Why American Root Beer Never Took Off in Britain
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- Опубликовано: 22 сен 2022
- As a Canadian living in the UK, I love root beer... but my fellow Brits? Not so much lol Let's dive into why I think British people hate rootbeer, even though it's such a popular pop flavour in North America!
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Hey! I'm Alanna - a twenty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.
I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a RUclips video every Tuesday & Friday plus an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 5:30pm GMT/BST on Twitch.
Alanna x
Then again, it could be because Brits recognise that it tastes exactly like the smell of Germolene antiseptic oitment, and Americans have never smelled (or tasted) Germolene!
Spot on!
I rn Bru anyone? Just sayin’. Lol.
Exactly this
I’m a Brit who does like a root beer but I also agree on the TCP and Germolene comparison. There’s also a traditional old fashioned toothpaste called Euthymol (still available) which also has this taste and smell. Might have been fun to get hold of some of these to compare!
Euthymol tastes of wintergreen - a common flavour here in the states, but unusual in the UK. Even back in the UK I always had root beer with cheeseburgers and fries. Yum.
Yup always said the thing about Germolene myself i fuckin hate it personally but yh
@@andrewmurray9350we have plenty of Wintergreen in the UK but it is better known as "Artemisia "??
Nothing like an A&W root beer in their frosty glass mugs when you go into one of their restaurants.
Yesss! Been forever 😩
The soft drink I grew up with was "Vimto", a mixture of grape/raspberry and blackcurrant juices with herbs (erbs) and spices, carbonated and marketed as 'medicinal'. Originally Vim Tonic, first appeared in 1908 and still available.
Vimto is the one. God tier soft drink
Standard Vimto is a cordial. Just add water. Fizzy vimto appeared in the 60s or 70s, I think.
We do love our dandelion and burdock, though...
Where I grew up every corner shop with a fridge used to make their own Vimto-flavoured ice lollies in summer.
Vimto is superb- except for the yeuky fizzy abomination.
Love Vimto. It doesn't deserve to be an anagram of Vomit. Didn't know it used to be a cordial though.
Where I lived in the 1980-1990's there was a market stall that used to sell a non-carbonated sarsaparilla beer that they used to brew in large mettle kegs which is probably as closest UK version to a Root Beer that I've tried. It also had a strong earthy and black licorice flavour.
Very interesting video Alanna! I've never tried root beer but this video has given me the urge to go out this weekend to find some and try it 🙂
I've never tried root beer but from how you describe it, it sounds like something I'd really enjoy. Must have a root around the local shops now and get some if I can.
Interesting stuff Alanna thanks a lot!
Ooh let me know what you think!!
If you have a big supermarket near you and they have an international section, you might be able to find some root beer. You'll pay more for it because of import costs, but it'll let you try it
The Caribbean section also has a sarsaparilla flavoured cordial which gives you the idea of the flavour of root beer without the carbonisation
I am loving these educational videos. :)
Not feeling very eloquent today , so just a ' Hi , and thanks for another funny and informative video ' 😁
I’m definitely gonna pop into a local Co-op and keep an eye out for this! Keen to try it.
American here, great video! I did a little bit of googling myself because I haven't seen an A&W restaurant in many years and it turns out their numbers are way down (there's not even a location here in Georgia, where I live). At the same time, they're EXPANDING in Canada. I don't blame them for chasing the business where the business is, but I sure do hate knowing I'll probably never go in an A&W restaurant again and get a root beer fresh from the tap instead of one in a can or plastic bottle. :(
There pretty common here in California. Honestly they have pretty solid burgers
Sitting here in my living room somewhere north of Toronto, I had to pause your video halfway through, hit the fridge and pulled out - you guessed it - a can of A&W root beer. Same can as yours, Vancouver and all. Yum! (Enjoyed the video, keep 'em coming :)
I was introduced to it when I lived in Canada for a couple of years and I like it! My local large Sainsbury’s has imported cans of it in the Americam section, so can get a fix every now and again.
Brought some Root Beer jelly beans today from my local shop. Tasted a bit like aniseed, fairly nice. The shop also sold Hershey Bars. Great Video.
I just want to say RUclips is definitely hiding your videos from me. I'm subscribed, search for your channel often and watch lots of videos when I get there. You are never on my recommendation page. This has been going on for months. I guess I'll try the notification bell but I don't really need it because you have such a fun, informative channel that I always come back! Cheers Alanna.
