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Dandelion and Burdock
Dec. 31st, 2012 02:21 pmSo. Dandelion and Burdock soda.
It's kind of like root beer, birch beer, sarsaparilla, and all those good old-fashioned temperance drinks. Allegedly D&B started off as alcoholic, kinda like root beer itself started out like this stuff, but now it's not. Also, there's precious little dandelion or burdock involved these days but oh well.
But is it any good? Well, I tried two markedly different brands of the stuff.
Ben Shaws is fizzy, an alarming shade of deep violet, and tastes a bit like anise or licorice. As I love anise-type flavors, I thought it was pretty darned good.
The drink made by Barr's is almost a still beverage, with only the teensiest trace of foam in the glass (and no, it was only two months past the sell-by date). It's a deep amber color, rather like red ale, and even though Barr's doesn't list dandelion or burdock in the ingredients and Ben Shaws does, I think the taste of dandelions and... something... was more pronounced here. There was definitely a whiff of dandelion in its bouquet! It's a little bitter and I recommend you follow the advice on the can and serve it chilled. I'm sure a warm can of this on a July day would be terrible. I drank mine with a plate of leftover lamb curry and I think that worked well enough.
I liked them both, but I'd recommend the Ben Shaws for licorice fiends who want an interesting soda, while the Barr's is more for "weirdoes who can't resist old-fashioned soft drinks" and certainly doesn't substitute for a nice keg of root beer at picnic.
ETA: There is another brand of D&B out there, Fentimans, that sounds intriguing. I can report that their Rose Lemonade is very good but haven't come across their other products.
It's kind of like root beer, birch beer, sarsaparilla, and all those good old-fashioned temperance drinks. Allegedly D&B started off as alcoholic, kinda like root beer itself started out like this stuff, but now it's not. Also, there's precious little dandelion or burdock involved these days but oh well.
But is it any good? Well, I tried two markedly different brands of the stuff.
Ben Shaws is fizzy, an alarming shade of deep violet, and tastes a bit like anise or licorice. As I love anise-type flavors, I thought it was pretty darned good.
The drink made by Barr's is almost a still beverage, with only the teensiest trace of foam in the glass (and no, it was only two months past the sell-by date). It's a deep amber color, rather like red ale, and even though Barr's doesn't list dandelion or burdock in the ingredients and Ben Shaws does, I think the taste of dandelions and... something... was more pronounced here. There was definitely a whiff of dandelion in its bouquet! It's a little bitter and I recommend you follow the advice on the can and serve it chilled. I'm sure a warm can of this on a July day would be terrible. I drank mine with a plate of leftover lamb curry and I think that worked well enough.
I liked them both, but I'd recommend the Ben Shaws for licorice fiends who want an interesting soda, while the Barr's is more for "weirdoes who can't resist old-fashioned soft drinks" and certainly doesn't substitute for a nice keg of root beer at picnic.
ETA: There is another brand of D&B out there, Fentimans, that sounds intriguing. I can report that their Rose Lemonade is very good but haven't come across their other products.
