Barritts Ginger Beer

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Diet; Container: 12 oz bottle
BevNET Review: Along with a new licensee and U.S.-based production comes a new flavor: Diet Barritts. This sugar free version of the classic Bermudian soft drink features an ace-K and sucralose-sweetened formulation that’s surprisingly good. They’ve kept the ginger spice at the same level as the original, the heat of which helps to further mask that of the sweetener. However, in our kitchen tests, when using this product as a mixer, the sweetener flavor is more noticeable when mixed with Gosling's Black Seal rum. Still, as a standalone product, it’s definitely one of the better-tasting sugar-free ginger beers that we’ve sampled. Like its sugar sweetened counterpart, this product is packaged in a 12 oz. glass bottle that features a metallic label. But our criticism remains the same regarding how they’ve reduced the size of the Barritts logo. We’re again left feeling like this product could blend in or be missed on a store shelf. That’s definitely something that should be improved upon in future editions.Reviewed on: 1/12/2010

Product Type:Carbonated Soft Drink: Regular; Container: 12 oz bottle
BevNET Review: Barritts Ginger Beer, which has recently changed licensees to the North American Beverage Company, is now produced in the U.S., switching from a 12 oz.. can to a 12 oz. glass bottle. From a flavor perspective, this Bermudian classic tastes more or less the same as we remember it. The sugar-sweetened formulation is crisp and clean, with a fair amount of ginger flavor (natural and artificial). While there is a slight amount of heat to the drink’s finish, the product is in the middle as far as spicy ginger beers go. That, along with Barritts reputation as being the ginger beer for making a Dark n’ Stormy, is what makes it so popular as a mixer. However, we have mixed feelings about the “upgrade” to a glass bottle. On one hand, it certainly feels more sophisticated, but on the other hand, the look feels a bit more generic than the orange-toned design of the can. That’s the result of the reduced emphasis on the Barritts logo, which, on the can format, had equal emphasis on “Ginger Beer.” Overall, the latest edition of Barritts Ginger Beer is enjoyable, but it seems to have lost some of the charm of the old format.Reviewed on: 1/12/2010