Comment by MisterTea | Hacker News Reader

Comment by MisterTea | Hacker News Reader

I used to be a big fan of Coke and Dr Pepper and rarely drink soda anymore. I stopped for health reasons though I still enjoy a nice ice cold Coke or Dr P. I once read up on the flavor of Coke which is said to be mostly cinnamon and vanilla and something strange happened: coke went from tasting like coke to tasting like cinnamon in vanilla. It's like how you cant un-hear muddled song lyrics you mistook for something else until you read the lyrics and they became clear. Same with Dr Pepper: vanilla and caramel. Sort of ruined the flavors for me for a while. Made giving it up easier.

One night I Was shopping, passed the soda, and a thought popped into my head: why not try to make my own soda? I have pure vanilla extract, cinnamon and sugar. So I bought a case of seltzer and spent the night making my own Dr Pepper and Coke. I caramelized sugar in a sauce pan for the Dr P which came out pretty good. Overall they were decent analogs but not anywhere near perfect. It was a fun itch to scratch.

I heard Germans hate American root beer because they think it tastes like toothpaste and that very thought ruined root beer for me for a few years (until a sunny day when I was just dying for a root beer float and it absolutely hit the spot).

It's true. You can find literally zero sodas, chewing gum or other candies that have the root beer taste in Germany.

I used to think the same thing, hated root beer. The nasty flavor combined with the word root conjured up images of uprooted plant root balls covered in dirt. Yum yum. Then I had the alcoholic Not Your Father's Root Beer" and really enjoyed the flavor. What I don't know is the flavorings as both sassafras and sarsaparilla are used so it might be one or the other or perhaps a combination that tastes better.

Do they put sarsaparilla in their toothpaste?

If I had to guess, it's probably wintergreen or fennel. It's not the main note of root beer, but I could see it being similar.

I’ve tried Spruce Beer before and my brain rejected it for similar reasons - it tasted like house cleaner. If they’ve got anything that has that scent that’s dangerous, I imagine the brain wires similarly :D

There is a Swedish snus which tastes just like the smell of CRC 5-56. Not everyone loves it but boy it's nice. I have given up snus though.

My sister got some root beer at McD's once (London) and I tried some. It tasted like floor cleaner to me and I've never tried it again. Is that just McD's version?

German here. Root beer does INDEED taste like toothpaste. Disguting. :)

We Germans drink Malzbier, which is equally unhealthy, but at least it tastes somewhat OK.

Canadian here. I thought this was common knowledge.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com