Tower Ginger Beer: Soda with poorly designed packaging tends to be very authentic - they're created by small distributors who don't have a marketing/branding team. Tower, a Boston-based soda company that's apparently been around since 1914, falls into this category. Upon further research, I found that Tower was actually founded in Somerville. The ginger beer soda is very strong, with a sharp spicy flavor, but the aftertaste was a bit strange and musty. Somehow, though, this adds to its authenticity. Purch... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Shake Shack Root Beer Float: I'm a fan of Abita root beer, which is on tap at Shake Shack, so I was curious about their Root Beer float. The one size is very substantial and comes in a tall container with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. The quality of the ice cream and soda were both good, and together, they tasted exactly like what you would expect a solid root beer float would taste like. However, I did find because there was so much of it, the flavor become very one-note after several sips. It would be great... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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Natural Brew Outrageous Ginger Beer: I'm likely to purchase any ginger beer I haven't tried before, and this brand was no exception. Its spicy ginger flavor is more potent than most, though I did find the drink overall to be on the sweet side. Generally decent - probably somewhere in the top 40% of ginger beers I've had. 3.0/5.0
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Sprecher Root Beer: The first time I had Sprecher was at Momofuku Saam Bar in 2010, and I remember loving its layered, somewhat musty flavor, as if it had been left in a barrel for a bit too long. I purchased it after not having had it for several years, and it was far sweeter than I remembered, though it did have a pleasant spiced sweetness and notes of vanilla. Despite the sweetness, I still find the flavor to be distinctive and worth a try. 3.0/5.0
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Bette Jane's Ginger beer: Created in San Francisco, this bottled soda had a good level of potent ginger spice but also has a slight diluted taste overall. Level of sweetness and fizz is appropriate. 3.0/5.0
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Rachel's Ginger Beer: A Seattle-based venture, Rachel's ginger beer is available at restaurants around the city but has a mix of ginger + fruit concoctions available on tap at its Pikes Place shop. I opted for the classic, and it definitely tasted fresh, inducing a sharp tingly feeling in the back of your throat. I've made ginger beers from scratch at home that taste very similar. In other words, there's an important distinction to make: it tasted homemade, but not artisanal. Not as balanced as I hoped it would b... (read more) 3.0/5.0
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