I had root beer in the US once, I thought it was ok! But I would prefer something like coke lol, this was interesting I didn’t really know what root beer was even tho I’ve had it before lol, thanks for the video! Hope you’re feeling better and less sick today!
Thanks pal! Definitely feeling better 🙏🏻
On my first trip to the States I tried root beer and I can concur it tastes disgusting! The primary flavour is oil of wintergreen (chemically methyl salicylate). In the UK and probably most of Europe it is associated with medicated items and ointments. At the time I described the taste of root beer as like sucking bandages!
Root beer has no wintergreen in it. Pepto Bismol is the medication here that uses that flavor.
@@brockreynolds870 You don't say where "here" is but wikipedia mentions wintergreen as an ingredient en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer and it was definitely the flavour I remember. Recipes might have changed since the 1980s but I'm willing to bet I would still find the taste revolting. It is the marmite of the Americas.
It might be an ingredient in some of the recipes but it isn't the primary flavour. The primary flavor is that of the bark or root that's used. The drink was often called sasparilla in the past rather than root beer because of this. Wintergreen is a pretty common flavor in a lot of breath mints, candies, gum, and toothpaste in the US and isn't even close to the primary flavor of root beer. My guess is the wintergreen is added to give some root beer varieties their "bite". Barques Root Beer even uses that term in its advertising ("Barques Has Bite!"). It also tastes very different from most other Root Beer brands, perhaps because it has a higher amount of wintergreen in it.
@@jeffreywrightphotography Yeah, I would have to agree. America does have some drink with minor mint (ie wintergreen, spearmint, peppermint, etc) flavoring but an explicitly minty soda isn’t really a thing at the mainstream level. That said, North Americans are prone to turn the flavor dial up to 11 with every food and beverage item which other countries normally don’t do so I’m not surprised that foreigners are very sensitive to any flavoring we put forward in such items.
Nice video as always Alanna. 🙂
Hi Alanna,if I were A&W I would put you on the payroll straight away.You put forward a compelling and infectious reasoning to give root beer a try…but I don’t think that i will be buying any ,any time soon.i recall tasting it some years ago..but my brain is too old remember where or when.Thank you very much for another enthralling episode,you really make me smile.cheers Roly🇬🇧.
I'm not sure that I'm sold on it Alanna, but thanks for trying and thanks for another great video!
When I was a youngster, pop drinks would be regularly delivered in the UK on a ‘Corona’ truck, the brand of the drinks.
No bad connotations back then… Quite the opposite, as they would collect the empties and return the bottle deposit in cash (that was included in the purchase price) for bottle reuse ♻️ saving on manufacturing.
I digress, my favourite addiction was that Dandelion & Burdock type of British root beer.
My family thought I had lost my freaking mind ! 😂
Yeah remember them like benshaws we used to get delivery's from ribble Valley soft drinks just over 20 year ago
I do remember root beer when I was a kid in McDonalds in the UK. That's definitely where I first had it. And loved it. Found some random brand in my local Asda last year. Happy to say I still love the taste.
From Wales. I love root beer. No shop sells it in my area though. Always buy some when I go to Cardiff.
People say it tastes medicinal but, many soft drinks and tonics began as medicinal drinks. We've just become accustomed to the flavour.
(Add Vodka to Root Beer, simple; it takes away the overbearing sweetness.) Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada, you know near Vancouver!!!! I love your channel, and you remeind me so much of one of my neices-who, bye the way, got a Masters Degree in England from Durham University.
(She's back in Canada again, and I think she likes Root Beer. )
Thanks for the enlightening Friday video Alanna, I've never had root beer and always wondered what it was and what it taste like and now I know. From your description of it I don't see myself rushing out to try some any time soon, I think i'll stick to good old ginger beer or if if i'm feeling a little exotic a vanilla coke maybe. 😊
😂 You gotta try it! Thanks for watching though ☺️
@@AdventuresAndNaps Maybe one day 🙂
Sassafras root, boiled, makes a VERY good tea. Maybe you’d like that more? The fakes aren’t good at all though. Have to boil actual roots.
I binge on A&W and love Root Beer!!
Wooooo! 🥳
I'm a Brit and I gotta say that I like root beer! I also like sarsaparilla and Dr Pepper too. I have described it as a bit medicinal but that's not put me off at all. Off the top of my head, I've had A&W, Virgils, Mug (I think that is the brand), and maybe a few others and I'm happy with them all. But, the one that I've probably drunk most often is Bundaberg which I really like and it's AUSTRAILIAN! (Sainsbury's sells it). Great video Alanna and your description of what it tastes like brought a smile to my face - "brown tasting" ???😂😂😂
Interesting video! Root beer was just part of the background of my childhood, I guess most sodas taste weird if you really think about it. Hope you feel better soon!
