quite place…licorice or something. I think that cost it a few points in the “smoothness” department. Anyway, I’d still recommend this one. Maybe I can get some answers from the folks at Bulldog. Does anyone out there in Root Beer Land know anything about this? As for a score, for now I’m going to give this one a score of………86.

Anyone out there taken Bulldog for a walk lately?

Point Premium Root Beer

Who Made This Stuff? The Stevens Point Brewery, Stevens Point, WI

Website: http://www.pointbeer.com/

Where’d It Come From? I don’t know…some grocery store in WI.

Review Date: 5/5/08

Commentary: I had my concerns about how realistic this review could be since this bottle of Point had been sitting in the fridge for several months. I must confess that I had actually forgotten it was in there. I was afraid that its age might have a negative impact on the taste, but I soon learned that I had nothing to fear. 

WOW! This is one great root beer! Creamy, creamy, creamy, and just the right amount of sweetness…must be that “pure Wisconsin honey”. The list of ingredients says it includes cane sugar “and/or” fructose corn sweetener. “And/or”? Maybe it depends on the day of the week, or maybe just what kind of mood the brewer is in when he gets to this item on the recipe card. I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he used cane sugar when he made my bottle. 

When I poured it in the mug, the head wasn’t anything special--kinda on the smallish side--but it did do me the courtesy of hanging around for a little while, which I appreciated. It was the nice foamy kind too, not the kind you get from any other soda. You can really pick up the vanilla, but other than that, no other ingredient really jumps out and slaps you around. No real bite here, just smoooooooothness. It could use a little more carbonation, but this one has so much other stuff going for it that I’m willing to look past that little fault. The Point Brewery also makes a few other premium soda flavors, but I’ve not tried any of them…yet. I’m still having too much fun drinking all this root beer. 

As for this bottle of Point Premium Root Beer, I’ll give it……….88.

Have you tried Point? What do you think?

Dad's

Who Made This Stuff? Produced Under the authority of the Dad’s Root Beer Company, LLC Jasper, IN. Bottled by Orca Beverage Soda Works?

Website: www.dadsrootbeer.com

Where’d It Come From? Cost Plus World Market

Review Date: 5/3/08

Commentary: I was excited to try this classic brand when I found it at my local Cost Plus World Market, as I had not seen there on any of my previous trips. I can remember this brand from my childhood, although I honestly can’t say that I drank a lot of it. Anyway, enough of the trip down memory lane… When I poured this one into my frosty mug, it started out with great promise. It produced a decent foamy head, but unfortunately it dissipated pretty quickly – very much like the way the foam dissipates when you pour a certain cola product. It had a little more bite than I expected, but nothing that knocked my socks off. Some of that bite may actually have been due to a little too much carbonation for my taste. I enjoyed this one just fine, but as some of the carbonation fizzled out, the drink became a lot smoother and much more enjoyable. Not a lot of creaminess here, and definitely not too sweet. My mug had a definite Wint-O-Green aroma, but fortunately the taste wasn’t overwhelmed by it. Overall, a decent product – nothing to complain about, but I didn’t feel the need to jump up and dance a little jig when I drank it either. I’ll say……80.

What do you think of Dad's?