I’m partial to Mug, but if you want a really good root beer, IBC is the way to go.
I drink diet Mug in the evenings because it has no caffeine.
Cannot stand IBC rootbeer.
IBC was considered a very good root beer before they made the switch to HFCS. Now I think it is a fairly pedestrian product.
Well, now that we’ve devolved into root beer recommendations: If you can get it, grab some Saint Arnold’s Root Beer. They’re not making a dime off it apparently, so grab some beer too, if you like that sort of thing.
And the more easy to get Bundaberg is delicious, too. You can get it here at specialty shops. It’s so good I’m surprised to hear that root beer isn’t popular in Australia.
Yeah. I still hate root beer. It makes me want to yak. But hey, that means more for you, right? I fully support the right of root beer lovers to drink root beer.
Oddly enough, I actually like the taste of sassafras tea, as sassafras was supposedly the original root in root beer. But sassafras tea is distinctly different from root beer.
I also like Dr. Pepper. Go figure.
Someone once described Dr. Pepper as carbonated prune juice.
I don’t know where he gets it, but there’s a guy with a stall at our Farmer’s Market, and he sells vintage sodas. I stopped and looked for the first time today and I saw Dad’s.
There were at least a dozen varieties of root beer, plus all kinds of other soda flavors. I bought a bottle of root beer called “Brownie” and it’s in my fridge now getting chilled. There were several orange soda, plus some other odd flavors. I remember a coffee soda, and something called Cheerwine, which is supposed to be a cherry flavored drink.
Oh, and I think there may be some debate concerning ice. I have been taught that one should never pour root beer over ice because it messes up the flavor balance. Frosted mugs only.
When I was living in Japan, root beer was not available except around American military bases or in shops that specialized in imported foods. On several occasions Japanese people I knew who’d tried root beer at some point told me how awful they thought it was. “It tastes like medicine” was the usual description. A coworker told me that she’d tried it while on vacation in Okinawa, and that she’d had to check the can to make sure it wasn’t expired – she couldn’t believe it was supposed to taste like that.
In Germany I found it one time. An Thai brand in an Asian food store.
In the Netherlands, it is fairly common in supermarkets. The brands I’ve seen are “Stars & Stripes” and “White Rock”.
I just bought some Virgil’s so we’ll see if it is the best in the world.
Anyone remember the root beer flavor of New York Seltzer? It lacked the caramel coloring, so it was completely clear. Disconcerting at first, but it did taste like ok root beer.
But I like prunes! Mmmm… dried plums!
Actually, I think cherry is supposed to be a larger component of Dr. Pepper. It doesn’t take particularly cherry to me, though.
Hah, Root Beer reminds me a LOT of dandelion and burdock, so I think you’d starting closer than you expected. They’re not identical, but definitely in the same family: herbal, hard-to-ID, and lingering on the palette.
For “normal” root beer, I don’t think it matters. It’s syrupy and fizzy enough that ice dilution won’t cause an issue.
Good root beer for a “craft” maker has a milder flavor and is less carbonated, so ice tends to make it seem watery.
Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer is available in some East Coast grocery stores but, since you’re not on the East Coast, you might want to get it from Pennsylvania Dutch themselves.
Root beer is a common pop flavour throughout Canada.
There may be drupes in its flavoring, it’s purportedly got 23 flavors. But I have it on good authority that it’s actually primarily flavored by a berry. Which one? I am not about to say more than I already have. I live in their territory, and well, have an addiction to the stuff. It’d be child’s play for them to kill me off. 
I thought almond was the main flavor (and happen to agree.)