Root Beer Review #11 – Triple “AAA”

This Root Beer has a cool slogan: For a delicious nostalgic and refreshing drink. I love the look of the label. It even has bright yellow on either side – barely visible in the picture. But, then again, after studying the label extensively, I see some major issues:

1. Do you really need to call it Triple AAA? Isn’t that redundant?  It should be called AAA or Triple A.
2. Are the quotes necessary?  Triple “AAA”? I don’t understand why they are necessary. When I talk about this root beer, do I have to use air quotes?
3. Can you really say something is delicious nostalgic? Or were they saving white ink by not printing a comma? I think it should be delicious, nostalgic, and refreshing drink OR deliciously nostalgic and refreshing drink.

I’m also curious on the history of the name – I hope it’s a positive reference like the highest farm league of Major League Baseball or the highest bond credit rating, not a reference to the car towing service when your car isn’t working.

The website leaves more questions than answers. The root beer is produced in Oklahoma by the Brickyard Candy Company and is based on old recipes from Triple AAA thirst stations that ceased production in 1974. There is a reference to a Triple AAA restaurant with hours, but no additional information. I can’t base a root beer on its label, website, or history. Therefore, it’s onto the tasting…

I poured the root beer into matching frosty mugs. There was almost no aroma. Logan and I both took two sips before saying anything. The second sip was the confirmation sip that we tasted very little flavor. Logan said it best: “It tastes muted and flat”.  We’re not sure whether the frosty mug zapped the flavor from the root beer, but it was disappointing. After a few sips, I had to remind myself that I was drinking root beer and not some unusual cola. I might fail a blind taste test between the two. No real flavor stood out. This was a real “meh” root beer – nothing wrong with it, but nothing to write home about. The best part of it was the frosty mug, and the mystique of the label.

Derek’s Rating: 4.3

Here are the rankings so far:

9.5 Sprecher Root Beer
9.1 River City Root Beer
9.0 Americana Root Beer
8.1 maine root handcrafted rootbeer
8.0 Virgil’s Root Beer
7.7 Chicago Root Beer
7.2 O-So Butterscotch Root Beer
4.3 Triple “AAA” Root Beer
3.6 towne club root beer
3.4 Dad’s Old Fashioned Root Beer
2.5 Mug Old Fashioned Root Beer