Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Cool Mountain

The Pooj can see his house from here.
(Old Town Root Beer Company, June 2011)

Cool Mountain Root Beer supposedly hails from Chicago, but since I’ve only ever driven through Chicago (stopping in Oak Park for the FLW architectural tour probably doesn’t count as having been in Chicago…) I’m not sure which mountain is the cool one.
Maybe its carbonation fell off the mountain, because it’s as hard and sharp as a rock. The carbonation still doesn’t seem to dissipate much even after sitting for a while, which makes it somewhat difficult to taste anything. It smells nice, but the smell certainly dissipates faster than the carbonation, since it’s gone before I even take my first sip.

As far as that first sip goes, there’s a rather metallic aftertaste that’s pretty unpleasant, but thankfully goes away after a couple more sips. Perhaps it's bottle cap residue, which should have been absent because I usually wipe off the top of the bottle after opening, prior to sipping
. Weird... The carbonation clears a little once it’s in a glass, but it reveals disappointingly little flavor. It has an ever so slight licorice taste with maybe some molasses undertones, which is mild at best. Not that it’s overly sweet – in fact the sugar flavor is actually rather crisp – clean, for lack of better descriptors – giving off a feeling I’d liken to drinking something just pulled out of an ice box or served in a chilled glass. Mayhaps this is why they call it Cool Mountain – the experience is rather … snow-y… Unfortunately, that experience is not quite so root-y.

Cool Mountain was also supposedly featured on the Food Network's Follow That Food according to the company’s press release, but I can’t really see why. There are plenty of bolder, richer, and just more flavorful root beers to profile out there, even in Chicago, and Cool Mountain is average at best and forgettable at worst. …except for the carbonation, which will (uncomfortably) stay in you for a while… As I ponder more about it, I like less about it, so maybe I should just stop thinking about it. I mean, it’s not bad, per se, but not really something I’m going back for. Since I’m feeling generous today, I’ll give it a 2.5.

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