There are still a few guest hosts left to take the reigns for Jeopardy!, but LeVar Burton’s impending fortnight at the podium has many fans excited about the man a considerable group of fans would like to see host the show full-time. That decision, of course, is up to the Jeopardy! staff and producers, who have essentially auditioned several notable names like Ken Jennings, Aaron Rodgers, and Katie Couric in recent months.
None of those hosts got serious traction with a petition to host the show, though, which is why the stakes are high for Burton when his episodes air later in July. And much like Rodgers, he’s been extremely forthcoming about why he wants the gig full-time. But his reasons are much different than a Jeopardy! champion or All-NFL quarterback. Namely, that it would matter for minority representation and continue what Burton has framed as a career full of service for others.
It’s difficult to explain, but there’s something inside me that says this makes sense. I feel like this is what I’m supposed to do. I have been watching “Jeopardy!” more or less every night of my life since Art Fleming was host. “Jeopardy!” is a cultural touchstone, and for a Black man to occupy that podium is significant. Look, I have had a career for the [expletive] ages. “Roots,” “Star Trek,” “Reading Rainbow.” Won a Grammy. Got a shelf full of Emmys. I’m a storyteller, and game shows are tremendous stories. There’s a contest, there’s comedy, there’s drama. If you don’t know your [expletive] on “Jeopardy!” you’re sunk in full view of the entire nation. The stakes are high. I love that.
Burton discussed his relationships with Fred Rogers and even Steve McQueen in the piece, explaining what they meant to his career and what they taught him. It’s a lovely discussion, if only to add a bit more context to Burton and his desire to add Jeopardy! host to what he himself called a “career for the f*cking ages.” Burton later admitted that he would be disappointed if the gig wasn’t his at the end of the guest hosting rotation, but that he’s doing his best to put things into perspective ahead of his tapings.
It will hurt. I’m not going to lie. But if that happens, I will get over it. I will be fine. Remember: Everything happens perfectly and for a reason. That is my default. It’s all going to be OK. Because it always is.
We’ll have to see how well he does once he’s actually on stage, but Burton is certainly making good points about why he would make a great pick for the job.
Manifest fans appear to be hell-bent upon saving the series, even though Netflix said nope to resurrecting the show for after NBC cancelled it following three messy seasons. For sure, this is a strange situation: it’s not every day that a network axes a show while it’s sitting at #1 on Netflix’s most-popular list, and it’s really saying a lot that Netflix resurrects cancelled shows with some frequency (including the very popular Lucifer) but didn’t want to take a stab with this one. Granted, the show’s not objectively good, but it’s wildly popular, even though there’s so much head-scratching to be had.
On one hand, I do feel for the Manifest fans. I’m still very upset about not learning more about the recent Santa Clarita Diet cliffhanger (before Netflix cancelled the zombie-comedy show) and what happened during a Melrose Place spinoff when someone got killed at a wedding altar back in the late 1990s. Being a TV fan isn’t always easy, but it’s worth the occasional pain, which is the feeling that Manifest creator Jeff Rake — who’s envisioned and planned the series for a six-season run — is having while urging viewers to keep the faith because… he’s still plugging away at a solution?
“Manifesters!” Rake wrote on Twitter. “Your support is awe-inspiring. We’re trying to find a way to conclude the series. Could take a week, a month, a year. But we’re not giving up. You deserve an end to the story. Keep the conversation alive. If it works out, it’s because of YOU.. #SaveManifest”
Manifesters!
Your support is awe-inspiring. We’re trying to find a way to conclude the series. Could take a week, a month, a year. But we’re not giving up. You deserve an end to the story.
Keep the conversation alive. If it works out, it’s because of YOU. ⁰⁰#SaveManifest
So… can anything be done? Short of another streaming service picking up the show, it’s difficult to envision what Rake wants to happen. That is, unless someone wants to privately fund another round of confusion, since the series, which revolves around a flight that disappears off the radar (and is presumed lost) before touching back down on Earth’s surface five years later, perplexes people. Maybe, just maybe, a script could be pulled together for a “finale,” followed by a table read. That’s not a glamorous prospect or the one that anyone necessarily wants to settle for, but it would be a nice gesture to the fans who’s supported the show all along.
#GiveManifestATableReadFinale has a decent ring to it, right?
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood starred multiple Oscar-winning and -nominated performers, including Leonardo DiCaprio (six nominations, one win), Brad Pitt (five nominations, one win for Hollywood), Margot Robbie (two nominations), and Al Pacino (nine nominations, one win). But Quentin Tarantino wanted one more for the ensemble.
While speaking with Marc Maron on the WTF podcast, Tarantino revealed that he circled Jennifer Lawrence (four nominations, one win) to play Manson family member Squeaky Fromme in the 2019 film. “Early on, in the pre-production of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, I flirted around with the idea of — and [by the way], I couldn’t be happier with what Dakota Fanning did, it’s one of the best performances in the movie, she’s amazing as Squeaky Fromme, she becomes [her]. But early on, I investigated the idea of Jennifer Lawrence playing Squeaky, so she came down to the house to read the script cause I wasn’t letting it out,” he said (via the Playlist). “So, she came down to the house, OK, I gave her the script, go in my living room or go outside by the pool and read it.”
