This is an Illinois brew. Timothy Iwaanicki is the owner of Drutherss Beverage Company in Oglesby, Illinois.
In June of 2013 he was interviewed and stated when he grew up ‘Black
Cow’ was a colloquialism for a root beer float. He started the business in approximately 1998 with
the idea of making a root beer with vanilla crème, creating the Black Cow Float
in a bottle. After securing
trademark approval for Druthers Black Cow, he launched Druthers Red Cow, which is
a red crème soda, and Druthers Orange Cow, which is an orange crème soda.
Now for the
review. (Click here for rating
criteria information)
Ingredients: Carbonated water,
high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), caramel color, natural and artificial flavors,
phosphoric acid, sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate as a preservative.
Nutrition information from the label (Per 12 0z):
- 195 Calories (13.75 per oz)
- 7.5 mg Sodium. (0.63 mg per oz)
- 43.5 g sugar (10%) of Daily Carbohydrates (3.63 g per oz)
Aroma and Flavor -
I
want to remind you having “Vanilla Cream” in the name means I would look
forward to this beverage! When I
opened the bottle, it was a heavenly aroma of vanilla cream and yet lacked the
sassafras.
The flavor is my dream come true for desire
more vanilla than usual. The body
is creamy and light. It is
refreshing that is as close to a root beer float than any other beverage I have
enjoyed. While it has HFCS as its sweetener,
it is not overly sweet and subtle.
It scores a 2.5
out of 3 for aroma and flavor. (Docked the traditional 0.5 for the
use of HFCS – Yes it would have been my first three.)
Head - The head is tall but is vanishes quickly. If you get distracted for a very short
moment, it is gone.
The score is 2 out of 3 for the head
Zip - The aroma is full
as I anticipated the first drink.
It has a thicker sweetness and with a touch of licorice noted after each
swallow. While it is on the lower side of medium carbonation, it is free of the
syrupy texture I would expect with HFCS as the main ingredient.
The Score is 3 out
of 3 for zip.
Post Consumption
Impression - The beverage is smooth and has a great flavor combination that is hard to beat. This would easily be the highest scoring root beer had it not received the traditional 0.5 education for the use of HFCS. The Aftertaste is vanilla
cream, like store brand vanilla ice cream that lasts awhile.
It scores a 2.4 out of 3 for post
consumption impression.
Would I recommend
this?
YES YES YES. Even though I try to avoid HFCS, this is not overly
sweetened. There is no sense of
syrup taste or aroma I sense from the major commercial brands that use excess
HFCS. Overall score is an 9.9 out of 12 mugs