Thank you so much! Feeling a lot better - will be back on Twitch this Sunday!
Long ago while In ports in America we could sometimes find a Root Beer called A&W, it was fantastic
Greetings from Vancouver! I knew as soon as I saw French on the can that A&W must have been from Canada. Personally I love the stuff, doesn't matter if it's Barq's, A&W ... heck I even like Cragmont! (There's an old brand I doubt you remember) Anyway, interesting stuff, keep up the good work.
Root beer is like a very light dandelion and burdock. First had it when visiting Toronto, still like it and you can buy it at Sainsbury's in the UK
American here. Love root beer! I've made floats for my children & grandchildren, started early. The fact it had no caffeine in it for the children was a good thing (kids were active already).
I just happened to find your channel, excellent job my dear.
God bless & be safe. ❤️🙏🇺🇸
Keep in mind, Barq's DOES have caffeine. No other brands do, but look out for that
I'm a Brit and I'm sure I've had it and liked it (perhaps in Canada), so I've added it to my shopping list to retry. Sainsbury sell A&W and it's importers PO Box is in Maidstone 😉
I'm from Norway and i love A&W and Bundaberg Root Beer but its almost impossible to find unless ordered online, Bundaberg is my favorite and i'm obsessed the Wintergreen flavour
I have a vague recollection when I was at primary school in the '70s of other kids talking about sas-sper-ella (spelling how people said it) and I always understood that root beer was the American name for it - or at least the most similar thing. Can’t remember ever really trying it myself.
Alanna,I’m an expat Canadian who has lived in the USA for a very long time. I grew up loving A&W root beer. Over the years I’ve tried many other root beer brands including Dad’s, Hires, Stewart’s and Barq’s. But Barq’s is the only one I know of that has caffeine in it. It has about a third less caffeine than that in Coke tho.
A&W now has a caffeinated version (they do for their cream soda as well) and it's annoying because they don't highlight the difference on the can very well. Make sure you check closely to see which version you're buying.
It's kind of like Dandelion and Burdock.
It gets it flavor from the sassafras tree. Sassafras trees are interesting in that it has four different shaped leaves. A normal "leaf" shape, a mitten shape with the "thumb" or the right or left, and a leaf shaped like the mitten except it has thumbs on both sides. If you are walking in the woods and scrape the skin off twigs you will get a very nice scent. You can make your own root beer by buying the extract and mixing it according to directions. As it ages it firms it's carbonization. If the caps were not applied properly, they would pop off and root beer would fly all over. What a mess. But when the root beer is finished it was so good!
We as you said, would add vanilla ice cream and we called it a "horses neck", a root beer float. It was a real treat for us!!
Mint?! I never tasted the mint! Or licorice! That being said, its been 2, 3 years (or more) since I've had a rootbeer 😆 I just thought of it as a soda flavor different from Coke, like Dr Pepper is. As always, great video Alanna 😃👍
Ahh thank you! You should totally try it again but think liquorice!! I was surprised how much it reminded me of it, even though I don't really like it lol
@@AdventuresAndNaps To a Brit, root beer smells like Germolene. The hated pink antiseptic of our childhoods. It is not made in its original form anymore, but the dreaded smell is still with us. Every time you fell off your bike or out of a tree, we'd get blathered in the stuff. That's why Brits hate root beer. We associate the smell of it with childhood trauma.
I think it's a age thing in Britain. Older people like me grew up drinking sarsaparilla and eating liquorice. I like both and root beer. Tesco sell the Australian one bundenburg but that's expensive.
@@neilgayleard3842 They used to sell the Boylan brand root beer and it was so good but alas they haven't for a couple of years now.
It tastes similar to fizzy sarsaparilla. Pretty good in a float! I had Sarsaparilla non-fizzy at health food stores in Bradford UK.
Thanks for linking it to Marmite cuz I was curious if root beer stood alone. I've been to Australia, Marmite is not my thing. I appreciate the way you describe the flavors in root beer, it's not a simple drink like a Coke. A Dr. Pepper, I believe, is between the two. Hence the warnings on the German label, "Be brave."
I paid 38 Euros for a box of 12 cans of A&W root beer on Amazon. I have one can left, and I'm afraid to drink it, cuz it will then be gone. As I drank them, I felt I was sent back in time to my mother's kitchen in America, where I grew up, cuz evertime we visit America, she hands me and A&W in her kitchen.
