AJ Stephans

This 85 year old company has managed to produce a pretty good product.  The rich taste and good color are from the premium ingredients.  The company prominantly displays "Pure Cane Sugar" on the front label showing their attention to detail.  Their tag "New England's Best Tonic" is a pretty bold claim going up against various Birch Beers and the competitive custom soda industry that in many ways started in New England.  


Overall I would have to give this root beer a 7.  Its really nothing incredibly special for me.  To me a good root beer needs to have strong notes of caramel and vanilla and clear Sarsaparilla tone.  I found this root beer to be overly carbonated which takes away from the mellow flavor and replaces it with a sharpness on the palate.  The company tries to navigate the murky water of overly sweetened beverages and come out on the conservative side, but I think that they have under-shot the sweetness level that is characteristic of a premium root beer.