My friend Rob introduced me to ginger beer back in junior high or high school. I was already a fan of ginger ale, but was won over by the stronger flavor and sharp bite of ginger beer.
A few weeks ago we visited our friends Chad and Camille, and they had some ginger beer in their fridge. They were heading off on vacation a couple of days later, so I helped them polish off their supply. Since then, Debbi has gone to BevMo and picked me up several different brands:
- Bundaberg is what Chad & Camille had on hand. It’s not as sharp as others, and is sweeter, but it’s still quite good.
- Cock & Bull is one Debbi picked up just for the name, but it’s probably my favorite, being the sharpest of the three I’ve tried.
- Fentiman’s is somewhere in the middle, and I didn’t like it as much as the other two.
So I’ve picked up a few 4-packs of the first two and have been enjoying them thoroughly. They’re a bit pricey, and I should probably move on to something a bit less sugar-laden, but I’m enjoying them while I can.
Bundaberg + Cruzan Blackstrap Rum makes the very best Dark And Stormy cocktail.
Cock and Bull is famous for the Moscow Mule cocktail, which is very good, also.
BevMo has this, get it NOW: http://powellandmahoney.com/924-2
Add some to any ginger ale or lemon-lime soda to make ginger beer.
IMO, the best ginger beer was the Old Tyme brand. Alas, it seems to now only be available in Canada, and even then only parts of it. I last had it in 2003 in Toronto; looked for it in Montreal in 2009 and none of several downtown groceries had it. Doing a web search, it seems to still be available in Toronto at least.
No love for Reed’s? They’re available at BevMo, too. They’ve got some interesting variations, including extra-strong ginger flavor, and apple and cherry-flavored ginger beer…
I don’t think I saw Reed’s in stock last time I was there. I think the other one I saw was Fever-Tree, which IIRC was the same price for a 4-pack of smaller bottles, which didn’t encourage me to try it.