On my recent road/ferry trip across the border I stopped for lunch in the beautiful town of Port Angeles, Washington. While there I came across a local root beer that has had a fair amount of success across the northwest. Bedford’s Sodas (Northwest Soda Works). The company has been around since the early 80’s and continues to thrive. While they carry a Creme Soda (Creme Beer), an Orange Creme, a Ginger Ale, and two Ginger Beers, this review is focused squarely on their root beer.

 

The label provided very little information about what’s actually in the bottle. It’s made with cane sugar, but besides that there are natural and artificial ingredients. Given that this soda is bottled by a third party (Orca Beverage) there’s probably a syrup recipe that’s produced based on some extracts and then amalgamated at the bottler. That’s neither here nor there, let’s talk about the flavor.

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There are probably four flavors at play here. I taste a fair amount of molasses, some basic root/earthiness, vanilla, and some sweet caramel from the cane sugar. This didn’t taste overly minty to me, much more in the molasses family. I think that this is what turns some other root beer critics off…molasses can leave a bitter aftertaste in your mouth. Personally, I felt that there was enough vanilla flavor to offset it, and I enjoyed the root beer overall. A 7 out of 10 seems reasonable. It’s approachable, it’s stronger than your grocery generics, and I wouldn’t mind having it again.

If you’re curious about that strange boat in the picture, check out this Wikipedia story about the MV Kalakala. Also, stay tuned for a few more posts about beverages and fries I tried once across the border. It was a great trip.

Catalog:
Purchased from Anime Kat in Port Angeles, WA, on 8/26/2016 ($2)