Branding

The logo for Olde Brooklyn’s root beer is nice and old-fashioned. I rather enjoy the colors and the bridge. I don’t think it will catch your eye while you are walking down the aisle, except perhaps because of its old-fashioned look.

Taste and Ingredients

Old Brooklyn was completely flat when I drank mine, which means no foam and very little carbonation. It reminded me of A&W that had been left in the glass too long. The drink was creamy and tasted good, but it also felt generic and didn’t stand out.

Still, I would be happy to drink it again. It may have been flat because it was so close to its expiry date.

Other reviewers mention the drink as having a fruity odor or taste, but I didn’t notice that. However, there is yucca extract in this drink, so perhaps you will be able to discern that with your palate.

The Wrap Up

In general, this seems like a good root beer. It’s hard to find, though, and the flavor doesn’t really stand out from the others on the market. On the other hand, the taste is good instead of weird and there is no bad aftertaste.

Check it out if you can find it!

Branding

As is typical of the Liquid Death brand, they have a rotting skull on their Rootbeer Wrath drink. The colors are nice and the branding is pretty on-point. If you are looking for Liquid Death, then you’ll probably notice it as there are few other drinks that go for this look.

Taste and Ingredients

Most root beers are dark brown. However, Liquid Death’s Rootbeer Wrath is completely clear, which I suppose I should have known since it is a sparkling water drink after all.

I didn’t detect much of an odor at all from this drink. The soda water definitely has a hint of root beer to it and tastes kind of creamy. However, the aftertaste is not great.

However, when compared to the prebiotic root beers I have had, this one is head and shoulders better!

I believe the agave nectar is probably the cause of the weird aftertaste or it could be the stevia, which I have never enjoyed.

The Wrap Up

Liquid Death has fun with its drinks. I like their tag line of “Murder your thirst” and they stuck a “Recycle or Die” on the can as well, which fits their theme quite well.

The drink itself isn't my favorite, but that’s mostly because I don’t like seltzer. If I were trying to reduce my soda intake, I would consider this drink, though. You could also use it to water down other root beers, so you wouldn’t be drinking so much sugar.

You might recall Slice as a drink that used to contain up to 10% real fruit juice. It was similar to Crush or Fanta at that time, but they appear to have rebranded to go toe-to-toe with Olipop and related brands.

I believe I found this drink in Hy-Vee or Target.

Branding

Slice has maintained its logo from yesteryear and added new flavors to its line-up. The root beer maintains a dark brown coloration with a root beer mug added on.

Taste and Ingredients

This root beer contains 1% juice, likely the apple juice listed in the ingredients list.

I found the drink very flat and medicinal-tasting, with more of a root beer flavor than Olipop had. Perhaps Slice’s choice to use real cane sugar rather than Olipop’s Stevia is what makes it better. Or maybe it’s because Slice doesn’t contain all the random plant ingredients.

The Wrap Up

While Slice has made a comeback, I was not impressed with their root beer. It is probably the best pre/pro/post biotic root beer I have had so far, but that’s not saying much.

Still, it’s not completely awful, and if you’re trying to break your soda habit, this one may help you do it in a somewhat healthy manner.

Branding

The Olipop brand tends to go with an understated set of pastel colors. In Target, you can usually find single cans of Olipop near the produce section.

In general, the colors are recognizable and you shouldn’t have trouble finding it.

Taste and Ingredients

This root beer must be refrigerated, probably because of the prebiotics it contains. Olipop also uses plant fibers and botanicals in its drinks.

The smell of the drink is rather medicinal and the taste is as well. They use Stevia for sweetening, so you will probably notice a diet soda aftertaste.

Speaking of the taste, it is pretty complex. I originally thought this would be like a flavored seltzer, but it is a true soda, or close to it. However, they have a lot of plants like artichoke, chicory root, cassava root, kudzu root, marshmallow root, Nopal cactus, and Calendula flower, which makes it taste different from any other root beer I have ever had.

I didn’t enjoy the flavor much, but it was certainly interesting.

The Wrap Up

I don’t really like prebiotic or probiotic drinks, regardless of whether they claim to taste like root beer or not. However, at 40 calories, this is probably one of the least sugary root beers available. If you do like pre or probiotics, then you might like this one.

Otherwise, you might want to pass.

Branding

All of Polly’s Pop sodas include the macaw on their label. I rather like the look, and the bottle cap is fun too. They definitely have a unique look, and I like that it’s a small brand.

I almost wish the label had the same metallic look as the bottle cap.

