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Posted by Mary Luz Mejia Jun 26, 2008 |
As a kid, I’d save up my allowance (and yes, even caroling money- I got entrepreneurial around Christmas!) and head over the corner store with neighbourhood pals. There, the three of us would buy what we could with our meager rations- back then “penny candy” really did exist. I often chose those sweet-tart “bottle caps,” or candy in the shape of a bottle cap in numerous soda pop flavours. Root beer was my first choice. If I worked really hard at it, I could make one sweet bottle cap last at least ten minutes- a life time for an eight year old!
This is my round-about way of telling you that upon first sip of Gale Gand’s artisanal quality root beer, I was instantly transported to a warm summer’s day when a bottle cap candy would first be placed on the tongue and all was right with the world. The bouquet is bottle cap vintage- sweet, molasses-y, and downright fun! The flavour wasn’t as ginger-based or cinnamon-inflected as I’d hoped- perhaps I was expected a more “mature” or sophisticated soft drink. What I did taste however was crisp, clean, sweet fun.
I’ll soon be enjoying a bottle or two with my nieces, in the requisite frosty mug that’s been chilling in the freezer overnight so that a little bit of icy foam forms around the edges. We might even drop a scoop of really good vanilla ice cream in there too, just to up the wow factor. And we’ll enjoy it as much as the boomer generation Gale primarily created this libation for- even if we’re decades apart!
If you want to catch my interview with the celebrity pastry chef turned root beer guru, click here.