Tarantino explained that Lawrence read the script and was interested in taking the role, but “something didn’t work out.” (If Dakota Fanning is the backup option for your movie, you’re doing fine.) She did offer a suggestion, though. “Can I just make a recommendation for somebody to cast?” the mother! star asked Tarantino. “You know that agent guy that talks to Rick at the beginning? Why don’t you cast Marc Maron for that? I think he would be really, really good.” Maron is going invite Pacino, who played “that agent guy,” onto WTF and spend three hours grilling him about this, and only this.
You can listen to the entire WTF episode below.
Today is Quentin Tarantino day on @WTFpod! Being a new dad, being a new novelist, Old Hollywood, old fathers, telling stories, telling lies! Great talk! Do it up! https://t.co/TRZkCfIIIs
A lawnmower beer is exactly what it sounds like. A beer that you crush after (or during!) an afternoon of mowing an expansive lawn. But even if live in an apartment, townhome, condo, or someone else mows your lawn, you can still enjoy one of these thirst-quenching, highly refreshing, and crushable beers all season long.
In truth, the term “lawnmower beer” probably means something different to everyone. Craft beer fans might go for a double dry-hopped IPA or craft wheat beer. Classic beer fans might opt for an authentic, cheap, no-frills adjunct lager like Budweiser or Miller High Life (there’s nothing wrong with that). We prefer to go right down the middle and drink craft pilsners, lagers, and other lighter, refreshing styles.
Since the craft beer world is so massive and diverse, you don’t have to settle for mass-produced lagers from giant conglomerates (unless you want to!) when looking for a nice session brew. There are endless pilsners, lagers, pale ales, wheat beers, and Kölsch- style beers perfectly suited for this job.
Check out our eight favorite lawnmower beers below and click on the price if you want to give one a shot yourself.
If you visit any dive bar in Chicago (or pretty much any bar) you’re going to find the classic, cheap, refreshing beer called Old Style. Revolution knows all about this Windy City staple and set out to create its own version of the iconic “Chicago Pilsner.” They did this by launching Rev Pils, a crisp, thirst-quenching pilsner that’s brewed with Noble hops and all German-sourced ingredients for an authentic flavor profile.
Tasting Notes:
Take a moment to breathe in the aromas of lemon zest, biscuit-like malts, fresh-cut grass, and floral hops. Sipping this beer will make you revel in the notes of lime, lemons, freshly baked bread, caramel malts, and gentle, lingering subtly bitter hops at the very end. It will take you a few cans before you discover all the various flavors.
Bottom Line:
Rev Pils is loaded with citrus and malt flavor, making it very bold yet crushable.
You can’t make a list of lawnmower beers without including a beer that was created to be enjoyed after mowing your lawn on a hot, humid day. This German-style Kölsch is brewed with a whole slew of German-grown Hallertau hops as well as a proprietary Kölsch yeast. The result is a crisp, citrus, and floral flavored hop that is sure to refresh you on a hot, summery day.
Tasting Notes:
Fans of authentic Kölsch beers (as well as German-style Kölsch beers made in America) will enjoy the aromas of lemon peel, orange zest, and slight bready malts on the nose. When you sip it, you’ll be greeted with floral hops, sweet tangerine, lemon zest, and a nice caramel-like malty backbone. It all ends with a slight bitterness that brings everything together.
Bottom Line:
With a name like Fancy Lawnmower, this is definitely the kind of beer you’ll want to crush after a day in the sun.
Threes Brewing Vliet is one of the best-rated (and beloved) pilsners in the country for a reason. Brewed with German Pilsner malt as well as Saaz and Spalter Select hops, it’s well-known for its herbal, sweet, fresh flavor. At 5.2 percent, it’s highly drinkable and thirst-quenching on a sunny, hazy day.
Tasting Notes:
This slight hazy beer begins with aromas of fresh-baked bread, biscuit-like malts, subtle spice, and a healthy dose of floral hops. The palate is swirling with caramel malts, fresh-cut grass, citrus zest, and more floral, subtly piney hops. The finish is sweet, dry, and extremely refreshing.
Bottom Line:
This is an extremely well-balanced beer. Its citrus and floral hops flavors are complimented by bready malts. It’s fresh, clean, and one of our favorite lawnmower beers of all time.
Athens, Georgia’s Creature Comforts has a bunch of beers that could be fit into this box. Its Classic City Lager and Tritonia (Gose) are crisp, refreshing, and delightful. But when we want a crushable beer for a sweaty afternoon, we grab a Bibo. This pilsner is sessionable at 4.9 percent, available year-round and dry, sweet, and perfectly balanced between hops and malts.
Tasting Notes:
The first thing you’ll notice before sipping are the various aromas of this beer. There’s freshly baked bread, wet grass, hay, caramel malts, and subtle resin. The flavor is crisp, subtly sweet, and filled with biscuity malts, floral hops, subtle spices, and very little bitterness at the finish. All in all, a very drinkable, memorable beer.