Taste and Ingredients

While it smells alright, the flavor of Polly’s Pop root beer is rather sharp but strangely watered down. The first gulp had a strong flavor, but I wouldn’t call it root beer. There’s not really any caramel or licorice and the carbonization is quite low.

In general, I would call this fairly bland. This is the first root beer I have had that mentions containing “Root Beer Syrup”. On the plus side, they use cane sugar at least.

I do feel like the flavor comes out a bit better if you let it warm up a little rather than drinking it ice cold. It’s still not amazing, but it’s better that way.

The Wrap Up

While Polly’s Pop Root Beer is not my favorite, I enjoy supporting local brands. If you happen to be in Missouri and you come across one of their drinks, let me know what you think!

I got mine from a local Hy-Vee store, but you can also purchase Triple XXX online. According to their website, the three X’s mean that they are a top-tier product. We will see when we taste test this drink!

Branding

From a branding perspective, they mostly went with red and yellow. I do feel like it is glaring enough to sort of shout out to the casual browser.

Triple XXX also went with a brown bottle rather than a clear one, which is interesting.

Taste and Ingredients

When you first take a swig of Triple XXX Root Beer, you will get a strong flavor profile. While the ingredients don’t mention licorice or wintergreen, I feel like there is a taste of both in this root beer.

Personally, I don’t like licorice much, so this isn’t my favorite root beer right off the bat. On the other hand, if you keep sipping the drink, that flavor seems to mellow a bit. I don’t really enjoy the aftertaste, though. It reminds me a lot of a diet drink aftertaste.

The other thing to note about this drink is how flat it is. In fact, I would say it is one of the flattest root beers I’ve ever had. It’s also quite smooth.

As usual with these smaller root brews, this one is caffeine-free and made with pure sugar cane.

The Wrap Up

While I didn’t care much for the taste or the name of the root beer, it was still fun to try something different. It’s also neat that there are so many different craft root beers from the Chicago area.

Let me know what you think if you try it!

Other Chicago Root Beers

Triple XXX isn’t the only Chicago root beer. Here are a couple of others:

• Cicero Salted Caramel Root Beer

• Filbert’s Old Time Root Beer

Branding

Barq’s branding features a silver can with the Barq’s logo emblazoned on it. I can’t be sure, but they may be trying to make the drink look like a beer can with its colors.

However, this works since there aren’t many silver drinks outside of perhaps certain diet sodas.

The logo is recognizable, and you’ll find it in many restaurants and stores. Barq’s may not be as recognizable as A&W, but it’s found in many more locations.

Taste and Ingredients

Barq’s is known to have “bite”. I believe the bite comes from the fact that Barq’s is the only mainstream root beer to contain caffeine. I feel like it also has a bit more carbonation than A&W or Mug. According to Google Gemini, the caffeine content is roughly 22mg per 12 fl oz. However, the fountain version of Barq’s is often uncaffeinated.

I personally like the way Barq’s tastes. It isn’t smooth and creamy like A&W tends to be. Instead, I would call it a stronger-tasting root beer with more of a rootsy, perhaps licorice, flavor.

Unfortunately, Barq’s went with high fructose corn syrup as its primary sweetener.

The Wrap Up

I like Barq’s. If I need a little caffeine and want root beer, it’s pretty much the only player outside the energy drink market, which usually has too much or contains other ingredients I may not want in large quantities.

But let’s find out how good the root beer is!

Branding

The Wild Bill company uses a non-standard-sized, non-standard-shaped can for its soda. The root beer is packaged in an energy-drink-style can, which makes it stand out from other root beers.

Now, the colors don’t really stand out, but I liked it anyway because it just looks so different. You have a kind of Red Bull look and feel to the can, but without the red coloring.

Taste and Ingredients

Wild Bill makes a decent root beer. Interestingly, Wild Bill adds juniper, vanilla and licorice as their core flavors. The juniper gives Wild Bill a different flavor, but it isn’t a bad one.

You’ll find the drink low in carbonation and very smooth. While not quite as good as 1919 or as smooth as A&W, Wild Bill is still a nice root beer and if you like either of those, you’ll probably enjoy this one too!

The Wrap Up

In general, I liked Wild Bill’s root beer offering. It was a smooth flavor, and it’s cool that it supports America’s veterans, too.

The only downside is that you probably won’t find it in a store near you. Instead, you will need to purchase it online through Wild Bill’s website, Amazon, or some other online vendor.

A rep from World Market tried the drink out and was interested in selling it in their stores. Eventually, she went on Shark Tank and rebranded to Poppi. Amazingly enough, Poppi got popular on TikTok and was sold in stores and on Amazon right out the gate.

