Maine Root

Taking a cue from the elephant train, The Pooj makes a play for my beverage.

(Rocket Fizz, June 2010)

Maine Root adds “fair trade” to the organic cane juice equation. Since I wasn’t too familiar with the Fair Trade movement, I looked it up, and looked up Maine Root itself while I was at it. They seem like a good, noble company – founded by two brothers with the intent of creating a better root beer, now also making several different kinds of soda (including sarsaparilla, which I may have to try for comparison purposes, since most other companies seem to use the terms “root beer” and “sarsaparilla” interchangeably), and making local deliveries in Maine on a biodiesel truck.

The organic cane juice flavor here is not overpowering, which I appreciate, but neither is the root beer flavor very strong. It does taste good, but it just passes quickly, so the flavor doesn’t really linger in your mouth for very long. Actually, this is a good example of a root beer that is better than the mass-market varieties – quality ingredients that you can taste – but not necessarily one that I would go back to over and over again, since I prefer a stronger root beer flavor and a creamier texture.

Based on that rationale, Maine Root is a solid 3.