One of the great ice cream shop(pe) treats is a root beer float. I’ll make these one in a while at home too. I’ve seen this product of root beer float in a bottle and had my doubts but finally gave in and bought one, just for the sake of trying it. A&W makes a pretty decent root beer so I figured they must know what they’re doing when trying to recreate a root beer float in this format. There is also an Orange creme version of this but for some reason that combo never tasted good to me so I just got the root beer or just “Float” version.
This post is almost too easy because I could wrap it up in one word: “no”.
I don’t know why anyone at A&W would think this passes for a root beer float. Never mind the lack of froth or carbonation but the taste was very chemically. I guess there was some vanilla and root beer flavor but for the most part, it tasted like something NASA made for their crew to “remind them of home” but if you’re on planet earth, just make a root beer float normally because there is no amount of convenience that is worth drinking this.
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You are braver than I–I’ve picked this up several times, but could not bring myself to buy it. Thanks for taking one for the team!
I thought, “ewww”, when I look at this, and I guess I was right! Very brave you are.
Yuck, looks like diarrhea in a glass…
man i definitely didn’t like waiting a week+ for a “glad there’s only one of”
I drank one of these warm. I still shudder about it months later.
The scariest thing about this stuff is that it’s been on the market for over a year – enough people are actually buying it to justify its continued production.
“chemically” That was it. I was jonesing for a root beer float about a month ago so I picked up a 4-pack of those to try. I was trying to describe to my wife (who had no interest in trying it) what it tasted like and why I threw 3 of them away. “Chemically” fits it. Didn’t really taste like root beer. Didn’t really taste like vanilla. Kinda nasty if you ask me. I pitched the rest of them and went and bought some vanilla ice cream and IBC.
oh god…. this is so wrong…. i think i would rather snaff down a box of vomit jelly bellies (which just fyi was made when they were trying to perfect a “pizza” flavored Jelly belly it never quite turned out palatable so they just added citric acid and volla vomit)
Look at the sugar content on those beasts. It gives me diabetaphobia just thinking about it.
This stuff is perhaps one of the nastiest beverages on the market. The orange is worse. I don’t think I’ve seen it around here in a while now that I think about it.
sd: Sounds like you lead an exciting life:)
roachc420, I agree about the orange. I tried that too. With both drinks I kept wanting to like them and kept taking sips, but I couldn’t even acquire a taste for these things. They’re just gross unfortunately.
I bought a bottle two years ago from my local Diamond Shamrock convenience store. I did not find it disgusting or great tasting. I did find it to be very sweet. There is also a Sunkist version. The Sunkist version is suppose to taste like orange soda and vanilla ice cream. If I want a root beer float, I will buy real ice cream and Barq’s root beer. I am going to give A&W root beer in a bottle a grade of C.
For some reason A&W has seen fit to change their regular root beer recipe. Now “made with aged vanilla” has a bitter taste that leaves you gagging. They must have new management with no taste buds.
I bought the new “Aged Vanilla” root beer. I thought, how can they make it better? I guess Aged Vanilla must be amazing. I thought WRONG. To me, the taste of the new Aged Vanilla root beer reminds me of the pink Pepto Bismal flavor. I’ll have to find a new favorite soda.
The new “aged vanilla” flavor of AW tastes like rolaids. The original AW just tasted like watered down Pepto. Just drink Barqs or IBC root beer. Teddy’s root beer has a good taste. The only good tasting AW product is the creme soda in diet or original.
I HATE the new A & W root beer with Aged Vanilla. I wrote to the company – they said it was the same. Not true! It tastes so strong – not creamy and smooth like usual. Seems like they are adding licorice or something. My daughter says it tastes like Pepto Bismol – YUK! I can’t find the original recipe anywhere – I’m like a drug addict running around looking for it – it soothed my stomach (the new stuff gives me heartburn)!
I found A&W “Classic” in Canada last week. It was great. When I wrote to A&W about the new “with aged vanilla” they told me they had not changed the recipe, however if you compare the nutrition panels, you will see a difference. How do they explain that?
I hope they bring back the Classic A&W, like they did with Classic Coke, several years back.
I love the regular diet root beer. They can keep the vanilla kind. I won’t be buying their root beer until the putrid vanilla is gone completely. What a dumb move. US management = incompetency
I believe that A&W is made by Dr.Pepper/7UP,so you can blame them for one of the biggest insults to root beer floats.
I too wrote to A&W about the “Reformulation” Aged Vanilla. One thing for sure, it must cost less because the smoothness is GONE. Luckily they haven’t butchered the Cream Soda….Yet….
They sent me a coupon for a free six pack, which I used to buy the cream soda with. I wonder how much business they have to lose before they realize they made a mistake and fire the 27 year old MBA who cares nothing of the company legacy… and cheapens the product to improve the “bottom line”.
The new A&W cream soda has a stronger vanilla flaver and leaves a bad aftertaste. I hope this is not a replacement of the old one. We may have to look for a new drink.