PepsiCo bought out Poppi in May 2025.

Which brings us to their Root Beer, which is the only drink I really care about since this is a Root Beer review website.

Branding

Personally speaking, I find the branding kind of boring. Poppi goes for pastel colors, so they don’t really stand out as a bright colored drink. On the other hand, since all their drinks have muted tones and a similar look to them, you will be able to recognize them quickly on the shelf.

Taste and Ingredients

Unfortunately, the first time you take a sip of this drink, you will find that it hits you like a gut punch. The flavor is very medicinal, probably due to the apple cider vinegar. On the other hand, you do smell the root beer odor, and there is a definite taste of root beer buried in there. You’ll also probably note some kind of minty flavor in the background, too.

Here’s a full listing of the ingredients for you to peruse:

The Wrap Up

Poppi drinks are not really my thing. This is supposed to be a healthy drink, and maybe it is when contrasted with a regular root beer. However, if you pick this up thinking it is normal root beer, you will most likely be unpleasantly surprised.

On the other hand, if you are trying to cut back on soda or need apple cider vinegar for some reason, then maybe Poppi is right for you.

You see sarsaparilla mentioned in many Western movies and TV shows, but finding the drink can be challenging. It is refreshing to find it so often now, but you still need to search for it. For example, you won’t likely find any at Wal-Mart or Target. You have to go to a grocery store, and even then, it has to have a specialty drink section.

Hy-Vee is one of the few grocery stores that seems interested in having a wide variety of speciality sodas. If you have one near you, you can probably find this drink or a different kind of sarsaparilla.

Branding

From a branding point of view, everything I have read says that the drink looks like the one in the show / game.

The logo and colors look nice. I really liked the cap. I kind of wish they had done more with that shade of red in the bottle label too.

Taste and Ingredients

When you first open the bottle, you can smell something kind of like sweet licorice. However, when you take your first mouthful, it has a medicinal taste. This is definitely not a root beer or normal sarsaparilla flavor. Maybe a cross between Coke and root beer with a more cola flavor. I have seen some commenters call it a cross between root beer and grape soda, but I don’t really taste any grape.

You get that medicinal hit right after it enters your mouth, and it lingers as an aftertaste, too. The sarsaparilla is not flat, but not as sharp as soda water either.

From an ingredients point of view, you can see that they use a lot of the same ingredients you find in root beer.

I don’t know where the weird taste comes from, except perhaps the generic “natural flavor” listed above.

The Wrap Up

All in all, I enjoyed the look and smell of the drink, but I didn’t really care for the taste. I probably wouldn’t buy this often except to try it with friends. There are much better sarsaparillas out there, such as Snake River or Sioux City. If you’d like to try a sarsaparilla, I would try one of those first.

As with many of these lesser known soda manufacturers, it is really difficult to learn anything about them. For some reason, most of these companies do not share how long they have been in business or even which state they are located in. However, the bottle I found was filled in Washington state anyway.

Branding

The branding that Jackson Hole Soda uses for their Snake River Sarsaparilla is pretty muted. It has a kind of four-color look and feel to it using a photograph that is either from antiquity or made to look that way.

You can see the olde fashioned photo below:

This look is reminiscent of Filbert’s old time root beer, although I would say that Filbert’s was more colorful than this example.

You could argue that by using this black-and-white photo, the soda may be more distinctive than its colorful brethren on the shelf. However, when you have a lot of brown bottles of root beer and sarsaparilla all lined up, I’m not sure that this helps.

Taste and Ingredients

The sarsaparilla has a more complex taste than many mainstream root beers. While there is definitely the rootsy flavor you would expect from a root beer, there is a mix of additional flavors too. I wouldn’t call it licorice or even caramel, though there is definitely a smooth flavor profile.

Snake River sarsaparilla has a bit of bite, like Barq’s. Snake River also has more carbonation than A&W or Mug seems to, but doesn’t seem to be foamy.

The smell is sweet, with a hint of root beer, but I don’t think I would necessarily characterize it as a root beer smell.

If you take a gander at the ingredients for the Sarsaparilla, you will see that it is caffiene free and uses cane sugar. Perhaps the complex taste comes from the quillaia extract? I have never seen that ingredient mentioned in a root beer before anyway.

The Wrap Up

In general, this is one of the better-tasting sarsaparillas or root beers I have had, and I would be happy to buy a 4- or 6-pack to share with friends.

You should certainly give them a try if you can find them.

Branding

The company has gone with an old-fashioned branding scheme, using a city outline as its logo. The bottle is a pretty typical dark brown.

