Shenandoah Sassafras Root Beer

Produced by Journey Food and Beverage Co., as far as I can tell, the Putumayo of the beverage industry, Shenandoah Sassafras Root Beer has an immediately noticeable character and is quite distinctive, although it sort of tastes like vomit, but not in a bad way.

Very sweet, offering the essence of ginger with just a hint of tree bark, Shenandoah Sassafras is smooth and striking. The initial taste is slightly unpleasant, yet the aftertaste is paradoxically very, very good. Quite an enigmatic brew; recommended for connoisseurs.

I do wonder, though, why every frickin' "old school" root beer needs to put on the whole psuedo-Appalachian-settler pose. I mean, Christ almighty, they don't still advertise blue jeans based on the fact that gold miners used to wear them. Where is the root beer brewery equivalent of the Gap when you need them?

Review by Jo Pardon