Ah root beer, root beer gets a post all of its very own because we are in love. I first tried root beer by accident and it was not love at first taste.
Nick and I were at DunWell Donuts in Brooklyn and I decided to order a soda, they all came on tap and had strange names so I had no idea what any of them were. For no particular reason I picked a sarsaparilla soda. At first I was unsure but slowly the drink grew on me and days later I found myself thinking about it. I turned to google, effectively the matchmaker in this burgeoning relationship, firstly to find out what on earth a sarsaparilla was and secondly to work out where and how we could meet again.
Once I discovered that this mysterious ingredient was the main flavour in Root Beer I set about trying as many kinds as possible and our NYC to Chicago road trip was peppered with meetings like this one at Veggie Grill in Cambridge...
...this one on a bench in Salem...
...and this one at Evolution Cafe on our way out of Northampton.
I picked up many bottles and cans along the way, some micro brewed...
...some very definitely not.
Some accompanied cupcakes in Cleveland...
...and some were paired with pizza in Chicago.
I'm lucky enough to live around the corner from Cybercandy, a US import store, who sell Gale's root beer which is one of my favourites.
In Austin I tried a Root Beer Snow Cone which wasn't a winner in my eyes. Apparently I prefer my root beer chilled rather than frozen.
I did however offset this troubling experience with another root beer and all was well with the world again!
In Portland I was even lucky enough to try my first ever root beer float which, amidst the excitement, sadly went unphotographed. I am currently in Santa Cruz and I'm sure that there will be more root beers in the not too distant future.