October 10, 2003

A Huge Mistake

Kevin made a huge mistake tonight.

See, we're Root Beer drinkers. I can't drink Coke or Pepsi as I can't tolerate the caffeine, and we don't have our usual six-pack around anymore because of the heart problem, so we've moved to root beer. Both Kevin and I really enjoy the flavor of root beer, so we like to try different root beers other than the mass-marketed ones.

So Kevin's at Whole Foods getting dinner and some cheese and stuff for book club (which we're hosting on Monday), and he picks up a root beer we've never had before: Journey Shenandoah Sassafras Root Beer.

Wow. It was bad. I mean really bad. It started out okay, with a not-quite-root-beer taste, but not bad either. Then the vodka hit you. Or what tasted like vodka. Even though the box claimed the soda was "alcohol free" (and how often do you see that warning on a root beer unless said item tastes like it is?), I remain unconvinced. It was like a bad concoction that someone mixed up from whatever was laying around the frat house from last night's party. Yikes. I gave it a fair try. I really did. But it was like Sugar Meets the Green Nyquil.

So Kevin heads over to the Root Beer guy's website. This is some guy who's tried a whole bunch of root beer and rated it on his website. And where do we find Journey's? The second from the bottom of the list, with a grade of F+. According to Spike (the root beer guy), he would have given Journey an F, but then he, "discovered I could put out small fires with it."

The aftertaste is with me still. Eating the rest of dinner didn't help. I finally had to open a bottle of wine to counter the flavor.

Be warned!

And if you really want to know what it tastes like, lemme know. I've got two more bottles I can send you.

Posted by Shelby at October 10, 2003 08:03 PM
Comments

This stuff was seriously foul. Avoid Journey Shenandoah Sassafras Root Beer like the plague (and I'll say "Journey Shenandoah Sassafras Root Beer" one more time in hopes that this'll get picked up by a search engine's Web spider and will thus be read by someone conscientious enough to research their root beers ahead of time, like I should have been).

But I have the perfect plan for getting rid of the two remaining bottles -- I'll bring them to work and put them in our break room refrigerator, with a "DO NOT STEAL" note taped across them.

Hopefully someone from Marketing will choose to steal and drink them.

And remember today's cautionary lesson: just because something came from Whole Foods (even if they do have a very nice cheese and chocolate section) doesn't make it good.

Posted by: Kevin at October 11, 2003 12:27 PM

After reviewing the Root Beer website, I have to agree with his "A" rating for Henry Weinhard's Root Beer. If you've never had this stuff, its definetly one of the best root beers out there!! I highly recommend it!

Posted by: Mary at October 14, 2003 05:04 AM

Was it the sassafras part? That crap is awful in drinks. If you like root beer and haven't had REAL sasparilla...which I believe is also sassafras based... don't try it. It's not root beer. It's not even close, although people will tell you it is.

Posted by: Sherri at October 14, 2003 08:45 PM

Mary, you're so right about Henry Weinhard's. I'm enjoying one right now! And I have to agree with Sherri on the sasparilla thing. For some reason I associate that with Knott's Berry Farm. Whatever. Anyway, root beer drinkers beware! Check the Internet before venturing out to something new.

Posted by: Shelby at October 14, 2003 10:37 PM
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