I don't actually drink a whole lot of soda, so when I indulge in a bottle of carbonated sugar-y syrup, I want it to be good. I want it to be as bubbly and flavorful as possible, because I sometimes go months between tastes. I was excited to receive this sample pack of Thomas Kemper, mostly because they've recently switched to sweetening their sodas with cane sugar (down with high fructose corn syrup) so there isn't as much guilt in drinking this beverage as with the conventional stuff.

On first taste, the root beer flavor was everything I look for in a soda. Fizzy, strongly flavored and creamy, I was ready to keep on drinking it. However, I was really disappointed by the other two flavors (and I hate saying this, since I really do like the Thomas Kemper company). The Black Cherry lands on the wrong side of the cough syrup divide and the Ginger Ale just doesn't have enough punch. My boyfriend was willing to finish the bottle of Black Cherry, but neither one of us wanted to kill the Ginger Ale. It was sort of disappointing.

I have always been a fan of root beer. When my sister and I were kids, our intake of sugary drinks was actively monitored by our mom and so there wasn't much in the way of soda in our house. When we'd go out to eat, my dad would often get a root beer while we had to content ourselves with milk. We'd beg for sips from his glass on those occasions and so I associate root beer with comfortable family outings and special treats.

When I heard that Thomas Kemper, craft brewer of quality sodas (out of my hometown of Portland, OR) had developed a low calorie root beer that was sweetened with Splenda and honey, I was really excited to taste it. The box arrived last week with three artfully arranged bottles of soda and I popped the whole thing into the fridge to chill.

A couple of hours later it was cool and ready to taste (I must say that drinking soda out of a glass bottle is far more satisfying than out of a can). Twisting off the cap, I took a long pull and swallowed. It was nice and fizzy, but sadly didn't live up to the flavor profile of Thomas Kemper's sugar version of root beer. It is missing the sharpness that root beer typically delivers. This product is totally drinkable and for those folks who are watching their calorie and sugar intake, I would say that it's a terrific option. But personally, I would rather have a single, sugar-based root beer once a month than drink this version on a more frequent basis.

This root beer is available starting this month, and they will be following it up with low calorie versions of their ginger ale and black cherry soda in April.