Walgreens Original

The Pooj looks on apprehensively.

(Walgreens, September 2010)

There’s no real perceptible root beer flavor here. In fact, the only thing that really distinguishes it from just a regular generic cola is that it’s slightly less sweet than cola and substitutes the citrus-y aftertaste of cola with a slightly menthol-y aftertaste. Aside from that, the aftertaste is actually somewhat acidic in an acrid way – this may actually be from the carbonation, which was strong and biting, almost burning. Oddly enough, it tastes slightly better from a glass, possibly because some carbonation has a means of escape prior to ingestion. But only slightly better, so it still only gets a 1.

Interesting point that may be covered in a later post about the Deerfield/sugar versus Walgreens/HFCS experiment: while neither Deerfield nor Walgreens taste very good on their own, they taste slightly better when mixed together. But again, only slightly better, so these are only desperation root beers, only appropriate when I absolutely need a pick-me-up in the middle of the work day and can’t pony up the extra $0.59 for the A&W sitting on the shelf below. On the other hand, the Deerfield Black Cherry isn’t a bad option. Nevertheless, for Deerfield and Walgreens, the respective 1.5 and 1 ratings stand.

More to come in the Deerfield/Walgreens saga…