Boots Sarsaparilla Root Beer

Ambrose Kristen was a Swede living in Germany when his father moved the family to the United States. His father died enroute when Ambrose was only 16. After arriving in Galveston Texas, he settled in Shelby, a town about halfway between Houston and Austin, where he established a wheelwright shop. Wheelwrights made or repaired wooden wagon wheels. In 1930 Ambrose, now 62, purchased Bellville Bottling Works, located in Bellville just East of Shelby. The bottling works bottled and distributed sodas like Nesbitt's, Dr Pepper, and Frosty. Eventually, the business was renamed Kristen Distributing and distributed both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in the region. After returning home from WWII, Ambrose's son "Boots" Kristen joined the business to take the reins from his father. In 1948, he used the bottling works to spin up the Boots Beverages soda label which crafted seasonally flavored sodas for about a decade. The bottling works would be sold in the early 1960's. Years later, "Boots" Kristen's son, Mark Kristen, would grow and relocate the malt brewing portion of the company to Bryan, Texas in 1998. In 2013 Mark paid homage to his father by relaunching the Boots Beverages soda label. 

The smell of the sarsaparilla is strong with this bottle. It has an old world essence as well, which invokes a sort of oaken barrel image in my mind. It has an earthier flavor. I'm used to seeing bottles labeled as either sarsaparilla or root beer but this is the first one I can recollect being called "sarsaparilla root beer". I think the flavor falls more in line with old-style drinks like sarsaparillas and even birch beers than the more modern "root beer" labels most think of. In any event, I find it has a crisp leading edge then a mellow and long lasting creamy finish and aftertaste. Definitely worth a try if you come across it like I did down in Texas.