Bottom Line:
If you’re looking for a low-alcohol and crispy beer, Creature Comforts Bibo ticks all of those boxes. It’s simple, elegant, and refreshing.
With a name like Montucky Cold Snacks, you kind of know what you’re getting into with this beer. This crisp, refreshing, highly sessionable lager gets its name, Montucky, for a nickname for the state of Montana. The “cold snacks” portion of the name is exactly as it seems. It’s simply a classic lager that you can drink all day long (if that’s your kind of thing).
Tasting Notes:
For a beer that touts itself as a simple lager, there’s a surprising number of aromas on the nose. Wet grass, fresh-baked bread, caramel malts, and slight citrus are all present. Tasting this beer brings you more bready malts, sour apples, light citrus, and just a hint of caramel. The finish is slightly hoppy with very little bitterness.
Bottom Line:
This beer was designed to be crushed on the slopes or backcountry of Montana (or anywhere else) and it definitely serves its purpose.
Another aptly named beer, The Crisp is exactly as the name suggests. It’s a crisp, refreshing, zesty beer well-suited for summer drinking. Brewed with a combination of German-sourced Hallertau and Tettnang hops as well as Cargill Pilsner malt, this beer is a hoppy, fresh beer well-suited for summer afternoons.
Tasting Notes:
The nose makes you think that this is an IPA as opposed to a pilsner. It’s filled with the scents of resinous pine, slight tropical fruits, citrus zest, and a nice malty backbone. The flavor is just as hoppy as the aroma with notes of ripe berries, lemon peels, cracker-like malts, and wet grass. It all ends with a nice combination of slightly bitter hops and fresh fruit.
Bottom Line:
IPA fans looking to get into pilsners this summer should use this beer as a bridge. Hoppier than most pilsners on the market, it’s clean, fresh, and bright with floral, piney flavor.
Victory Prima Pils is a perennial summer favorite for a multitude of reasons. It’s bright, fresh, and filled with myriad floral hops like Tettnang, Hallertau, Spalt, and Saaz. On top of that, it’s brewed with German malts to complete the classic, old-world flavor pilsner fans have grown to expect.
Tasting Notes:
A lot is going on with this pilsner’s nose. There are distinct aromas of ripe grapefruit, wet grass, resin, and caramel malts. The palate is swirling with dank, resinous pine, freshly baked bread, sweet malts, and slight, bitter, citrusy hops at the very end.
Bottom Line:
This beer is a great example of a summery beer with a perfect hop to malts ratio. Sometimes pilsners can lean a little far in the malt department. Floral, dank hops temper it well.
If you’re looking for a crisp, easy-to-drink lawnmower beer, there’s a good chance you might at least look at Narragansett and its iconic lager. But we believe that a better choice is the brewery’s Fresh Catch, a golden ale that’s dry-hopped with Citra hops.
Tasting Notes:
Immerse yourself in the scents of citrus peels, lime zest, resinous pine, and a nice hit of caramel malts. The flavor is chocked full of citrus flavors as well as dank, piney hops, bread-like malts, and a nice, subtle, bitter finish that appeals to IPA fans.
Bottom Line:
This beer is only 4.2 percent ABV but is bursting with so much citrusy, hoppy flavor, you might assume it’s much more potent. It’s super sessionable and refreshing after an afternoon mowing the lawn.
As a Drizly affiliate, Uproxx may receive a commission pursuant to certain items on this list.
Aaron Dessner played a role in bringing Taylor Swift’s two recent albums Folklore and Evermore to life, and Dessner has hinted that Swift returned the favor by contributing to material from one of his other projects, the Justin Vernon collaboration Big Red Machine. In a 2020 interview, Dessner noted “The Big Red Machine stuff is quite far along — and actually, Taylor has been amazing [at giving feedback]. I’ve shared all of that stuff with her, and she has been really helpful.” He then neither confirmed nor denied that Swift will appear on a Big Red Machine song, but now it’s looking like she just may.
Yesterday, the group shared a teaser of new music via a glitchy video teasing something called “How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last.” Part of an overlay on the clip is some handwriting that apparently looks like that of Swift, according to the dozens of fans who flooded the post’s comments section with excited messages.
Notably, this follows Vernon teasing a Swift collaboration back in April. It seems that Dessner would be eager for the opportunity to work with Swift again, as he previously said of her, “I am constantly humbled by and grateful for our friendship and collaboration. […] You have restored my faith in music and the ways in which it can help me and others. In a year of such uncertainty and fear, I’m eternally grateful for the music we made. You generously shared your songwriting genius with me and others on these records — and made everyone involved feel appreciated and confident in their work. I can’t say enough positive things about you as an artist and a person.”
Cardi B continues to make rap history, racking up an impressive collection of firsts as she expands her catalog of hits, movie roles, and powerhouse performances since breaking out in 2018 with “Bodak Yellow.” Her latest: Becoming a mother twice over, revealing her second pregnancy during an electrifying performance with her husband Offset’s band Migos at the 2021 BET Awards. Popping out in a bedazzled sheer jumpsuit designed to accentuate her belly, Cardi stole the show, with the reveal becoming one of the night’s biggest moments.
At the same time, she revealed her first pregnancy portrait, posting the plaster-clad picture on Instagram and accumulating over 12 million views in less than 24 hours. The photo also garnered thousands of congratulatory comments as admirers and peers alike responded supportively to the reveal. Today, Cardi shared some of the remaining portraits from the shoot, including one featuring Offset, who is seen embracing Cardi from behind while kissing her neck, and soon-to-be big sister Kulture, who wears a matchup dress and headwrap while touching her mom’s tummy (and bearing the expression of an only child who knows her days of being the only favorite are numbered… I feel you, kid).
Cardi and Offset’s family has been a focus of their art for a while, and as it expands, should give them plenty more fodder for adorable social media posts and bars about potty training and sibling rivalries. Check out their loving family photos below.
Cardi B is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is returning to the world of hot takes, and once again, the famed astrophysicist is putting Hollywood on blast for its less than scientific depiction of aliens. In a series of tweets on Monday afternoon, Tyson dipped into some of his Greatest Hits from the past decade where he’s called out everything from hard sci-fi films like Interstellar to fantastical fare like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy because nothing is safe from Tyson’s withering gaze when it comes to the cinematic portrayal of extra-terrestrial beings.
“Ready to resume the posting of all my Space Alien Tweets since 2009,” Tyson warned his followers, which was actually a nice thing to do because, again, the man has some thoughts. “But some of you didn’t like them. You’re not obligated to, but you can always unfollow me. Or just avert your eyes for the rest of today.”
Ready to resume the posting of all my Space Alien Tweets since 2009.
But some of you didn’t like them. You’re not obligated to, but you can always unfollow me.
In his first reposted “Note to HOLLYWOOD,” Tyson thinks Tinseltown is getting it all wrong when it comes to aliens’ appearances even though nobody, including Tyson, has ever seen an alien before: “A Space Alien with no DNA in common with life on Earth should look more different from life on Earth than **any** two life forms on Earth look from each other.”
Note to HOLLYWOOD:
A Space Alien with no DNA in common with life on Earth should look more different from life on Earth than **any** two life forms on Earth look from each other.
In his next note, Tyson had thoughts on aliens’ senses, which he argues should also be wildly different than humans: “No reason to think space aliens would have the same array of senses — sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell — as humans. They could have more senses than we do. Or all their senses could be completely different from ours.”
Note to HOLLYWOOD:
No reason to think space aliens would have the same array of senses — sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell — as humans. They could have more senses than we do. Or all their senses could be completely different from ours.
However, despite threatening to rehash his alien movie criticisms, Tyson quickly pivoted back to random alien tweets, which he’s still firing off as of this writing. The man has simply had enough. And he needs you to know it. Again.
If a Space Alien landed on Earth and demanded, “Take me to your leader!” I wonder how many people would take it to their head-of-state.
I like root beer. Let me clarify that, I think I like root beer. The traditional recipe for root beer comes from sassafras, which has been banned by the FDA as a carcinogen since 1960. So it’s fair to say that I’ve never tasted root beer in its original form. What I know of this classic soda pop is a mix of flavoring agents and colors. Or, in the case of the newer, hipster brands, retrofitted natural ingredients meant to imitate a different natural ingredient that’s been out of circulation and replaced by fake ingredients since most of us have been alive.
Here’s another wrinkle in my quest for the best grocery store root beer: We are, apparently, in the throes of the great root beer shortage of 2021. Multiple brands I searched for were sold out at the various stores I visited, which led me down Reddit rabbit holes, forced late-night store runs, and ended in a strenuous dissagreement with a Kmart manager about why he wouldn’t sell me the remaining loose bottles from a four pack that someone else clandestinely split up. Seriously, it was a whole thing.
In the end, I had to go to Kmart (2x), Walmart, Target, Vons (2x), Albertsons (3x), Ralphs, Trader Joes, and Whole Foods to gather the complete lineup for this blind tasting. Yes, I realize that this is officially the most any human has cared about root beer for quite some time. I did it for you, the reader, and because every time one of our Uproxx LIFE team members does a blind test, I Slack them incessantly about the need to be absolutely, undeniably complete. So I had to walk the walk on this go around, even though that took 12 store visits and cost me $60 in root beers, most of which I didn’t enjoy all that much.
Therein lies my final caveat. In a lifetime of tasting foods and drinks for a living, I’ve never felt so controlled by my palate and sense memory as I did with root beer. I realized through this tasting that what I want from a good root beer is heavily influenced by my favorite soda on earth, which I’ll reveal a little later. Of course, the root beers I tested aren’t trying to imitate my favorite soda, nor should they. But as I said before, none of us know what traditional root beer even tastes like so it’s all kind of murky — a real Plato’s cave situation.
Below you can see the lineup of brands that I tried blind. I didn’t test any diet iterations because all diet soda is all trash. If you’re drinking sugar water, just drink it unapologetically.
Henry Weinhard’s
A&W
Shasta
Jones
Sioux City
Frostie
Teddy’s
Boylan
Dad’s
Virgil’s
IBC
Route 66
Maine Root
Sprecher’s
Check the blind taste test and ranking below. You might disagree with my picks based on our differening palates, but at least you’ll know a few root beers to steer clear of as we near the 4th.
PART I — THE BLIND TASTE TEST
TASTE 1
Steve Bramucci
Nose is very classic. This has a real “root beer” taste – like earthy and rooty. Since it’s taste 1, I wonder if I’m right that this is some real authentic, organic, classic root beer or if I’m being fooled by chemicals. I don’t have much context yet, so it could be either. Nice pop or “bite” – but lots of sugar.
I wrote the following in my notes: ROOT nose, POP palate, SUGAR finish. Tiny hint of licorice. Great start.
TASTE 2
Steve Bramucci
Good root beer nose and palate and tastes like cane sugar on the finish. Kinddddda mellow overall. For the moment, I’m afraid I won’t be able to differentiate these enough. Okay, this is softer and not as bitey as #1 and the root flavor was mellower, too. Maybe that means #1 is more natural—maybe it means it was pure fake.
I know that Sioux City always disappoints me with how un-bitey it is — it’s always trying to dunk but just can’t get up high enough. This has that same quality.
TASTE 3
Steve Bramucci
This is classic. Dads? A&W? Some rare brand that’s actually been around for ages? Less root here on the nose and palate than 1, which is the winner thus far. This is just… thinner.
Ultimately, it feels like it could be called “generic brand soda pop” and no one would balk and correct it as root beer.
TASTE 4
Steve Bramucci
Huge departure. This tastes like licorice beer. Not a lot of pop and a ton of “root” – does real root beer taste like licorice? Is that what sassafras tastes like? Am I comparing a bunch of super authentic brands to the A&W floats my mom made when I was a kid? Is there some artisan rootbeer maker out there rolling their eyes because I compared them to my sense memories of corn syrup and caramel coloring?
For the record, I actually think that’s exactly what is happening. Regardles, this might be the most authentic, but it’s too smooth and too heavy on the licorice. No bite at all.
TASTE 5
Steve Bramucci
Another classic – but more like soda fountain classic. There’s a licorice-anise-root taste upfront, mellow midpalate with slight astringency, and a cane sugar finish. Not bad. In fact, I could see this having a lot of fans, but I’m slanted toward more pop-bite.
TASTE 6
Steve Bramucci
Ugh. I knew there were a few out there that I would hate because they’re overmellow. I remember that from wasted purchases over the years. This one of those. No pop at all – it’s all flat soda vibes. But no root either. Also, and I’m quite sure that this is cane sugar, you can still OVERUSE cane sugar.
This is too sweet. It tastes like the syrup pre-carbonation.
TASTE 7
Steve Bramucci
Syrupy upfront. Flat. Mellow. This has a great nose but the palate, midpalate, and finish are mostly just flat cane sugar syrup.
Again, this isn’t terrible, but you have to know that you want a mellow, rooty drink and not any sort of “soda pop” experience in line with how mainstream colas and fizzy drinks have tasted since the 1980s or so.
TASTE 8
Steve Bramucci
On the nose, this is clearly an outlier. It tastes like… rootbeer taffy. Which is somehow a LOT different than just root beer. I can’t tell if this is a hipster entry or not. It’s a lot darker and there’s a much different flavor. I can’t quite place it… but I’m also not crazy about it.
On second sip, it does remind me of the coast, though. Briny sea shores. Vintage soda fountains (which were never actually around in my life time but were already a thing people imitated). If this is one of the New England brands, I expect a parade for my incredible palate.
TASTE 9
Steve Bramucci
Finally one with fizz and bite. A nice head. Not much on the nose and palate but after a whole lot with no fizz, this is a respite. This really opens your mouth up with its fizzyness but once your palate is primed, it doesn’t have much to say.
Not a ton of flavor, but god, I was thirsty for fizz.
TASTE 10
Steve Bramucci
This is a departure. Like rootbeer toothpaste, more medicinal, wintergreeny, and sorta… herbaceous. This is probably some purist shit that I’m not sophisticated (or too ingrained in my root beer sense memory) to “get.” Whatever, it’s my tasting and I’m not crazy for it.
That said, it tastes like the old west. This is rootbeer they’d order in The Sisters Brothers. If I hadn’t wasted a lot of money being disappointed by Sioux City root beer in college (their sarsaparilla is amazing), I would have predicted that this was Sioux City, just because I know their old west branding and this tastes “old west.”
TASTE 11
Steve Bramucci
This is the fizziest one yet. Rooty on the nose but mellowish on the palate. I like all the fizz a lot, but man, can you combine it with some root bite? So close to perfect. In fact, I would/ will go back to this happily and if it’s in the top 3, I won’t be surprised.
TASTE 12
Steve Bramucci
Another where the “root” is really unique. This feels full hipster but there is a little soda. DEF cane sugar. DEF designer brand. Good soda balance. But just not a ton of taste. Even if the root is more authentic in some way, it’s not as potent.
It isn’t the first and it won’t be the last time I admit that my palate for these flavors has probably been defined by corn syrup and chemicals, but that doesn’t feel like something I can undo mid-test.
TASTE 13
Steve Bramucci
This is my pick for classic root beer. Again, it’s very sweet. The nose is mellow. But it does have the fizz… If this was a midpoint, I’d be stoked, but I worry it’s gonna land more like the top half because so many are flat and sugary.
I will bet my hat that this is a super mainstream brand that makes no attempt to be artisinal or craft driven.
TASTE 14
Steve Bramucci
Bad note to end on. Flat and sugary. No real root taste. Sugar on the nose, palate, and finish. Candyish sugar – like melted-down fruit candy. I like fruit notes, Cherry Dang! is my second favorite cola ever, but this just isn’t working.
PART II — THE RANKING
Here’s how the 14 bottles I tasted shook out. You’ll note that we’re starting the ranking with #16, for reasons soon to be revealed.
This is how Sprecher’s describes themselves: This legendary Award-Winning Root Beer has the rich, creamy flavor that only comes from using Wisconsin honey direct from the combs. Our brew master skillfully combines a host of flavors in our gas-fired brew kettle. Then ages it just long enough to achieve peak flavor, super creamy mouthfeel and a frothy head.
Sounds super hispter and organic and rootsy, right? Now here’s the label on the bottle:
Sprecher
That seems like a pretty big departure. Glucose syrup is before the honey, so we can assume that literal sugar water is much more in evidence than the honey that is so hyped up. (Also, is WI a honey haven? If so, I’ve never heard that. I think honey is one of those food products where you shout out its origins, regardless of where it comes from — Oregon honey! California honey! New York honey! They all sound about the same.)
Also, 51 grams of sugar? A 12oz bottle of Coke — which is so sugary that states make laws about it — has 39 grams.
Bottom Line:
Here’s what I wrote in the blind test: “This is too sweet. It tastes like the syrup pre-carbonation.” Well, bingo. 51 grams is so much freaking sugar. It can come from WI honey or “pure cane” or anywhere else — it’s still excessive.
From the website: Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer; A substantial, traditional root beer with a hint of honey, vanilla and sassafras.
Bottom Line:
This is my chance for a homer pick (Weinhard’s is a Portland brand) and I’m not taking it. I’ve had a ton of Henry’s and it’s always, always dissapointing in how mellow it is. Tastes flat and low on flavor. It is creamy, but that’s not a huge selling point for me.
From the website: A classic root beer that delivers a smooth vanilla taste, and subtle wintergreen and anise flavor. Enjoy this one over vanilla ice cream for an amazing float.
Bottom Line:
I didn’t get any of those notes — though I got all of them at one point or another with other entries. In this case, all I got was the thinness. It’s too bad, because I had high hopes for Frostie, which was actually making root beer back when sasafrass was legal.
Unfortunately, their current recipe just doesn’t have much of anything to it.
Info: Like A&W, Shasta really posits itself as the “root beer float” root beer with classic but artificial flavors, medium fizz, and lots of creamines.
Since the product is fully artificial and there’s not much to be said about its ingredients, I’d like to mention that when I was a freshman in college, the school hired a comic for our incoming student orientation to do a 45-minute show. Mid-set he sipped a Shasta and someone in he crowd yelled, “How’s the Shasta?!”
I have never seen a more perfect heckle in my life than teasing a random soda brand and therefore the entire chain of life choices of the comic drinking it. It literally shut the whole show down and the comedian couldn’t bounce back. He left early and the person who yelled it was famous across campus for years.
Bottom Line:
I nailed this in the tasting: classic with no attempt to be artisinal or authentic. Trouble is, there still wasn’t much punch. In a blind taste test with A&W, which is mediocre, this still loses every time.
From the website: Root Beer has been a classic amongst American’s since the late 1800’s. First used for medicinal purposes, Root Beer is now enjoyed as a soft drink or as the main ingredient in Root Beer floats. Teddy’s is rich and creamy and goes well with any meal.
Bottom Line:
Even though it comes in a weird plastic bottle, Teddy’s seems to have a strong case for being a “classic pick” — I just didn’t love the mintier notes and found the flavor to be too mellow. Interesting that “creaminess” is being shouted out as a positive attribute by brands, because I guess I didn’t really have that as a parameter.
It’s very hard to get a bead on what’s in any of these. The website reads: “pure cane sugar, natural ingredients, crafted with care” — which is pretty generic copy. I think that’s because none of these brands really cares about presenting themselves as natural since there’s no real natural root beer in the first place.
Bottom Line:
I picked this one out of a lineup cold and could do it again. That’s not a great testament to Sioux City. Its defining characteristics are exactly the same as other “classic” brands, it’s just weaker in every way. That said, this did have the best nose — so if you want to just sniff your frosty beverage, have at it.
From the website: “Although new flavors have been introduced into the root beer category over the past 100 years, the essential ingredients are still wintergreen, licorice, and vanilla.”
Wait, Dad’s. If we’re going back 100 years, wasn’t sasafras the main root? I can’t imagine 100 years ago people were importing vanilla to put it in root beer, but… maybe?
Bottom Line:
I’m proud of myself for calling out the wintergreen, but it’s not that impressive — they lay it on pretty thick. There was a medicinal-astringent quality that I don’t love. Maybe Dad’s used to be a tooth numbing prouct before transitioning to soda?
A few things: A&W is the only root beer with a fast food restaurant. For what it’s worth, I don’t hate the joint. They serve corndog nuggs and Coney dogs with cheese. They also make rootbeer in-house — which realistically means “in-line,” as in the carbonation and syrup are combined fresh in tubes on their way to the taps. That said, is is better there and their floats are one of the most underrated treats in all of fest food.
All that said, I don’t need to give you an ingredients list here. A&W makes no attempt to be “authentic” — it’s all caramel and coloring and carbonation and corn syrup.
Bottom Line:
I confused the mellowness here for a more stylized brand. My bad. That said, I thought this would rank much higher. It just came off as flat. It was the only two liter I bought, so maybe it was stale, but I opened it just for this tasting and you can see the lack of bubbles. Ultimately, if you want A&W, get it from the drive-thru.
From the webite: Brewed in small batches by hand to include the flavor of fifteen different roots and spices. A rich, creamy, full-flavor soda that is deliciously complex and never bitter.
Bottom Line:
I dont disagree with anything about how Virgil’s describes themselves. I certainly got “roots and spices” — particularly licorice root. And it wasn’t bitter — though none of these were. It was creamy, too. It’s just that none of those things really seem to be my personal parameters for liking a root beer. If it was “smooth spice mix licorice” beer, that’s fine.
I guess the real problem here is that some brands seem to read the root in root beer as “any root” and others take it as “flavors selected to imitate sasafrass root.” That said, Virgil’s is one of the brands eperiencing serious shortages, so they must be doing something right. It also gets some uniqueness points.
From the website: Handcrafted soda made with extracts of wintergreen, clove and anise. All our recipes are sweetened with Fair Trade Certified Organic sugar, so you can feel good about it!
Bottom Line:
I predicted that this was a New England artisinal brand and found this to be a nice diverson from the others in the tasting. There was this great saltwater taffy note that I… maybe “loved” is too strong a word but certainly “found myself interested by.”
If you’re looking for something complex and distinct while still conjuring “root beer flavors,” this is a very solid pick.
IBC was my college pick. I loved it back then. It was also the second hardest root beer to find, with multiple stores being completely sold out. It’s ingredients are all the usual suspects — caramel color and cane sugar. No real surprises.
Bottom Line:
Going into the tasting, I predicted this as the winner. Clearly, my preference for this has fallen off since college, but this was definitely solid. It just wasn’t bitey in the way I wanted. Not as bad as two other brands I drank a lot in college — Henry’s and Sioux City — but still, this didn’t punch me with flavor in the way I hoped.
From the webite: A rich sassafras flavor derived from cinnamon, sweet birch, vanilla, and wintergreen.
Bottom Line:
With the ingredient list above, I would have expected this to be one of the more medicinal entries. It wasn’t and I’m dubious about some of those claims (vanilla and birch make sense, but I didn’t pick up the wintergreen). That said, I loved the fizz on this.
No real info — though I do deeply appreciate the company’s commitment to Route 66. It’s cool branding, for starters, but they also really lean into selling their products along the route. So if you travel those areas, you’re likely to see them — which is cool.
Bottom Line:
I liked this a lot. I could have used a stronger flavor but the fizz was present and the nose was classic. This is what I percieve as a 1950s soda fountain root beer and I’d happily reach for it on a hot day.
3. JONES ROOT BEER (Taste 1)
Jones Root Beer
Price: 29.99 for a 12 pack. Individual bottles sold in specialty stores.
Info:
Not much information availible online. “Inverted cane sugar” is listed as an ingredient. That insufferable because inverted sugar is just sugar melted down in water — which is necessary for any beverage, so… don’t be so dorky with your ingredient naming, Jones! I’m trying to rank you highly.
Bottom Line:
This was classic, potent, and nice with the fizz. It was actually disorienting to have this be my first taste. It was the winner of the blind test but it’s not ranked #1 or even #2, which leads me to…
PART III — THE RINGERS
So this is where I name my favorite soda of all time — Coke. Its cola bite and the carbonation overpower the sweetness until you get three or four gulps in, which I love. Seriously, it’s one of my favorite sensory experiences on earth. Definitely top 10. So leaving Barq’s off the list felt like sacriledge (it was purchased by Coca-Cola in 1995). But Barq’s is seriously hard to find right now and has been since early in the pandemic. It wasn’t in any of those 12 stores I mentioned visiting and getting it online only wasn’t going to work for me.
So if you want the winner of the blind taste, that’s Jones. But the same day as the blind test, I flew to Portland for the summer and found Barq’s at a specialty shop. I also grabbed a second bottle because I liked the label and had never seen it before. Turns out they were both spectacular.
Here are my top two grocery store root beers, if you can find them:
The website has a whole novel on this root beer’s orgins, but basically it can be summed up as: was made a long time ago, changed hands a few times, and crafted to taste like the original recipe. That’ belied by the label, which is the same as all the others: sugar, water, natural and artificial flavors. No real surprises.
What did surprise me was the taste.
Bottom Line:
This was like amped up IBC — better in a million tiny ways. It was the only brand that seemed to use wintergreen right — there was a little pepperiness late that I enjoyed. Moreoever, it had bite and kick, which is really all my Coke-loving palate had wanted out of this tasting.
If you don’t want to go mainstream, this is absolutely my #1 pick from everything I tasted.
I’m not even searching for info here. This is Coke with rootbeer flavors. It has bite (that’s the slogan) and I crave that bite because I like Coke.
Bottom Line:
Listen, this is really about palates. I think you could ignore Barq’s as an outlier, because my palate is so perfectly calibrated to Coke, and have a very solid root beer list. That said, if you, like me, just want “Coke but with root beer flavor” — almost like a rootbeer + Coke graveyard from the soda machine — well, this is your brand.
The Atlanta Hawks aren’t in must win territory just yet, down 2-1 to the Milwaukee Bucks, but the way they lost Games 2 and 3 — one a blowout and the other seeing a 7-point fourth quarter lead evaporate into an 11-point loss — it will certainly feel crucial for them to get Game 4 at home to avoid returning to Milwaukee having to get a win.
Getting a win on Tuesday night in Atlanta is going to be very much dependent on the health of superstar guard Trae Young, who stepped on a referee’s foot late in the third quarter of Game 3, rolling his ankle and having to take a quick trip to the locker room to get it looked at and re-taped. When he returned, he did not look like the Young we saw in the first three quarters, struggling to do much off the dribble and his only contribution of the fourth was a deep three midway through the period. Otherwise, he was rendered far less impactful than normal and the Hawks offense collapsed without his creation.
On Monday, Young had an MRI and it was revealed that he had a bone bruise in his right foot, leaving him as officially questionable for Game 4. One would expect Young to do everything he can to give it a go, but how effective he can be attacking downhill is going to very well determine whether the Hawks can get back level in the series. With Bogdan Bogdanovic still ailing from a knee injury, Atlanta is lacking in the creator department beyond Young, and an injury to Young would be a highly unfortunate way for one of the most exciting and fun playoff runs in recent memory to potentially come to a close.
There are countless valid reasons for a person not to breastfeed their child. First of all, having a newborn is one of the most stressful events that one can experience and breastfeeding can be overwhelming.
Some people can’t breastfeed for physical or emotional reasons while others aren’t able to because of commitments to work or school. There is also a socio-economic component to breastfeeding.
A Department of Health report discovered that mothers in wealthier neighborhoods were 1.6 times more likely to exclusively breastfeed for the first five days of their baby’s life than were mothers in poorer neighborhoods.
The problem is that parents are bombarded with the “breast is best” message and want their kids to have the benefits of breastfeeding, so they feel they’re letting their child down by bottle-feeding.
This opens the door to feelings of guilt at a time that is already stressful. The stress associated with not breastfeeding can make someone more prone to postpartum mental health issues and feelings of deep shame.
No one should feel shame for doing what’s right for both themselves and their families.
via Pexels
A new study published in the journal PLOS Medicine should make parents who bottle-fed their children feel better about themselves. It found that breastfeeding has no impact on a child’s overall neurocognitive function by the time they reach the age of 16.
Improved cognitive function has long been seen as one of the greatest benefits of breastfeeding. A 2015 study published in The Lancet, concluded: “breastfeeding is associated with improved performance in intelligence tests 30 years later, and might have an important effect in real life, by increasing educational attainment and income in adulthood.”
However, the new study from PROBIT is the largest randomized controlled trial on human lactation with 13,557 participants and according to The New York Times is “a more rigorous type of study that better controls for socioeconomic and family variables.”
Breastfeeding and socioeconomic status are inextricably linked so it’s hard for researchers to pinpoint whether it’s breastfeeding or other factors such as education level that affect IQ results.
The study found that children who were breastfed had higher IQ scores at the age of 6.5 years. But found that by age 16, there was “little evidence of beneficial effects on overall neurocognitive function.”
That means that although breastfed children do get an early IQ bump, it will diminish by the age of 16. The study did find that breastfed children did receive “a modest benefit” when it comes to their verbal skills.
“Results of our findings at age 16 combined with results at age 6.5 years suggest that long-term effects of breastfeeding on neurocognitive development decrease in magnitude with advancing age, and the persistent benefit seems to be limited to verbal function,” the study says.
The bottom line is that although breastfeeding does provide more benefits for a child, parents who bottle-feed shouldn’t have to worry anymore if it will affect their SAT scores.
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