The Best Root Beer

Written by Snackblog

One thing I failed to mention in my "What is SnackBlog?" article, is that this is going to be a review site. Yea, that's what I have planned. I managed to skip over that for some reason. To start is all off, I'm planning to list off the best snacks I've ever had, and in order to convince you, I want to start this list off with an indisputable truth:

This is the best root beer. That's it. It's the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end of the root beer world. Henry Weinhard’s isn't rooty enough, Dad's Root Beer is just a better Mug/A&W, IBC tastes like water, and every other rootbeer you can name falls short before the glory of Virigil's Root Beer. It has the ultimate sweet, creamy, and full bodied taste, but avoids the syrupy aftertaste that would normally accompany a drink this sweet and full tasting. The rootiness of the drink is also very pleasant and accessible, but not as sharp as other types of root beer I’ve had, such as the very enjoyable Buckin Rootbeer, with its sharp, almost medicinal taste. But I am not saying that the rootiness of Virgil’s is weak, as it has rooty taste that is strong enough to stay at the forefront of the overall flavor, from the initial swig down to the sweet aftertaste.

What is surprising is that Virgil uses anise and licorice as the foundation of its rootiness instead of the standard sarsaparilla flavor, giving it a pleasant taste similar to black licorice. However, its taste is still easily classifiable as a root beer. Please, do not just call it a simple “root beer” though; this stuff is The Ultimate Root Beer. Address it as so, or just live in the shadow of your beverage ignorance.

Anyway, speaking of root beer, it's time to go into to some Snack History. A&W Root Beer tastes terrible for a reason. We'll start at the name, A-&-W. It's not a combination of names. It's not a famous intersection of roads. It’s just a typo. Yea, really, it’s just a typo. It was supposed to be called AUW. As you can see, when holding the shift to type in caps, it can be easy to hit the 7/& above the U, resulting in the A&W you see now. It was going to be called AUW, because after people would drink this horse piss they would say something along the lines of:

"AUW, WTF IS THIS?"

AUW was initially made as a drink to send over to France during the World’s Fair in Paris (1844), and was equivalent to a grade school practical joke. But, with the fatal typo, people didn't see the humor and actually started liking it.

Ugh, how atrocious.


Where to find Virgil's:
- At any grocery store that's a little more classy than your average large chain grocery.
- Trader Joe's
- Whole Foods Market

Bonobo - Transmission 94 (parts 1 and 2)