Due to the recent unavailability of the Zatarain's root beer extract I've been using, I decided to try a different brand, Cook's. I'm down to about half of my last 4 oz. bottle of Zatarain's, and can't seem to find it anywhere.
I bought an 8 oz. bottle of Cook's on Amazon for $22--a bit spendy. That works out to $2.75/oz. I bought the Zatarain's a couple years ago, two 4 oz bottles for about $10. That's $1.25/oz.
I prepared a small batch of each kind of root beer. I normally doctor up my root beer by adding a little vanilla extract, and a pinch of ground cloves and ground nutmeg. I also add some maltodextrin for added body. However, for fairness of this comparison, I didn't add any of those. Just water, sugar, extract, and I force-carbed.
The instructions that go with Cook's are kind of vague, so after some online searching I found that many people prefer a ratio of 1 oz. extract to 1 gal. water. This is the same ratio I have used for Zatarain's, so it makes the comparison even more level.
I use 16 oz PET bottles, so I made a pint of each root beer. I filled each bottle about 3/4 full of warm tap water. I use Turbinado sugar, 1/4 cup per pint. I measured out the sugar--a level 1/4 cup weighs 45g, so I weighed out the same for each. I added the sugar to each bottle, capped and shook until it was fully dissolved. Using a pipette, I measured 3.75 ml of each extract and squirted into the respective bottles and shook. I topped up with cold water, leaving a couple inches headspace in the neck.
To carbonate, I used stainless carbonator caps. I screwed the cap loosely on the bottle, squeezed out the air from the headspace and tightened. I carbed to 45 psi, shook the bottles several times until some of the CO2 dissolved and the bottles felt soft, carbed again to 45 psi, shook, then carbed once more.
I put the bottles in the fridge overnight, then carbed again the next day. I let them sit in the fridge one more day, then they were ready for tasting.
The very unscientific taste test.
I poured each root beer into room-temp glasses (no frosty mugs!). Both had a thin head of foam that quickly collapsed. I smelled the aroma and tasted each, going back and forth.
My impressions:
Zatarain's: Prominent aroma and flavor of wintergreen, but not overpowering. I could taste the other spices. It has a brightness that I like. 4.5/5.
Cook's: Much more prominent wintergreen aroma and flavor, a bit too much. The overall taste was a little "flatter" than the Zatarain's--it didn't have that brightness. There was also a certain "earthiness" to the Cook's I can't put my finger on, though I will say it is not unpleasant. 4.0/5.
I had my wife do a blind taste test of both. She preferred the Zatarain's.
Overall, I'd say Cook's rates a little under the Zatarain's and I don't mind the Cook's. It's not too far behind Zat's, IMO. I will experiment with it, and doctor it up, just as I had with Zatarain's. I may have to bump up the additions, to balance that wintergreen a bit.
Necessity dictates, and I will make the Cook's extract work. But if Zatarain's shows up on the market again...
I bought an 8 oz. bottle of Cook's on Amazon for $22--a bit spendy. That works out to $2.75/oz. I bought the Zatarain's a couple years ago, two 4 oz bottles for about $10. That's $1.25/oz.
I prepared a small batch of each kind of root beer. I normally doctor up my root beer by adding a little vanilla extract, and a pinch of ground cloves and ground nutmeg. I also add some maltodextrin for added body. However, for fairness of this comparison, I didn't add any of those. Just water, sugar, extract, and I force-carbed.
The instructions that go with Cook's are kind of vague, so after some online searching I found that many people prefer a ratio of 1 oz. extract to 1 gal. water. This is the same ratio I have used for Zatarain's, so it makes the comparison even more level.
I use 16 oz PET bottles, so I made a pint of each root beer. I filled each bottle about 3/4 full of warm tap water. I use Turbinado sugar, 1/4 cup per pint. I measured out the sugar--a level 1/4 cup weighs 45g, so I weighed out the same for each. I added the sugar to each bottle, capped and shook until it was fully dissolved. Using a pipette, I measured 3.75 ml of each extract and squirted into the respective bottles and shook. I topped up with cold water, leaving a couple inches headspace in the neck.
To carbonate, I used stainless carbonator caps. I screwed the cap loosely on the bottle, squeezed out the air from the headspace and tightened. I carbed to 45 psi, shook the bottles several times until some of the CO2 dissolved and the bottles felt soft, carbed again to 45 psi, shook, then carbed once more.
I put the bottles in the fridge overnight, then carbed again the next day. I let them sit in the fridge one more day, then they were ready for tasting.
The very unscientific taste test.
I poured each root beer into room-temp glasses (no frosty mugs!). Both had a thin head of foam that quickly collapsed. I smelled the aroma and tasted each, going back and forth.
My impressions:
Zatarain's: Prominent aroma and flavor of wintergreen, but not overpowering. I could taste the other spices. It has a brightness that I like. 4.5/5.
Cook's: Much more prominent wintergreen aroma and flavor, a bit too much. The overall taste was a little "flatter" than the Zatarain's--it didn't have that brightness. There was also a certain "earthiness" to the Cook's I can't put my finger on, though I will say it is not unpleasant. 4.0/5.
I had my wife do a blind taste test of both. She preferred the Zatarain's.
Overall, I'd say Cook's rates a little under the Zatarain's and I don't mind the Cook's. It's not too far behind Zat's, IMO. I will experiment with it, and doctor it up, just as I had with Zatarain's. I may have to bump up the additions, to balance that wintergreen a bit.
Necessity dictates, and I will make the Cook's extract work. But if Zatarain's shows up on the market again...
Last edited:
