I’ve had a lot of Rachel’s Ginger Beer over the past year and a half. I make a concerted effort to keep my judgment of their seasonal offerings relative to other beverages in the industry, not just compared to other flavors of RGB. Given the freshness of the ingredients and general quality of the finished product it’s hard to give them anything below an 8 on my rating scale.
This Strawberry Passion Fruit seasonal variety struck my eye while I visited the 12th and Union location in search of a fried chicken sandwich. Fresh strawberry juice can be a terrific compliment to a soda, and passion fruit is a strong base. I’ve reviewed several sodas at this point that highlight passion fruit and I’ve rarely been disappointed (click here). The concept sounded great.
Surprise, surprise…I loved it. Rachel’s truly excels at layering bright and fresh flavors, and this one starts with the tart warmth of strawberry, followed by the tart bite of passion fruit, followed by some heat from the ginger, and finished clean with some bright lemon juice. The ginger stays on your palate for a bit with the lemon juice but it’s not so strong that you worry about permanent taste-bud damage.
The whole experience was more tart than sweet, and the carbonation held up to the cloudy fruit solids. Rachel’s has never offered me anything for these reviews, not even complimentary product, so please take my appreciation for their ginger beer to be genuine. This is an 8.6 out of 10 for me.
To see my other Rachel’s Ginger Beer reviews, click here.
Catalog:
Sampled in June 2017
The Sodafry 