It may come as a disappointment to some (eg. you, Lynn, but no doubt others as well) that I have not forgotten the Root Beer Project. Rather, I have been awaiting the delayed arrival of my root beer selections from the Soda King. The order is finally on its way-I got the email notifcation on Wednesday, and, sorry, but my fascination has been rekindled. (Not that it was ever de-kindled; it's been lying in wait all along.) I have, however, sort of forgotten why I thought that tasting various root beers would help me decide how to brew my own, especially since the ingredients listings on the bottles are the last word in vague.
It will be fun (for me, at any rate) to taste them all, and try to find one approximating the root beer of my dreams. Maybe then, with some help, I can try to identify the most important ingredients. I figure we can have some pretzels to clear our palates, like fancy wine tasters, between bottles, make notes on little tablets...then finish off the remaining root beer with some vanilla ice cream. This is a pretty good reward for the note-takers, in my view, because IMHO, the root beer float (a/k/a "Brown Cow") is the queen of ice cream drinks. It has an old fashioned charm, and I love the weird creamy foam, neither soda nor ice cream, which is generated when you mix the ice cream and root beer.
Results will be reported when tallied. Stay tuned-or disregard-as you will. All root beer posts are clearly labeled, in case you wish to avoid them.
Directions For Brown Cow: Put a scoop of nice vanilla ice cream in a tall glass. Pour chilled root beer over ice cream. Serve with a straw and a spoon with a long handle. (Iced tea spoons are good for this, if you have them. I do, even though I do not have a full set of soup spoons for my everyday flatware. They do not disappear as fast as other utensils, because I use them much less often, and because, even stuck in the back of a drawer, they are conspicuous.) Eat, drink. Be Merry.
Whoo hoo-the root beer is arrived!
I actually do like a good root beer float now and then, but I am really partial to--I kid you not--a stout float. Sheaf stout from Australia is the preferred stout but very hard to find; Guiness or a microbrew stout do in a pinch. They are good with vanilla, coffee, chocolate or carmel ice cream. Best to make them small.
Posted by: Lynn D. | December 07, 2006 at 07:37 PM
Here in the South we're partial to Coke floats. With chocolate ice cream. Yum. (I used to have them for breakfast when I was a teenager with the metabolism of a hummingbird.)
Posted by: Heath | December 07, 2006 at 07:45 PM
I was worried until you got to the brown cow, purple I would have worried again.
Posted by: Tanna | December 07, 2006 at 10:35 PM
Wanted to make sure you got this. Was posted on Rootbeer Dreams II in October. Noticed several posts on Henry Weinhards, which is awesome. Her is my earlier post.
OK, I am a rootbeer fanatic from way back in the 70's. The absolute best rootbeer I have ever come across came from the tape on roadside A&W stands back when I was a kid. Just the right amount of sweetness and flavor, Went down easy even when thirsty, carbonation did not cause any issue because it was just so smooth going down. Head on it lasted and was thick complimenting its flavor. I have tasted all types of rootbeer canned, bottled, tapped and have yet to find anything that even comes close, that is until now. The Henry Weinhard's they speak of, which I had from the bottle while in California, is as close as I have come to finding that old A&W flavor (which as stated, in above, cannot be found anymore with this product). Henry's has all of the same characteristics of that taste I longed for. I can drink it even when not thirsty. What it does not have is that terrible after bite that many of the so called "gourmet" rootbeers have today. Man I hate that. Buying a gourmet rootbeer expecting so much and being disapointed. That has happened often, until I had a taste of Henry's. Exceptional is not a strong enough word to describe it. Just thought I would add my 2 cents. Oh yes, I can tell by looking at the ingredients from that Chow recipe that it will not be as full bodied as Henry's and that it will probably have that bite I hate in many rootbeer. Just my thought here.
Posted by: Kirk Mango | December 09, 2006 at 03:30 PM
Just got earlier comment today, for some reason. Please see my response (with numerous annoying questions from me) at "Root Beer Dreams II"- which I just posted. Thanks so much, and I'd appreciate any answers to those questions, if you have the time.
Posted by: lindy | December 09, 2006 at 03:47 PM
I'm a big fan of Coke floats (maybe it is a Southern thing?), but I like my root beer ice cold and straight up. I look forward to reading your tasting notes.
Posted by: Kimberly | December 10, 2006 at 03:21 AM
Kimberly-I mostly like my root beer plain and cold, too. The floats are an uncommon treat, though. It may be a while before I can assemble a few people to taste the root beers with me; free time seems to be filling up rapidly with holiday stuff. But I will post when I do it.
I'm not sure I've ever had a coke float. I'm generally a pepsi girl, when it comes to cola. Typing the word "pepsi", it suddenly seemed a very silly name to me. Never noticed that before.
Posted by: lindy | December 10, 2006 at 08:27 AM
I was doing a little research for root-beer.org aka rootbeerworld.com and found this site. Nice! I'm anxious to see the results of your comparison.
Posted by: Kevin | May 20, 2007 at 10:44 AM