Popular Brands Of Root Beer, Ranked

Although root beer is not as popular as Coca-Cola, this unique-tasting drink has its fans. A sweet, carbonated soda, the flavors in root beer are more complex than your typical soft drink. Root beer is an American drink and has been around for centuries — in fact, first commercial root beer was invented by pharmacist Charles E. Hires in the 1800s, but the origins date back much further. When European colonists arrived in North America, they found the Indigenous peoples were making drinks from sassafras and sarsaparilla plants. These plants were widely used as medicine and in cooking. European colonists loved the aroma of the plants and made the first root beer by fermenting low-alcoholic beer and adding sassafras and sarsaparilla root for flavor. However, over time, sarsaparilla root was discovered to contain carcinogens and has since been banned by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Today, the root beer you drink contains sarsaparilla flavoring, not the actual root.

As you might imagine, all root beer is not the same. Different brands different flavors, making a person's favorite root beer highly subjective. Despite this, the question begs: Which brand of root beer is truly best? I took on the challenge of ranking popular root beers based on flavor. Although what makes a good root beer can be subjective, most people can agree that root beer needs that distinct sarsaparilla tang in combination with other spices. Without further ado, here's how the taste test shook out.

I wanted to like Poppi Root Beer. After all, it's only 25 calories and contains five grams of sugar, which means it's arguably the only slightly healthy drink on our list. Given the lack of sugar, perhaps it's not fair to compare it based on the other brands here. But even if I rated it up against other diet drinks or sparkling waters, Poppi would still be low on my list. Although it contains prebiotics and other healthy ingredients such as organic apple cider vinegar and apple juice, the flavor is lacking. 

Poppi may be great in other flavors and is a best seller on Amazon, but prebiotics and root beer just don't go together. My first sip was very off-putting and hard to describe, but nothing like root beer. It was so off-putting that I didn't venture a second sip to try to identify what I was tasting. Poppi is also a pricey choice with one 12-ounce can costing $2.45 at my local supermarket.

My ranking for Virgil's Root Beer surprised me. I remember liking Virgil's Root Beer in the past, and I still enjoy their Cream Soda. On the first sip, Virgil's tasted sweet with a strong hint of black licorice. However, as I drank it, I began to detect an almost medicine or chemical-type flavor, and what tasted pleasantly sweet in the beginning took on an overwhelmingly sweet flavor. At $9.49 for four bottles, this root beer costs more but doesn't deliver as well as many of the other brands that I tasted.

Root beer drinkers online have speculated that Virgil's has changed root beer recipes over the years, although Virgil did not make an announcement on this. Virgil's list of ingredients is not very telling with the only clues of flavoring listed as "natural root beer flavor" and "natural cream flavor." Whether or not Virgil has made a change in recent years, the overall taste of this root beer makes it one of the last on the list.

Faygo makes its way onto our list as the best budget pick. At only 85 cents for a 20-ounce bottle, Faygo is a decent low-cost option for root beer. Not only is it cost efficient, but the company has been around for more than 100 years. In 1907, two brothers from Russia began making soda in Detroit, Michigan — 60 years later, Faygo was a nationwide soda brand. Today it's still made in Detroit where it all began. Faygo's root beer is well-known, but the brand also has more than 50 flavors of soda.

The Faygo I sampled came in a plastic 20-ounce bottle. Instead of real cane sugar, like some of the other brands on the list, Faygo's ingredients included high fructose corn syrup. Although Faygo is a perfectly acceptable root beer and tastes good for the price, it's missing the complexity of flavor found in some of the higher-quality root beers that I sampled. Note that there is also a version of Faygo sold in glass bottles and made with pure cane sugar, but unfortunately I couldn't get my hands on this version and had to settle for the plastic bottled, artificially-sweetened version.

Jones Soda was founded in British Columbia in 1996 and is known for its high-quality, glass bottles of soda. I was surprised that Jones Root Beer didn't rank higher on my list because I am a fan of Jones' other soda flavors. But the root beer, while a decent drink, was lacking some of the complexity and sarsaparilla flavors I found in other brands. As for cost, at $1.79 per 12-ounce bottle, it wasn't the cheapest here, but it wasn't the most expensive either.

