Root Beer Taste Test, Foamy Delight!

Well it is almost Christmas! Are you ready? We determined we would have more time for what is important this year and although we are still busier than we had forseen, we have been enjoying some pretty important people, our grandchildren! (above is part of a winter vignette on the kitchen bar that separates the kitchen from our living room) We had the great blessing to be able to have our oldest grandchild , C.T. spend the night with us. Now that he is getting older there are other things he likes to do, and we still want him to enjoy his time with us. One of C.T.'s favorite things is root beer! C.T. received a root beer making kit last year for Christmas and he made root beer, has learned a lot about it along the way and he has saved his very last bottle of home made root beer for New Year's Eve. Since C.T. now has his own blog with permission and complete and total supervision from his parents, he just might share with us how the last bottle of root beer tasted. ( Please?) Together C.T. and I decided he and his Poppa, who also loves root beer, should do a taste test. We bought 4 different brands of root beer. Because both C.T. and Poppa also love a good root beer float we decided the reward after the taste test should be root beer floats. We assembled the 4 bottles of root beer, and 2 glasses for each bottle, along with the mugs, straws and long spoons necessary for the root beer floats.

Poppa and C.T.'s comments went just so:

• 4th.~ Barq's: as soon as the bottle was opened and poured both said it smelled like orange soda. C.T. said "it doesn't taste like root beer, and he began laughing so hard it was hard to understand him as he said "this is the worst tasting one!" Poppa began laughing too, they both could not get over how awful it was, and kept laughing for quite awhile. Actually, today, hours after the taste test C.T. was still amused by how terrible it was. Both C.T. and Poppa think maybe somebody at the Coca Cola bottling plant forgot to clean the orange soda machine before they changed it to root beer. So there, they are giving Barq's the benefit of the doubt, because who in the world would make such awful root beer on purpose?
• 3rd.~Parker's :Both said it had an aftertaste,was not too sweet, did not have enough vanilla or caramel taste. C.T. also commented it "was not too spicy". It had very little foam.
• 2nd: This was a surprise to me, I worked at A & W as a car-hop in the late 60's and early 70's and remember people loving A & W so much they only bought this root beer. They would bring their gallon jugs to be re-filled with this premium root beer.I expected this to be the winner, hands down. In the esteemed opinion of two very important men in my life, A & W is very, very good...Poppa said it has the best old fashioned root beer taste, good vanilla and caramel taste, but #1 is
• 1st:Mug ! Yes, Mug Root beer. They said Mug has the very best smell, most foam, was darker, and just plain better. So although my picture of the two of them doing a thumbs up in front of A & W, ( guess subconsciously I could not wrap my mind around it not being the best) Mug wins!

Poppa and our oldest Grandchild, and #1Grandson celebrated root beer in the very best way they can think of, as root beer floats. Of course there is nothing better in the very best root beer than the very best ice cream, Tillamook French Vanilla ice cream!

Do they look happy or what?

"Behold, the Virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which translated means "God with us." And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus." Matthew 1:25