I love root beer. When McDonalds first came to the North West town I now live in during the mid 1980s they used to sell rootbeer. I also love sarsaparilla, the other 'root beer'. It's actually the old fashioned, herbal flavour that I love. I love old fashioned herbal sweets too.
You used to be able to get it in McDonalds in the UK - apparantely they stopped selling it as the syrup would go off before it got close to being used up (I think I was probably the only person in the area that drank it)
Yes, when McDonald's first started over here they sold root beer, I remember quite liking it but wasn't surprised when it disappeared.🥤🍔. Every now and then you can get it in Lidl when they have their American food weeks.
Sainsbury's sell it.
Super fun. I still don't know what sassafras is. The weekend is here cheers and have a great one ☺️
Thank you! You too!
@@AdventuresAndNaps 😊
I’ve loved root beer since I went to America as a child. The closest thing you can get to it here is dandelion and burdock made from which is a lot less sweet but tastes quite similar.
I am a Brit who used to drink it all the time in the late 1980's & to the mid 1990's-but it didn't seem very popular with most Brits though. Had a beautiful taste that was like Mouthwash, Candy & Winter Mixtures.
Over 40 years ago I went for the first time (of many) trips to North America (Florida in this case) with my mum,dad and little brother. We all went to a restaurant and all wanted to try Root Bear having seen it in TV and Movies. We all got one and then tasted it, you have never seen so much gurning (pulling faces) from 4 people! Gave the waitresses and staff a belly laugh and the manager came over laughing and switched all our drinks for us free of charge (worked out for them as well as we went there for breakfast every day and meals 5 more times over the next 2 weeks) :)
I'm English I love root beer. I fell in love with it when I visited the USA 20 odd yrs ago. wish it was more readily available here. I just bought a 24 pack off amazon. £1 per can.
Hi Alanna, I'm with you. A&W rootbeer is awesome!!! Does the UK have A&W restaurants?? I assume not but I don't know. Love this video, great job. Have a really good weekend Alanna. Cheers from back home. 🇨🇦🍻🍻🍻🍻🍻
No A&W restaurants in the UK 💔 but it's gotta way easier to buy A&W pop for some reason! But thanks so much for watching!!
So, not sure if this might be a northerner thing, but I grew up drinking Dandelion and Burdock as well as Sarsaparilla. I kinda love Root Beer because of that. My understanding though is that both D&B and Sarsaparilla were favoured replacements for alcoholic beverages by the temperance movement, especially quakers. They tended to have a larger influence in the north of England with the home base being in Kendal. Titus Salt, a Quaker industrialist and philanthropist from Bradford built the town of Saltair for his workforce and, although there were pubs, there was no alcohol. Titus’ favoured replacement was Sarsaparilla. So I think the influence may have stuck around more in the north.
The different flavours of stuff in different places is interesting
Had my first root beer in London McDonald’s in the early 80’s and love it. Hard to get hold of any now unless you buy online.
Lidl stock it now and again
Never had root beer, but when I was a youngster there was a Sarsaparilla Bar in town, which sold "sarsparilla" in different flavours, eg strawberry, raspberry etc. I used to like them, but the establishment didn't last, sadly
I think I tried it once, must have been memorable!
I think you're right about growing up with it makes it normal.
I think us Brits have less of a sweet tooth than most people from North America, its what you get used to.
If I see a can for sale, I may try it again, just for the hell of it!
As usual another enjoyable video👍👍
Hey Alanna. love root beer, both the UK and American versions. I have trouble getting it in my area but it's a great treat when I do. You can't skimp with UK versions though, the cheap ones are pretty terrible but oddly, Aldi do a good one.
I worked for A&W for a number of years, and root beer was a staple drink.
There was a time when each store made their own. We made ours in bulk using warm water, lots of sugar, and pre-made root beer syrup. After mixing, it was poured into individual tanks. The tanks were hooked up to a hose as needed, and always had a CO2 tank joined to it as well.
Today the drink comes pre-mixed, already carbonated, in tanks.
To be honest I don’t fancy it from the description. I used to work at McDonalds as a teenager and I knew one guy who was gutted that root beer was taken off the menu but he’s the only person I have come across who liked it. I hope you and the butler have a great weekend thank you for the video it was really interesting
To me, it is funny that you didn't always think Root Beer had a licorice flavour. For me, that anise flavour has always been the most prominant tasting note followed by sugar and vanilla. Never would have guessed mint though, either!
