Does Ginger Beer have Soul? Hell yeah!

So very many choices... WTF? Who bought the Diet Cock n' Bull?

Many people just don't understand that the mixers used for drinks are just as important, if not more so, than the spirit used. An icky sweet ginger beer or sour tonic will ruin your drink and create a tear in the fabric in time.

Here at Highball Hijinks, we are all about trying to create quality experiences. I would rather have one fantastic G & T than a pitcher full of swill that attempts to pass for it. 

One mixer I use often is ginger beer. I enjoy Moscow Mules, London Mules, Berry Mules, and other mules in general. I am a mule gal. My one true rule for ginger beer is that somewhere in the list of ingredients on the bottle/can, it MUST say ginger in some form be it extract, ginger root infusion, or ginger root. It has to have actual ginger in it. I also won't buy anything ever at all at any time that has HFCS in it. Just say no.
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​As you can see in the picture, I went a little nuts bringing together different ginger beers for this taste test. There are so many from which to choose; it can be sort of intimidating, but I was totally set on forcing my testers to run the ginger beer gauntlet. And run it they did. Three of my kiddies and I spent a delightful afternoon smelling, tasting, and swishing these ginger beers. The opinions are solely ours. If there's a brand we didn't particularly love, but you do, then that's great. You do you. When we say a ginger beer is spicy, we don't mean it's spicy hot; there's just a lot of spice affecting the taste.

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Kure's Ginger Beer
I do love buying local products (sort of, close by but different state). This was universally loved by the tasting group. It is very mild. I like that it only has four ingredients. It wouldn't be my go-to for a Mule, but if I had a drink that just needed a slight ginger boost, I would turn to this before the others. It's also one that we all agreed we would drink alone. In fact, I need to take a road trip because it's all gone.​

Ingredients: carbonated water, cane sugar, ginger juice, citric acid

Ingredients: carbonated spring water, cane sugar, ginger root, natural flavors, tartaric acid from natural plant sources, ascorbic acid

Fever-Tree Premium Ginger Beer
​The Fever-Tree brand is a favorite of mine simply because it's made with natural quality ingredients. It isn't terrifically spicy and is more tart than Q or Kure's. The ginger smell is very mild. I admit I don't use this ginger beer much because I prefer the punch of a couple others. It is still quite good though. The kids said it isn't a ginger beer they would drink on its own. They would want it mixed, which sucks for two of them because they are underage.

Q  Spectacular Ginger Beer
It's pretty ballsy to put the word spectacular in the name of your product, but in this case, it works. Q is truly good; however, it is spicy. It has extracts of chili pepper, coriander, cardamom, lime, and orange. It's yummy and is my go-to for Moscow Mules. My children, whose palates are still developing, said the spice was a bit much for them. Wimps.

Ingredients: carbonated water, organic agave, citric acid, ginger extract, extracts of chili pepper, coriander, cardamom, lime, and orange

Bundaberg Ginger Beer
This ginger beer from Down Under is another favorite. It's sweeter than the others, so it turned one of the kids off; however, it got thumbs up from the rest of the testing group. It did have a great peppery ginger aftertaste. We drink this straight out of the bottle as well as using it frequently as a mixer. Unlike some of the other ginger beers on the list, it is actually brewed, not just manufactured. It is also considerably easier to find than the others in our neck of the woods.

Belvoir Fruit Farms Ginger Beer
O.M.G. If an enormous lemon and a small ginger root had a baby, this is what the result would taste like. One of my sons said, "It started out okay but then went downhill to sour town." My daughter's opinion is "There's so much lemon! It's lemony for days!" I will admit we didn't even try to mix it with anything, but I am going to try it in a Moscow Mule and see where that goes. Don't let this stop you from trying this ginger beer or some of the other delightful elderflower and rose products they make. Just be aware. There's lemon there.

Ingredients: carbonated spring water, organic cane sugar, organic lemon juice (from concentrate), organic fresh root ginger infusion 2%, ginger extracts, citric acid, capsicum extract

Incredients: Carbonated water, fermented ginger root extract (water, corn syrup, ginger root, pear juice concentrate, yeast), cane sugar, corn syrup solids, pear juice concentrate, natural flavor (ginger, lemon, capsicum), cream of tartar, citric acid, herbal infusions (juniper, speedwell, yarrow)

Fentiman's Botanically Brewed GB
"Tart. Tart. All the tart. So tart," was one reaction to this ginger beer. "I could drink this every day" was another. We were split on this one. Two loved it; two did not. I thought it was good, but it lacked the robust flavor of a couple others even though there's a lot going on with it botanically. It is another ginger beer that is actually brewed. It had a peppery aftertaste that was not unpleasant. It would not be a go-to for me, but since it isn't available here, that's a moot point. 

Old Jamaica Ginger Beer
This is produced in the UK. The can says it is made with "fiery Jamaican root ginger", and they aren't lying. It has a definite pepper aftertaste. There is also a sharp ginger smell. My daughter said it made her eyes water, but she did almost snort it so ignore that. This was okay. It didn't make the top of anyone's list, but no one hated it either. If I couldn't find another, I would definitely use it. It's just not a first choice for any of us.

Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar, acid (citric acid), stabilisers (gum Arabic, quillaia extract), flavourings (including ginger root extract), preservative (sodium benzoate)

Ingredients: carbonated water, citric acid, potassium citrate, natural ginger flavor, caramel color, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, and potassium benzoate to preserve freshness

Cock 'n Bull Diet Ginger Beer
I am unsure how a diet anything wound up on here, but that's okay. We used it anyway. I did not like it at all. It was entirely too sweet for me. That being said, I don't feel that way about the non-diet version. This is much like a ginger ale. My youngest said it "tastes like a ginger version of Sprite." The other two were noncommittal on whether they would drink it again. I prefer more spice and less sweetness in my Mules, so even though they are known as the original Moscow Mule Ginger Beer, I would reach for something else. The diet version just isn't as good as the original.