Bundaberg Root Beer

From time to time I’ll look at the root beer reviews of others and unequivocally Bundaberg Australian Root Beer was given bad reviews – by those to remain unnamed.  So, I went into this review with a little bit of a jaded tongue . . . but shame, shame shame on the professor.  I can just hear myself saying to myself, ,”You didn’t get tenure as a Root Beer Professor by letting the opinions of others influence your own root beer opinions!”

Based on my first paragraph, you’ve probably guessed it already, but I was pleasantly surprised by this Australian brew.  At first I thought this was a bit syrupy, and in fact I still think it’s a bit syrupy.  And in retrospect, this is more of a natural syrup, it’s flavored with molasses . . . which makes it more palatable of course.  And I also noted that the after-taste was a bit medicinal which was mixed with decidedly yeasty overtones.  But it was actually the medicinal flavor and the yeast that began to get me a little nostalgic.

Last semester I taught “Root Beer History 101,” and I distinctly remember lecturing my students on how Root Beer began as a medicine and how it originally got it’s carbonation with yeast.

Then it hit me – Bundaberg Root Beer is a throwback to yesteryear.  And I found out that the ingredients in this brew confirm that same fact – molasses, ginger root, sarsaparilla root , licorice root and vanilla bean are undoubtedly hearty ingredients that may have been used way back when.

It’s a little troubling that it took an Australian company to make a root beer like the good ole American Root Beer entrepreneurs used to make . . . but they did it, and they did it well.

Would I want to drink this root beer all the time?  No, but then again I rarely drink a root beer more than once no matter how good the brew is.

The Professor’s Grade:  B