Welcome to Brews Of Root Extraction Online. This post reviews Bulldog Root Beer, which I purchased in a 12 oz glass bottle at my local chain grocery store for $1.99. Bulldog is produced and bottled by Orca Beverage Co. in Mukilteo, WA.
I score five criteria from 1-5 to evaluate brews.
A. Sweetness: 5. Perfect. I almost gave it a 4 because it’s just a tiny bit too sweet straight from the bottle, but I always pour it in a glass with ice, so when the ice melts a little the sweetness is perfect. They use cane sugar and honey, and you can taste the difference from the corn-syrup-crap they use in most sodas nowadays.
B. Lightbody Spices: 1. This bulldog doesn’t have a bite. If you try hard, you can taste a little wintergreen in there. This is the one Achilles heel of Bulldog.
C. Heavybody Spices: 5. Plenty of vanilla and a hint of anise mingle well with the honey flavor. This gives the root beer a candylike quality, kind of like an old “root beer barrel” hard candy in liquid form.
D. Uniqueness: 4. The strong honey vanilla flavor coupled with the cane sugar gives Bulldog a unique flavor that makes me nostalgic for the old candies that only used cane sugar.
E. Mouthfeel: 3. Bulldog is rather syrupy (using cane sugar and honey, who can blame them?) but it’s also not very carbonated, which makes it feel even heavier as you’re drinking it. I prefer that feeling to a watery feeling, but more carbonation would help balance out the heavy sweet flavors.
Total score 18/25. Drink Bulldog if you don’t like “sharp” spices in your root beer, or if you love the old root beer barrel candies, or if you just want a solid old-style root beer.
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