On my first taste of Jones Root Beer, I felt it was too sweet of a flavor and not enough spice. It was lacking that quintessential root beer flavor, and I couldn't really detect much sarsaparilla flavoring or other common spices found in root beer such as wintergreen or vanilla. Perhaps the sweetness overpowered the spicy bite I look for in a root beer, but this bottle fell flat in the ratings.

Stewart's is a classic American brand that was founded 100 years ago by a school teacher. There are 10 flavors of Stewart's sodas — some of the most popular, aside from the root beer, include birch beer, orange n' cream, grape, and cream soda. Stewart's root beer scores points for its nostalgic logo on a dark, glass bottle. It's also made with real cane sugar, which is always a plus over high fructose corn syrup when you're looking for a good quality root beer.

When I took a taste of Stewart's, I noticed right away it had a unique flavor, unlike other the root beers on our list. While I tasted sarsaparilla, I also noticed a hint of maple syrup and perhaps vanilla. This root beer was not overly sweet but had a nice, spicy bite to it. Overall, Stewart's is a quality, good-tasting choice for root beer.

WBC Chicago-Style Root Beer stands for WIT Beverage Co. and was originally sold under the Chicago-based Goose Island Brewery label. At some point, the Goose Island name was dropped and WBC Root Beer came on the scene. Today, the bottle still states the root beer was "born on Goose Island, Chicago, Illinois, in 1988." In 2021, Wisconsin-based Sprecher Brewing Co. acquired the WIT brand and kept the WBC Chicago-style name. It's easily found in the Chicago area, but if you can't find it in your location you can always buy a case online from the brewery.

This root beer had a nice level of carbonation with a frothy pour while being creamy with vanilla and wintergreen flavors. I could also taste the sassafras or sarsaparilla flavoring with notes of caramel. It was a smooth drink and I can only imagine it would taste amazing paired with Chicago foods, like pizza or an Italian beef sandwich. Overall, this root beer ranked right in the middle on our list of root beers.

As the Barq's label says, "It's good since 1898." Barq's root beer is a classic choice with a long history. In 1898, Edward Barq began selling Barq's Root and Herb Brew for five cents a bottle in his hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi. The headquarters moved from Mississippi to New Orleans, and the new concoction was marketed across the South. In 1995, the Coca-Cola Company acquired Barq's Root Beer and still sells it today.

It could be because I grew up on mass-marketed, canned root beer and didn't have the chance to try a craft-brewed bottle until I was an adult, but when I sampled Barq's, it tasted just like root beer should taste. It has the classic, root beer-sassafras flavor with spicy, complex undertones, yet is a very sweet soft drink with great carbonation. Although I've only ever seen Barq's in an aluminum can or from a soda fountain, this Redditor shared that you can get Barq's in a glass bottle.

When I tasted Mug Root Beer, I had an instant craving for a root beer float. This creamy root beer is the perfect pairing with a frosty scoop of vanilla ice cream. Coca-Cola owns Barq's, and PepsiCo owns Mug, having acquired the brand in 1986. Unlike Barq's, Mug Root Beer is caffeine-free. Mug originated in the 1940s in San Fransisco when it used to be known as Belfast Root Beer. Pepsi ditched the Belfast logo and created the bulldog mascot, which is still used today.

Although it comes from a can and is mass-produced, Mug is a standout root beer. With sweet hints of vanilla, the perfect carbonation, and lots of creaminess, Mug offers a smooth flavor. However, it didn't make its way further up the list because it isn't nearly as full-bodied or spicy as the picks at the top. Yet, it's still a refreshing and creamy drink that can satisfy any root beer craving.

A relative newcomer compared to many of the others on our list, Hank's Gourmet Beverages has been making soda for nearly 30 years. However, according to the official Hank's website, the recipe was inspired by an old-fashioned Philadelphia root beer. Philadelphia has a long history with root beer and is the place where Charles Hires offered his bottled root beer at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. Today, you can find Hank's Root Beer in 40 states across the country. Hank's is made with real cane sugar and packaged in dark glass bottles. 

