Tractor Soda Co. is a new brand for me, and it was different! I had really low expectations, but there was quite a bit to this. You look at the label and it says “Sweet birch and wintergreen”, but the ingredients show a whole range of organic spices and sweeteners. Black strap molasses, nutmeg, sarsaparilla, aged bourbon vanilla, juniper berry extract, etc. And you can taste them! The result is very complex, very deep, and somewhat earthy. I enjoyed it.

There’s a smell that hits you when you pop the lid off this bottle. My guess is that it comes from all the real earthy ingredients that are brewed into the beverage. The flavors are complex enough in the root beer that it becomes more of a sipping drink…not something to pound down with tacos. They also go out of their way to show that the ingredients are organic (they use the word “organic” 16 times on the label).
This might fall in the middle for people who either enjoy wintergreen or anise. I’m somewhere in between and I give it a 9 out of 10. Nicely done.

Catalog:
Sampled on 7/7/2016, Purchased at Rocket Fizz on Capital Hill ($2.19)