I found it to be attractive though and it has a nice appeal overall.

Taste and Ingredients

When you first open the bottle, you get a big whiff of caramel + root beer emanating out of the soda. The drink itself is very smooth and has a strong caramel flavor. I would call it somewhat complex because while you get the strong caramel syrupy flavor right off the bat, you also get some root beer kicking in, and a kind of weird taste as you swallow that lingers on the tongue.

I think the caramel is nice, but it also makes the root beer too sweet. It even reminds me a bit of some of the butterscotch root beers I have had in the past.

On the plus side, Cicero appears to use regular cane sugar and other mostly natural ingredients while also making it caffeine-free.

Note that once again, this is a pretty flat-tasting drink. When I mentioned smooth earlier, part of that smoothness comes from the lower carbonation and partially from the caramel.

The Wrap Up

This was a decent local root beer, but the initial taste may be a bit off-putting depending on your palate. I found that it grew on me, but pfobably not one of my current favorites.

Still, it’s worth a try and who knows? I might like it better the next time I come across it.

They also make their own root beer that they sell in 12 oz bottles. You’ll have to check their website to find out when one of their trucks is near you, so you can try out this too!

Branding

I personally like Off the Hook’s logo, so the fact that they just slap a sticker on a small bottle works just fine for me. Besides, they only stock their own drinks, so they don’t have to make their drink stand out against any competition.

Taste and Ingredients

When I first poured this root beer, I noticed it didn’t produce any froth or foam. The smell is a pretty normal root beer odor, though. The first sip of the drink seemed rather complex, but subsequent sips seemed to mellow the initial impression.

I do feel like Off the Hook has a more complex flavor profile than A&W or Mug does. Overall, I enjoyed the drink, but be warned: you are paying a premium since the bottles are only 12 oz.

As usual with root beer, this one is caffeine-free. Slightly less usual is that they use triple-filtered water, though! Also note that they use cane sugar and mostly normal ingredients.

The Wrap Up

I enjoyed Off the Hook Harbor Root Beer. It has a good flavor, but it will be hard to try again since you have to find the food truck. Their business concept is interesting. How do you get fresh Alaska cod to a food truck that is driving around across multiple states anyway?

Regardless, if you happen to find Off the Hook, give them a try. They are pretty good. Oh, and be warned. The fish pieces are BIG!

I found my bottle of Faygo at a Kwik Star gas station in Ankeny, IA.

Branding

As far as branding goes, I kind of like the cartoony logo and the label’s look. The cola looks like a typical brown root beer label, and the soda's color is also the typical one you would associate with root beer.

This was a fairly large bottle at 24 oz. I really couldn’t drink all of it and it wouldn’t have been good for me to do so.

Taste and Ingredients

Faygo has a strong root beer smell, but almost no carbonation. The Faygo mix is a strong root beer flavor, but nothing really unique. Interestingly, Faygo contains both high-fructose corn syrup and sucralose though.

I would call this a generic root beer with a fairly generic flavor. Faygo’s biggest claim to fame is that it’s cheap and you get more bang for your buck than most other brands.

I do feel like it had a bit of a blah after taste as well.

Here’s a full list of ingredients:

The Wrap Up

Faygo Root Beer is not my favorite root beer. But it is far from the worst that I have had. If you need a lot of root beer for a party, you might consider this brand, as it is cheaper than many of the more popular ones.

If your audience is more discerning, though, you should do yourself a favor and just get a 1919 root beer keg. That tastes better and might even end up being the same cost or close to it in the end.

Mug is owned by PepsiCo, although it was originally owned by Belfast Root Beer when it began its life in the 1940s. Pepsi bought Mug in the 1980s and has made it ever since.

Branding

I have always enjoyed dogs, so the fact that Mug has incorporated a bulldog into their logo is fun and different from the other mainstream brands.

Taste and Ingredients

When I went to try Mug, I had it in mind that this was one of the root beers I didn’t care for. However, when I took a sip, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was a decent root beer.

I feel like the root beer flavor is strong, while the consistency goes down smoothly. The drink seems fizzier than 1919. In fact, due to the higher carbonation, it doesn’t take much to make you eructate.

There is not really a vanilla flavor, but there is definitely something there. Perhaps a bit of light licorice. You’ll notice the root beer smell as soon as you open a can or bottle.

Here are the ingredients that don’t help much when trying to figure out the flavor profile:

Unfortunately, Mug uses high-fructose corn syrup as its sweetener. On the other hand, the drink is surprisingly made up of a small number of ingredients, most of which are ones I’ve heard of.