On tasting Hank's, it was one of the sweeter root beers, but this wasn't a bad thing. I tasted strong vanilla flavoring with wintergreen, along with a typical root beer flavor. It's so creamy and bubbly that it might even cross over as a cream soda. Someone looking for a less sweet root beer may not enjoy this as much, but I found it to be a great balance of sweetness, cream, and that unique root beer bite.

No list of root beer is complete without A&W, a classic American brand that's been around since 1919. It may be mass-produced, made with high fructose corn syrup instead of cane sugar, and sold in a can rather than a glass bottle, but A&W is the gold standard of what a root beer should taste like. If you'd like a frosty A&W straight from the tap, you can find one of the A&W restaurants that are located across the country and serve up burgers, hot dogs, and fries along with the root beer.

My swig of A&W Root Beer was creamy with a traditional sassafras root beer flavor. While it's smooth without the strong bite of some of the glass-bottled versions here, it does have a bit of a spicy undertone and I could taste vanilla, caramel, and anise. Root beer enthusiasts on Reddit recommend trying A&W straight from the restaurant rather than in bottles and cans from the grocery store. This Redditor suggests, "Go to an A&W restaurant and have it in a frosted mug. The cans and bottles do not even compare."

Sprecher has a large fan base among root beer drinkers. The brewing company was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1985 and today produces craft beer and various flavors of soda. What began as a small local brewery now has products on the shelves in 49 states. You can even sometimes find Sprecher at the Dollar Tree. Sprecher uses fire brewing to make its root beer and craft beers, a day-long process that caramelizes the sugar and gives the soda a smooth finish. To sweeten its root beer, Sprecher adds glucose syrup (a sugar solution) and pure Wisconsin honey. This unique method produces a rich and creamy root beer with a big flavor.

It was a hard decision to put Sprecher at number two, rather than in top spot. Sprecher has a perfect balance of spiciness, sweetness, and cream. I tasted the honey, along with vanilla, wintergreen, anise, and sassafras flavoring. This is a smooth, flavorful, rich-tasting root beer that is a bit lighter than other varieties, making it the perfect complement to a burger or pizza — exactly what a root beer should be.

Finally, after tasting plenty of great root beers, we come to number one. IBC Root Beer is one of those classic root beers made by an old-fashioned soda company that has been around for over 100 years. The company was founded in St. Louis in 1919 and it currently makes traditional soda flavors such as cream soda, cherry limeade, and black cherry. Today, the IBC brand is owned by Keurig Dr Pepper and can be found in stores around the country. 

IBC Root Beer, made with cane sugar, is a sweet and creamy drink with flavors of anise, wintergreen, and vanilla. Although it's sweet, it's not overly saccharine, hitting the ideal combination of sugary sweetness with the spicy bite of licorice. The carbonation is good, and when you pour it, you get a thick and creamy head. Another plus for IBC is that it can easily be found nationwide. Some of the other smaller brands on our list may be easier to find regionally or may need to be purchased online. When it comes to availability, taste, and appearance, IBC couldn't be beat in this ranking.

While choosing root beers for this list, I looked for brands that are easily found in many grocery stores across the country. I avoided diet or no-sugar drinks, and with the exception of Poppi, the brands found on this list are not low in sugar. Root beer is a fairly high-sugar drink, and many of these options have around 40 grams of sugar or more per 12-ounce serving. 

My rankings take into account the crispness, fizziness, and sassafras-flavoring that you can expect in a great root beer. I focused mainly on taste, although I also took into account cost and ingredients. Flavorings are sometimes hard to nail down in root beer, as the ingredients list is usually not very revealing. My main goal was to choose a root beer with the right balance of sweetness, spice, and creaminess, without being overly sweet. Because there is no standard recipe for root beer, different brands can vary quite a bit, and you may find a hint of vanilla, caramel, molasses, or cinnamon along with the sassafras flavor. If you've ever ventured into the subreddit r/rootbeer, you know that root beer opinions can be extremely controversial, but I did my best to find the tastiest root beer of the bunch.