If you've ever had sassafras bark, that's the most prominent flavor. It straight up tastes like root beer. It's also an ingredient in the manufacture of MDMA. Some friends tried to make some once, but weren't advanced enough to fully synthesize it, so I got a dropper under the tongue, which tasted just like root beer, but unlike Molly, had a peak of about 10 minutes.
After you drank the can of root beer, you could have put a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface and carefully sanded the top edge to remove the top of the can. You could have used it to drink from or as a storage pot, plant pot or vase and had a momento of your favourite root beer.
Going through some my late parents old photos. Found some photos of his aunt Maud from Kingston, Ontario. The letter is dated 1954. Someone i didnt know about.
Hearing you say you really like having the sweet & salt tastes in your food makes me immediately think of MacDondald's etc, where they quite heavily salt the French fries, to make sure you drink lots of Coke etc to compensate. Or at least they did during the couple of years when our kids would want to go there - luckily they grew out of it.
Root beer is nice as a float, but I haven't had it in ages. Even in my teens (my big soda drinking days) I would usually opt for a caffeinated brown drink.
I have never noticed a mint or licorice taste in it!
earlier this week an american vlogger called ryan wuzer,was reacting to one of your vlogs from 2 years ago about expectations on moving to the uk
Thanks Alanna, does sound like British tea or marmite, may have to be brought up with it! 🙏🙏
Canadian/USA explorers had to be the first to experiment & try it I guess, probably just used whatever they had left in their wagon?!
I had a root beer in Canada and loved it
Currently drinking Francis Hartridge's Celebrated Root Beer available at ASDA.
Very interesting, think I tried root beer years ago in the US and wasn't a fan. Seem to recall thinking it tasted like mouthwash, as you said. Would be interested to give it another try though to see if I thought the same now.
You can buy it cans in Asda, or litre bottles in Aldi...
Cheers Alanna. Funny as always. Personally, my Favourite drink is Dandelion & Burdock... with Vodka. Or Vimto... with Vodka. Or Irn Bru... with Vodka. Or Ribena with... Vodka. Or American Cream Soda with... Vodka, Whisky. Gin, Brandy, Turpentine, Medical Spirit & Toilet Duck.
I feel lucky to have been brought up with British foods in a Canadian home. I love both Marmite and Root Beer. I even tried dandelion and burdock as an adult and I like it… a lot.
There are also some small craft soda companies in Canada that sell craft root beers, and other similar craft sodas. So yummy!!
Where do I find this Dandelion and Burdock? Must try!
@@pattymccullum6330 Save-On-Foods sells them in their imported section.
I think the similar UK product, but different taste, is dandelion and burdock. I loves it.
Sarsaparilla was a common enough drink in the UK when the temperence movement was common - there were many temperence bars serving it - I seem to remember the closure of the last one in the UK was within the past few years and made national news.
Dandelion and burdock, that I have tasted, tasted just like a cola drink.
A good deal of the flavour of liquorice sweets/toffees/candies, is actually aniseed. If you chew dried liquorice root, from the actual plant, it tastes nothing much like the flavoured sweets.
My late brother inlaw loved rootbeer he tried it on his first holiday In the US I think he found somewhere that sold it here in the UK my sister put a can by his picture at his funeral.
I'm British but living in Minneapolis since 2010. My wife loves root beer (Barqs) but I'm totally in the dentists mouthwash camp when it comes to the taste.
Had a root beer today. like it. Normally have a bottle of sarsaparilla cordial in the cupboard all the time.
Very interesting, almost as good as the black currant vid. I appreciated the comparison to dandelion & burdock, which I do like. Surely the very sweet taste, typically North American, is a large part of the British distaste? Add in liquorice and mint and you do seem to get a rather medicinal drink. However, you mention an earthy, vanilla, flavour - both of which I usually like, so I might give this a try, if I ever see it at my supermarket. Do Lidl root do beer? What do other Europeans think of it? It is obviously a native American concoction, but so are Coke and Pepsi, which have done reasonably well in Europe. Is root beer even sweeter than them?
A ‘still’ version of root beer was once sold in Britain. I remember drinking it during the mid 1950’s. However, the current recipe bears no relationship to the original. My mother used to make real Dandelion and Burdock, and that stuff put hairs on your chest! Probably removing them too, if applied externally! 😂
Puts hairs on your chest - more like in your chest.
Hi Alanna! Just like yourself, I don't know how Root Beer is made but I like it. I can only describe the taste as Anticeptic Bubble Gum flavour! I still miss KoolAid (from my Tronno days)
I'm a 57 year old brit and I love Root Beer.
