A Beginning

Thus the adventures of a (currently) amateur root beer connoisseur 
commence! My quest: to taste, remember and characterize every root 
beer in the world!!!...Well, that might be a bit on the ambitious 
side, however my optimism is frighteningly durable. Quick background: 
My name is Jeff; a young lover of fine bubbly root extracts. 
"Credentials to be a critic of root beer" you ask? A life story would 
unfold starting at my young impressionable childhood, but I'd be more 
precise to say that I've been fanatically seeking and drinking root 
beer for about...nearing a decade. As a taster qualification, I am 
fortunate to have the tastebuds of a so-called "Supertaster." They 
Might Be Giants can educate you further if you would like to know more 
about that. 


HOW IT'S GONE SO FAR
I've horded one bottle of every different brand of root 
beer I've downed in a savoring manner. Well, most of them were 
savorable...I don't know what the Aussies put in their root beer, but 
I can't say I've ever had a harder time finishing a six pack. Don't 
worry, I'll limit the bad memories to the one brand, given future 
samples rear a different experience, and if it pleases Australia, I'll 
pretend that one didn't come from anywhere in particular. More on that 
later. Also more to be on later, tellings of root beer related mishaps, silliness, and stories of interest.


THE GAME PLAN
I will be starting over and re-tasting and reviewing everything I've 
had and then pushing on from there. Now, to reiterate how ambitious it 
is to, at the very least, attempt to drink every root beer in current 
existence, there are over 2500 known makers of root beers!!! I've 
scratched the surface with 42. That puts me at about a whopping 1.5% 
completion percentage. Granted I haven't yet "professionally" sought 
out root beers until now, and the list I'm basing this number on 
includes root beers of all makes (i.e. birch beer, ginger beer, and 
the like). AND those 42 are primarily only in and around some places 
I've been to in Texas, with a couple of outsiders in between. Everywhere I go in this world I will be maniacally observant for new flavors and names. 


THE CRITIQUE
So, on to business, there won't necessarily be a ranking system, but I will be placing the them on a scale that kinda measures where it fits on a comparable taste preference, along with noting each characteristic. When it comes to root beers, there are about three main types of flavors. There are the gourmet root beers, which are for those with a particular sweet tooth. They tend to be creamier in texture, frothier, and use more sugar and/or molasses; a draught style so they say sometimes. On the other side of the scale, you would have the stronger root flavored root beers. (I'll give them a title some other day.) I would liken them to hop beers in similarity to character, not in flavor (Thank Jeebus!). This is where you can taste the sassafras, sarsaparilla, ginger, birch, etc. a little stronger. Or perhaps a lot stronger. They also tend to be lighter and more bubbly. And then there are you moderates. I'll be putting a name in the middle of the scale and categorizing root beers as such because damnit! moderates deserve there own stake on the scale. You don't have to pick one extreme or the other. That's right, I'm looking at YOU, American politics!


FUTURE PLANS
*I hope to be making my own line of root beers (<-- check it out, that's plural yo) from scratch someday and sharing it freely with my readers, perhaps in trade of their favorite local beverages they would like me to sample [wink wink]. Don't worry, there will be plenty of testing to make sure I'm not sending out bottles of poisons or improperly disposed of nuclear waste. Besides, I have plenty of guinea pi--friends...guinea friends...who will graciously test it, myself first, for lethality and pleasantness.




This should be my longest submission of text for the rest of this blog; just thought I'd clear things up from the get-go as it were, so they say, more or less, if you don't mind. Expect a critique and a nicer looking blog-site in the very very near future. Pictures and everything will be had. Thank you for reading, may your mugs be frosty, frothy and frequently filled!