Name: Olde Brooklyn Bayridge Birch Beer
Place of Purchase: Marini's Italian Cuisine in Syracuse, NY
Country/Region of Origin: USA
Tasting Conditions: Chilled in the glass bottle
Price in New York: $2.99 for 12 oz.
Description: Premium, Gourmet Sodas with a New York attitude (they're Kosher, too)
Flavor: Pleasant wintergreen fizz.
Mouth-feel: Wonderful effervescence.
Aroma: Minty and fresh.
Notes: I grew up on New York and Pennsylvanian beverages. I've had my fair share of loganberry, Hires Root Beer, flavored seltzers and peach soda. Birch beer has always been a personal favorite, especially when it is made properly. Birch beer is a carbonated soft drink made with birch oil. Depending on the type of birch tree that the oil comes from, the drink may be clear, brown, red or artificially colored. Similar to root beer, originally made with sassafras and sasparilla, birch beer takes on the wintergreen aroma and flavors of birch bark. Since it isn't a fermented soda, every brand of birch beer will have a varying amount of carbonation. Olde Brooklyn Bayridge Birch Beer has a mild fizz and a full but not overpowering wintergreen taste. Depending on where you buy it, it might be a cane or HFCS soda. The Cane sugar bottle that I had was sweet but not sticky or cloying. I was sad when it was empty.
