Route 66

The Pooj kicks it up a notch.

(Grand Canyon Railway Depot, Williams AZ, August 2011)

Many root beers lay claim to Route 66 imagery, but if there was ever one that could lay claim to the title “Official Root Beer of Route 66,” this is it. Route 66 Root Beer is everywhere along Route 66 – Route 66 Sodas makes a point of distributing their beverages to all states through which Route 66 used to run, including the company’s home state of Missouri. You’d think that the marriage of drive-in car culture and root beer would produce so many different kinds and labels of root beer, but this is really the only one I saw in all (or any, for that matter) of the little kitsch shops along the Route between the Grand Canyon and Los Angeles. This is slightly ironic, seeing as the Route 66 Sodas, the company, didn’t come into existence until 1996, more than a decade after US Route 66 was decommissioned by the US Highway System. But true to their namesake, Route 66 Sodas supports and promotes the various associations in the various states with an address on America’s Main Street.

As far as the brew goes, Route 66 Root Beer is pretty good. There’s a slight licorice leaning to the initial smell, but no dominant leaning in the flavor. It’s got a pretty good blending of licorice and wintergreen, well rounded and not too sweet. While the flavors are good, they are a bit mild – I wouldn’t characterize them as thin per se, but I do wish they were bolder and/or stronger.

On the whole, Route 66 Root Beer is a very accessible beverage, such that it should appeal to most people stopping for a cold drink along their journey down the Mother Road. Hardcore root beer aficionados will want something stronger, but when nothing else is available, this is more than adequate. I’ll give it a low 3.5.