Results of Ginger Beer Tasting

[treetoptom]

Ten of the workplace soda tasting crew tried out 11 different ginger beers on Friday. When the coughing, runny noses and watering eyes finished, these were the results:

BEST:

BRAND TOP 3 NO. 1 SCORE
BARRITT'S 8 5 13
JAMAICA'S FINEST 7 4 11
COCK 'N BULL 4 1 5
STEWART'S 3 0 3
MAINE ROOT 2 0 2
SARANAC 2 0 2
BUNDABERG 2 0 2
D&G GENUINE 1 0 1
GOYA 1 0 1
REED'S EXTRA 0 0 0
GOSLING'S 0 0 0

TOTAL 30 10 40

WORST:

BRAND BOTTOM 3 NO. 11 SCORE
REED'S EXTRA 8 8 16
D&G GENUINE 6 1 7
MAINE ROOT 5 0 5
GOYA 4 1 5
GOSLING'S 5 0 5
SARANAC 2 0 2
BARRITT'S 0 0 0
JAMAICA'S FINEST 0 0 0
COCK 'N BULL 0 0 0
STEWART'S 0 0 0
BUNDABERG 0 0 0

TOTAL 30 10 40

Barritt's and Jamaica's Finest (from Natrona, PA, not Kingston) were judged to have the best mix of flavor, bite and burn. Maine Root easily had the most bite - probably twice the ginger of any of the others. Goya was the hottest, but had to stoop to adding pepper to achieve it. The Reeds Extra Ginger stood out (not in a good way) because of it's reliance on pineapple juice and honey as sweeteners. I'm suprised Jamaican powerhouse D&G Genuine didn't do better, but it couldn't measure up to some of the others.

[Wally1912]

I just picked up some Gosling's Stormy Ginger Beer (produced by Polar Beverages in Worcester, MA) and I thought it was pretty good taste-wise, but clearly a Barritt's knockoff. I felt it was WAY too expensive at $5.99 for a six-pack. For that price I would expect cane sugar and long neck bottles, not HFCS and aluminum cans.
I am surprised the can claims the product is "All Natural" after 7UP got in trouble for declaring HFCS to be a natural sweetener.

http://www.drinkhacker.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/goslings-ginger-beer.jpg