Death Valley Root Beer

Death Valley Root Beer

Website: http://www.mojavered.com/beers-view/root-beer/

Sweetener: Cane Sugar

Bottled at: Inyokern, California

Purchase Location: Rocket Fizz

On a recent drive from Reno, Nevada to Los Angeles, California I passed a lone building on the side of the road in the middle of the Mojave Desert with an Indian Wells Brewing Company sign.  I thought, “this can’t be the where the Indian Wells Brewing Company is located can it?”  Well it is.  Why is the Indian Wells Brewing Company situated at the base of the Sierra Nevada mountain range far from civilization?  That is the site of the Indian Wells Spring, source of the pure artesian spring water used to make Death Valley Root Beer.

The Indian Wells Spring is a California historic site.  Accordingly to the historical marker found there, after five days of travel from the Argus Range, the Manly-Jayhawker parties of 1849 found their first water at the Indian Wells waterhole.  Death Valley Root Beer embraces the history of the Indian Wells Spring with its slogan, “A Taste of the Old West,” and its label depicting a Nineteenth Century stagecoach traveling through the rough and barren Mojave Desert.

Death Valley Root Beer is not flashy, but is a solid blue collar root beer.  It has a good herbal base with a hint of vanilla.  It has a mild bite and its flavor has staying power.  Death Valley Root Beer is a fine anytime root beer.  I imagine it is especially tasty on a warm Inyokern, California afternoon.

Overall Score: 7 of 10.

Reading Draft White Birch

Reading Draft White Birch

Website: http://www.readingdraft.com/

Sweetener: Pure Cane Sugar

Bottled at: Reading, Pennsylvania

Purchase Location: Rocket Fizz

Reading Draft Soda  makes 13 premium reserve sodas, many of which are eligible for review by Root Beer Respect.  In addition to White Birch, I intend on reviewing Reading Draft Root Beer, Birch Beer, Blueberry Birch, Creamy Red Birch, and Sarsaparilla.  With all due respect, I have no interest in Reading Draft Diet Root Beer.  Reading Draft sodas have been handcrafted in Reading, Pennsylvania since 1921.

White birch beers are something of a new experience for me.  Every brand I have tried has had a strong and fresh wintergreen flavor.  True to form, Reading Draft White Birch has plenty of wintergreen.  It tastes remarkably similar to Wint-O-Green Life Savers.  However, unlike other white birch beers which offer nothing more than wintergreen flavor, Reading Draft White Birch is undergirded by a rich and creamy caramel flavor.  This added dimension makes for a slightly more complex and superior white birch beer.  Although I do not think I would like white birch beer on a daily basis, white birch beer, specifically Reading Draft White Birch, makes a welcome every now and then treat.

Overall Score: 8 of 10.