Root Beer & Sarsaparilla (Fresh thread for the roaring 2020s)

[chris on the moon]

I spent a couple of months in the USA in 2015 and developed a bit of a taste for root beer. I've found that you can get it in the UK, but quality varies massively from brand to brand! I think in the US it was mainly A&W and Mug, which were both good, but I haven't seen them for sale anywhere here. Let's talk about root beer. Some brands that I've had in the UK

 

Bundaberg - very good, but the flavour isn't that strong. It could be much stronger. I get it from the world foods section in big Tesco so it's readily available.

Ben Shaw - cheap stuff. I think it was OK, but I don't really remember what this one was like. It may have been a bit medicine-y

Soda Folk - this is my favourite brand at the moment. It's wacky! It has a really strong smokey, bittersweet flavour. It's confusing and I like it.

I used to get it from sainsbury's, but it kept disappearing and reappearing until it was gone forever. But it turns out they've started just selling on amazon! You can buy 24 cans at once there and I did. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Soda-Folk-Root-Beer-7-92/dp/B00XR74SXI/

Hartridges - again, very good, but taste could be a bit stronger. It says it has natural Sarsaparilla flavouring! I got it as a gift, it looks like you can buy it several places online. How convenient!

 

Yes there were 2 threads for root beer already but they were 14 years old and 16 years old and I think it is stupid to bump threads that old.

 

Haters should not post here.

[Orion]

Yeah Bundaberg is tasty but not very strong. Their ginger beer has the same problem. They both turn up occasionally in the likes of Home Bargains crazy cheap though. 

[OnionNon]

Agree on Soda Folk. 
 

These cordials are quite good to keep in the cupboard to scratch the itch. 
 

https://shop.mrfitzpatricks.com/products/root-beer
 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Baldwins-Sarsaparilla-Litre-Pack-12/dp/B004VMEYJ6

[Rumspringa]

The Mawson's Sarsaparilla was the best I could find but the price is hefty https://www.lakelandartisan.co.uk/collections/mawsons-orginal-drinks

[MikeBeaver]

Best soft drink ever, I miss the days you cou.d get it at liverpool Street Station's McDonald's

 

Went to canada last year , they had an A&W burger place, you better fucking believe I had the cheapest burger and fries on the menu, but had a smashing Root Beer Milkshake, God Tier

[Gringo]

I love root beer. The more intense the deep heat taste the better. Shop round the corner used to sell Mug cans. Then it closed down 😔. I always get some in for Christmas time. The pinnacle of soft drinks.

[skadupuk]

This stuff is great, I've had it from Tesco in the past, but at the moement it looks like it's only available at Ocado

 

 

[OnionNon]

It is good. They sometimes do it in Lidl too. 

[Avuncular]

Sainsbury's used to sell their own brand root beer in 2-litre bottles. This was 30 odd years ago and I've no idea when they stopped selling it. It was pretty decent.

 

My local Sainsbury's has A&W cans but they're £1.40 each so I can't afford them regularly. 

[chris on the moon]

19 hours ago, skadupuk said:

This stuff is great, I've had it from Tesco in the past, but at the moement it looks like it's only available at Ocado

 

Virgil's! Yes! I forgot about this, I used to get it from Tesco too. It was good! The artwork amuses me too.

[Stifler]

Absolutely love Root Beer - think I'll order a case of the soda folk to give it a go as I've not had any in ages.

Took the family to Disney World last year so I was drinking draft root beer at every opportunity ❤️

[wullie]

I love root beer but I seem to be on my own with it.

 

Shop up the road from me has a rotating stock of US soft drinks, in amongst the £5 bottles of Prime locked behind bulletproof glass and what appears to be endless different flavours of Dr Pepper and Mountain Dew they've now got a few cans of Barqs in. I've stocked up and looking forward to my wife telling me it smells like TCP while I'm kissing the sky

[Stejay]

The best root beer I ever tasted was a bottled beer from Grimaldi's in Brooklyn.  I wish I could recall the brand and get source it within the UK.  Looking at their menu now, and they only mention Mug root beer, which doesn't sound familiar.

 

Within the UK, @skadupuk is bang on with Virgil's.  Next best is Soda Folk, which by the way if you can also get in a four pack from Home Bargains for £3.99, @chris on the moon.  I love A&Ws too, but I wish there was a tasty budget option readily available over here.  Too many haters in the UK I guess.

 

EDIT:  Sorry, £2.99.  Even better!

[emerald fox]

Baldwin's is the only place I've found properly brewed Sarsaparilla and on tap. If you're ever in London and near Elephant & Castle go for one 

[Commander Jameson]

Does cream soda fit into this category?

 

I do like a good cream soda. I think now they have been hampered by the sugar reduction.

[Avuncular]

Soda Folk root beer is 4 cans for £3 in Sainsbury's at the moment. 

[chris on the moon]

On 23/03/2023 at 10:31, Commander Jameson said:

Does cream soda fit into this category?

Not at all! They're both soft drinks, but that's where the similarities end.

[Jammy]

On 17/03/2023 at 09:53, Stifler said:

Absolutely love Root Beer - think I'll order a case of the soda folk to give it a go as I've not had any in ages.

Took the family to Disney World last year so I was drinking draft root beer at every opportunity ❤️

That was where I got back into it, in 2019. I just order 24 cans of A&W off Amazon when I get the cravings. Tried the more ‘available’ brands in the UK and not really taken to any of them. Find Bundaberg too licoricey.
 

Went to New York for a few days in Feb and nowhere we went to eat had any.