Yes it does taste like Germoline smells but in my opinion that's a good thing.
Really hard to find a shop that sells Root Beer of any kind.
Asda did sell it for a while but I've not seen it recently.
When I was a kid, at an A&W restaurant, you could order at your table via radio devices on each table connected to the kitchen. I scheiss you not.
Mmmm. Brown tasting 🥴 I’m convinced I remember asking my folks for a root beer at McDonald’s in the 80s (they didn’t buy me it). After watching this I’m now eager to taste it. Thanks for this rootin’ tootin’ vid, Alanna! Or maybe I’ll reserve the thanks until after I’ve tried the root beer 😝
Ahh you should totally try it! Let me know what you think!
Yep! A&W diet. (has vanilla flavor)
I remember trying root beer in McDonald's when I was a kid in the early 80s. I remember hating it as it tasted exactly like Euthymol toothpaste. They're both flavoured with wintergreen.
I have made the hires root beer from the extract, it was great!
I like Rootbeer from my time in Canada. Each Rootbeer make tastes different. There’s even Australian Rootbeer and British Rootbeer cordial, which you add water to it
I'm a Brit and I like Root Beer. I lived in Canada for 8 years. My sister lives in BC. I get it on Amazon for about £1.04 a can (£24.99 for 24 including postage)
In the 1970's UK it became quite a popular hobby to make it yourself. Does anyone else remember fermenting it and then sharing the culture with your friends. And feeding it over several days with sugar etc until it was finally ready?
That was Ginger Beer, wasn't it?
@@jacketrussell Maybe that was popular as well but I only remember a root beer making craze going around amongst my school pals, where its production invariably went wrong and we had to often chuck it away! But I like the flavour of ginger beer just as much though.
There is an honourable exception - Dandelion and Burdock is a root beer, and is loved by British people of a certain age (I'm 48, and I sort of like it). The sasparilla variant I couldn't stand as a young un', I am neither or either with it now.
I love root beer, especially something really herbal like sarsi, which basically tastes like carbonated cough mixture
There is one type of root beer that is popular in the UK (or at least in the North and Midlands) - "Dandelion and Burdock" is made from the roots of the Dandelion and Burdock plants and its traditional preparation was much the same as root beer in North America. It doesn't taste exactly the same as North American root beer - but it's similar. Made since at least the middle ages, it was very popular in temperance pubs and hotels in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Many of the modern brands do not actually have any Dandelion or Burdock in them, relying on artificial flavourings to reproduce the taste (just like many root beers in North America do) - although Fentimans do still have extracts of both Dandelion and Burdock in theirs. Traditional "home brewed" Dandelion and Burdock is a bit tricky to make, it can go "off" very quickly.
What about the root beer float? A classic southern states dessert of a bowl of root beer with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream floating in the middle. Yum! I tried RB when I was 31 and quite liked it. I also wanted to try Sassafras tea but couldn't get it.
I'd heard of Root Beer but had no idea how mainstream it is in N.America. I've never tried it and probably wouldn't like it as I don't drink any form of cola or dandelion & burdock type of pop. Glad you've found supplies at the Co-op though!
like dr pepper with added antiseptic ointment. Btw online sweet shop Sweetzy does american candy and drinks (even a coffee cake flavour one... ick)
I have now lost my weekend searching for rootbeer in all the supermarkets in Liverpool
Hiya. I haven't had it in a while, but I like root beer and was really annoyed when McD's dropped it in '93. Stay safe. All the best to you.
Not a mention of Shandy, I drink it in pubs in the form of Bitter Shandy which is half beer/lemonade=1pint and it does look like a pint of Lager with a head albeit a bit thin looking
Only issue I encountered when I was on holiday in Ireland the bartender had never heard of it but they were happy to give me a pint glass half of lemonade and a bottle of lager to mix.
Another fact is anyone who is a designated driver can drink a few glasses and still be well under the limit 😉
Sarsaparilla !!!
I remember this from Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons.
The UK equivalent (not really equivalent, but it uses burdock root and it's in the same ballpark) is Dandelion and Burdock. Try it back to back with root beer.
I was waiting for you to sniff germolene and/or tcp and then the root beer for comparison!
Well, I'm English, and I really like it. It reminds me of mouth wash (Listerine), but I'm weird enough to enjoy that kind of thing. Also, American 'Wint-o-green' Life Saver sweets, taste just like Root Beer to me.