Saturday, February 25, 2017

Dead World Zombie - #71, 8.25 out of 12

Dead world is a zombie comic where the zombies, led by King Zombie, have largely taken over the world. They make sodas marketed and sold by Caprice Brands LLC.  They have 12 flavors centered around characters in the comics. Two of these flavors are root beer and vanilla root beer.  I reviewed the vanilla root beer a while back and rated it 6 out of 12.

The “regular” root beer is named Twilight Shuffler.  There is a musclebound, heavily Tattooed, a half-human and half-zombie on the bottle.  Supposedly, she can move from one dead body to another. See odd to me.


Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Pure Cane Sugar, caramel color, Sodium Benzoate, Citric Acid and Natural Flavor.



Nutrition 12 oz. serving (from the bottle)

144 Calories
27 mg Sodium.
38 g (11%) of Daily Carbohydrates
0 mg Caffeine

Aroma and Flavor – 2.25 out of 3 mugs

The aroma is heavy caramel.  The first drink was a strong vanilla caramel mix.  The first sip was a little sweet for me, even though the sugar level is on the lower end of the 70 brews reviewed at 3.2 g per ounce.  The lowest reviewed was 2.2 per ounce and the highest 6.6 g per ounce.  The carbonation is medium.  Overall it is very smooth and creamy.  The more I consumed, the liking increased.  There is an aftertaste I can’t place, could be slight wintergreen?

Head – 1.5 out of 3 mugs

The head is very frothy (small) bubbles and dissipates at an average pace.  Takes about 30 seconds to fully dissipate.

Zip – 2..25 out of 3 mugs  

This is a very good variety of flavors that is very creamy.  The zip is a little more than I prefer. There is a definite vanilla, caramel and wintergreen mix.  These favors take over the beverage and I do not get the impression I am enjoying a root beer.

Post Consumption Impression – 2..25 out of 3 mugs  

This is a beverage I would really enjoy, over ice.  The ice would reduce the higher sweetness and zip in the beverage.
 
Would I recommend this at 8.25 out of 12 mugs?

If you want that deep strong root beer flavor in a beverage, this may not be the choice for you.  If you want a solid beverage over ice, I highly recommend giving it a try.  However, directly from the bottle is a little more favor and sweetness than I prefer.

OTHER RATINGS

Friday, February 24, 2017

Gale’s - #70, 5.75 out of 12

Made by Chef Gale Gand, that’s what the bottle reads.  She is an acclaimed pastry chef, author, restaurateur, television personality, root beer maker and mom.  She professes “I can’t live without root beer”.

Her craft soda testing started years ago in England where root beer was scarce.  She would get her root beer from McDonalds by sending others to the restaurant, as she and her staff could not be seen in the place.

Gale had a dog name Rootie, a Terrier.  When she arrived to America she made her own root beer, containing cold-pressed Nielsen-Massey Vanilla. About 50,000 bottles of Gale’s Root Beer are produced every year. Rootie, and I assume a younger Gale, appear on the label.


Ingredients: Carbonated Water, Cane Sugar, Caramel Color, natural and artificial flavors, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla extract, Phosphoric Acid, Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate.



Nutrition 12 oz. serving (from the bottle)

160 Calories
40 mg Sodium.
41 g (14%) of Daily Carbohydrates
0 mg Caffeine

Aroma and Flavor – 1.0 out of 3 mugs

I was intrigued when I read “Cinnamon, Ginger and Vanilla” on the bottle.  Unique mix.  Upon opening there was a mild hint of cinnamon the bottle. The vanilla noted yet the cinnamon-ginger infusion with with vanilla and cane sugar.  My first sip was rather a letdown.  I was not a fan of the cinnamon.  Little hard to swallow.  It also had a slight rancid taste.
.
Head – 1.5 out of 3 mugs  

A very fizzy, small head that was fast dissipating.  A small ring remained long after the head disappeared. 

Zip – 1.75 out of 3 mugs  

This brew is complex.  A little too complex for my preference.  The variety of flavors is an interesting blend.  At no time did I find any one flavor dominate.

Post Consumption Impression – 1.5 out of 3 mugs  

This is not the brew for me.  While I have reviewed many that are significantly lower scoring than Gale’s, there are also many I would suggest before Gale’s.
 
Would I recommend this at 5.75 out of 12 mugs?

This is more like a solid soda without a real identity than a root beer.

OTHER RATINGS