The Wrap Up

Mug turned out to be a bit of a surprise. I liked it, even with the high-fructose corn syrup and my mixed-up memories.

While Mug isn’t my favorite mainstream root beer, it’s still something I would pick if I needed a good caffeine-free root beer that was easy to find.

Filbert’s Root Beer comes in a brown glass bottle. As far as I know, that is the only way you can buy it. I found it at a Hy-Vee in Urbandale, IA.

Branding

I don’t feel like much thought went into the branding. They appear to have made a sticker with a barrel on it, then added their logo and the flavor in the bottle.

The only reason it stands out on the shelf is that it is so minimal and old-fashioned looking.

Taste and Ingredients

The taste of Filbert’s is a little strange to me. You can definitely get the root beer tang within the flat, slightly fizzy drink, but it has some other flavors that you don’t find in the more mainstream root beers.

I’m not sure what to call it, but it’s a kind of cloying caramel- or vanilla-like taste. Perhaps a mix of the two, even though neither is mentioned on the label. This drink contains high-fructose corn syrup and appears to be caffeine-free.

Here’s the full list of ingredients:

The Wrap Up

While Filbert’s has been around a long time, I suspect it originally used cane sugar back in its heyday. While it is certainly drinkable, it’s not one that I would purchase often, as there are many others that simply taste better and/or have better ingredients.

Still, for something different or to support a local business, I would still be happy to drink it from time to time.

Originally, 1919 was a draft-only type root beer. They recommended keeping their root beer cold and even shipped it in refrigerated trucks. You could also purchase the root beer in kegs for parties.

Of course, this did make finding the 1919 root beer rather difficult. Since it was only available directly from the brewery, a small handful of restaurants, and some bars, you needed to plan specific forays to find the stuff.

Fortunately, nowadays, you can purchase 1919 in a couple of different can sizes here in the Midwest. I have seen 1919 available in central Iowa at Fairway and Hy-Vee grocery stores. You may also find it at some World Market stores as well.

1919 Branding

The 1919 Root Beer branding is pretty nice. I like the red and silver colors of the can and the font chosen for the year, 1919.

If you go to the 1919 company website, you will find photos of their 1919 kegs, 7.5 oz pony cans, and the 16 oz can that I am reviewing as well as various other types of 1919 merchandise.

Taste and Ingredients

1919 root beer comes in a 16 oz can, which is four ounces more than most sodas. For example, if you bought an A&W or a Mt Dew in a can, you would most likely get it in a 12-oz can.

When you first drink 1919, you will get a strong vanilla taste. The root beer itself seems to have a smooth, low-bubble character. I wouldn’t exactly call it flat, but it doesn’t have the strong carbonation of a Barq’s root beer.

Probably the closest mainstream root beer to 1919 would be A&W. However, 1919 uses cane sugar instead of corn syrup, which makes it a bit better in my book.

For a full list of ingredients, check out this photo:

Here you can see that there are about six ingredients listed and most of them are easy to pronounce and understand.

I think this small number of ingredients helps keep the drink simple and tastes nice.

The Wrap Up

I like 1919 root beer and was happy to find it available in stores a few years ago. I had thought the root beer might have become unavailable since I haven’t seen it offered in local restaurants for quite some time.

It is probably one of my favorite local root beers, and I would recommend you give it a try if you find it sometime.

However, after the announcement of Peace Tree Brewery’s demise, I went out and bought a case of Peace Tree root beer in 12-ounce cans because I knew I wanted to give it another try.

Peace Tree Branding

You probably wouldn’t notice the Peace Tree branding if you were just walking down the soda aisle as it’s a muted muddy brown and orange motif. On the other hand, perhaps that muted coloration would draw your attention when compared with the loud colors that Pepsi and Coca Cola uses so often.

Peace Tree root beer may be the only root beer that I have seen that was labeled “Certified Iowa Green Brewery”:

Taste and Ingredients

Peace Tree Root Beer tends to be kind of flat without much fizz to it at all. The root beer flavor is pretty mild overall with only a slight after taste. I think I detect a hint of caramel in the flavor, but the ingredients only mention carmel color.

In general, this is a pleasing drink and worth trying if Back Pocket Brewery ever starts making it again.

Speaking of the ingredients, here they are:

You may also want to know the nutrition facts of the soda, such as they are:

The Wrap Up

Peace Tree root beer is one of the few Iowa-based root beers. While it isn’t really unique in its flavors, the branding is nice, but muted. The taste is good enough that some ice cream parlors used it for root beer floats.

I would recommend giving it a try if you ever see it again.

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