Pots and Pins

Root Beer Tasting 2019...

Root Beer tastings are something we started doing back in 2012 - when Max discovered he loved root beer.  At the time we had a store just down the hill from us that sold hundreds of different kinds of root beer; Max loved going there and we would buy as many different root beers as we could carry.  Sadly, The Root Beer Store closed down, forcing us to drive all over creation to find unusual root beers to add to our list.  Just when I thought we had exhausted every supplier in the Northwest, I learned The Root Beer Store had reopened in a new location.  Not quite as convenient but since I usually drive to Utah once a year, at least I'm able to get there!  The Root Beer Store is open for business in Sandy, Utah.  Their address is 9350 South State Street but better still, you can order from them and online and have your root beer delivered to your door!  But listen up all you Utahans...please, please, please go there and buy root beer and keep them in business for us!!!    

New to our tastings this year is our official family root beer tastings folder!  Elsa said we needed one, since all of our previous notes were stapled together into one big mass...she's so good at organizing - doesn't get that from me!  Elsa hates root beer (gets that from her grandpa, who likes his beer root-less) so she is the official writer-downer and loved having all of our notes in our new folder.    

Also new this year was the taste "key" the kids came up with...when we first started writing down all of the root beers we'd tasted, we were pretty lax in how we rated them.  Max asked that we be more specific this time...so they came up with this key:

This year we were honored to have a truly experienced root beer taster join us...my dad!   Dad used to make his own root beer so he is somewhat of an expert.  We had planned to have dad make some of his for us to try but time got away from us...next year!!  Mom joined in the fun, too, but she's not nearly as passionate about root beer as dad.  The kids were very excited to have them both at our tasting table, which was a first for them.

Little glasses were passed, the bowl for "dumping" was put in the center of the table, the moderator, as Max called Elsa, had written down all of the pertinent information so the tasting could begin!

Dad and Max are very serious about their root beer...and their numbers reflected that...they were not easily impressed and didn't give out high marks easily.  I tend to like root beers that are more sweet, like cream soda, but Max, Dad and the boy like theirs to be more true root beer like.  You wouldn't think there wouldn't be big differences in the tastes...but there are!

You can see the mister, boy and me in the reflections in the window...I failed to get a picture of my mom but she was there, pretending to enjoy it.  (The dump bowl is where any root beer that was left in our glass goes.  Since we don't drink from the bottles, about half a bottle of root beer is left in each bottle and we since they don't keep and we hate throwing them out, we always offer them to our neighbors to try.)   Below is our list of the root beers we tasted - Death Valley Root Beer was the winner...the loser was Bukin' Root Beer.  I love the names of the root beers - they are clever and funny, like Dead World Root Beer, which was  actually pretty good.  You can see all of the root beers we have tasted over the last 5 years by clicking here!  Before 2014 we didn't write things down...we didn't know root beer tasting would become one of our things! 

Ordering from The Root Beer Store was not all that expensive - I think I spent $45 on 12 root beers, which included shipping and the root beers arrived within a few days.  (Only 11 are listed above because Max "accidentally" drank one before the tasting!)  We try to have a tasting at least once a year and we try to taste a dozen root beers at a time - it makes things last longer and sitting around the table laughing and talking with family, with the occasional root beer sip, is one of our favorite things to do together.  I guess that's my way of saying it's not a lot of money for all of the fun and memories it provides. 

Bottoms up!

 

Root Beer Tasting...2018

All root beer is not created equal.  Not by a long shot, and that's what our family has set out to prove every year since 2012, one shot at a time.  Last week we had our 7th annual root beer tasting night and it will go down in the annals of our history, if not our bowels, as one of the worst tastings we've had!  We had one clear winner and it wasn't even really a root beer, more of a cream soda!  So as a way of public service, I'm going to share the root beers we have tried over the last 4 years, (I failed to keep records before then!)  The stars mean we liked them, and the x's mean we would never let it touch our lips again...unfortunately we were not really great at taking notes on each root beer...too much laughter, spitting out and burping for that (not moi, mind you, but the men-folk have no trouble burping their thoughts after each sip!)  There are hundreds of different flavors of root beer - we usually sample about 8 to 10 at a time, so at that rate, it will take us 30 years to taste them all!

2018 Root beers:

Barrell Brothers Creamy Vanilla -  ***

Mason Root Beer - xxx

Triple XXX (that's the name) - xxx

Chicago Draft Style - *

Brownie Caramel Cream - xxx

St. John's Brewer Virgin Islands Root beer - xx

Waialua First Hawaiian Quality - xxx

Even though we try not to repeat brands, we do.  We get in the store and completely forget to look at our list of our previous purchases!  We are easily influenced by the name and the label!  We do ask the root beer "experts" what they recommend but usually they are root beers that are super spicy or hot...not our cup of tea beer! 

2017 Root beers:

Batch Brown Sugar Root beer - xx

Berghoff Root beer - *

Bear Wizz - *

Moms Root beer - xx

Foxon Park Root beer - xx

Mason Keg Brewed - xx

Rollies Root beer - *

A & W Diet Root beer - *

Dads Root beer - xx

Dads Cream Soda - **

This is my dear ol' Dad from 2012 - taken at the Root beer Store that used to be in Redmond.  Dad loves root beer - even used to make his own back in the day!  So you see, the root beer gene was passed down to me from dad...that and my ability to wield a hammer!  I didn't get his Engineer brain, however, but I'm happy to have his love of root beer - seems like a good trade off to me!

2016 Root beers:

Anchor Ginger Root beer - xx

Salted Caramel Root beer - *

Moose Wizz - xx

Frostie Vanilla Root beer - *

Dry Root beer - xx

Red Arrow Root beer - *

Bulldog Root beer - xx

Fitz's Root beer - **

IBC Root beer - **

AJ Stephens Cane Sugar Root beer - *

2015 - Root beers:

Dog and Suds - *

Brownie Caramel - xx

Dads Root beer - xx

The Root beer Company Root beer - **

Pop Shoppe Root beer - xx

Ozark Mountain Root beer - **

Bulldog Root beer - xx

Dougie Dog Root beer - xx

Peanut Butter Root beer - x

Butterscotch Flying Cauldron Root beer - **

Frost Top Root beer - **

Here's the skinny on what we do...Weather permitting we have our tasting out on our deck so we can toss the root beer we don't like down on our unsuspecting plants below.  If the weather doesn't allow, we put a big bowl in the center of the table and we dump the horrid-scrap-it-off-our-tongue-make-it-stop-root beer that's left in our glasses into the bowl.  We use little glasses, think shot-glass size.  We pour about a tablespoon of root beer into each glass and we sip and swirl, ala wine sommelier, and then give our opinions...everything from "Ewwww gross, it tastes like a candle!"  to "Yummmm, pour me another shot!"  At the end of our fun we are left with half-full bottles of root beer.  We usually offer them to the neighbor's kids...they don't save and since we don't drink from the bottles no one will get our cooties!  Root beer is filling...the bloat is real...so if you do this, pace yourselves!  And remember to serve it chilled!!

If you don't have a root beer store near you (the closest one to us now is in Lynnwood) you can always order it online!