Virgil's Zero Root Beer

That tag line for this root beer is "you'll swear it's made in heaven."  Unfortunatley, heaven doesn't make root beer like they used to.  To be frank, it barely had a root beer taste at all.  It was clouded (probably a result of being made in heaven) with a huge diet taste of stevia rebaudiana leaf extract and that dang GMO-free caramel color.  Truth be told, I'm not on the up and up on the GMO, and this root beer is not really worth the couple of extra minutes to research it.

I do love the fact that it has zero calories and it's using a sweetner that doesn't cause years of soft-drink induced cancer.  I actually like diet soda a bit too much and it would be nice to find a tasty alternative.  Virgil's Zero Root Beer is not that alternative . . .  although it is a really nice alternative for muddy water.

One other thing that I absolutely love about this root beer can be found right on their web-site.  It says, and I quote, "no sugar alcohols that upset your intestines."  Awesome . . . simply awesome.

Although I've never been a huge Virgil's fan to begin with, I think they have a much "higher standard" to live up to - this brew is a big disappointment.

I give this root beer a   F

Duffy's Rowdy Root Beer

It's been a long time since the last review . . . about 18 months in fact.  My love for root beer hasn't changed, but I just can't drink it like I used too.  I didn't even drink the full bottle of this brew - I split it with my lovely assistant.

On to the beer.  I picked this because it said it's a Colorado legend.  Plain and simple, legends are cool.  It was originally created when a man was canned by a large soft-drink company.  Out of spite, jealousy or maybe it was just because he loved soda, he created a line of his own soft-drinks.  Fast-forward a couple of decades and somehow this soda was lost and forgotten, which isn't that hard to believe (more on that later).  And what was once old and forgotten was found in a locked safe and brought back to life in 1995 (there are some who feel it should have remained dead and buried).

The low sugar content was another reason I decided to pick this up.  Many root beers can get close to 45g of sugar in a 12oz. bottle, but Duffy's tops out at a meager 25g - and pure cane sugar no less!  For this reason alone I'd probably drink this again . . . and it's pretty darn philonthrapic to support local businesses.

Other than the low sugar and the local part there's not much going for this root beer.  It's alright . . . it's not offensive . . . it's pretty smooth . . . but that's about it.  The most exciting part of the soda was that my assistant and I had a spirited argument over whether there was any mint flavor present.  Sadly, the web-site doesn't provide any further info. on the mint or any of the natural flavors.

In a sea of root beer choices, this one sits squarely in the middle of the pack and sadly this brew probably won't be added to the new curriculum for "Root Beer 101."

I give this root beer a      B -