Goslings Ginger Beer including Diet at Foodmaster

[itaunas]

Foodmaster is carrying the diet and regular Goslings right now in Arlington and Somerville, $3.99/6pk. Not certain about Melrose for Almansa or other locations, but the managers seem reasonably good about filling customer requests.

[MC Slim JB]

I was disappointed in Gosling's: pretty wimpy fresh-ginger flavor. I like something that has a more horseradish-like effect. Any favorites here in that vein?

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jeff Turton]

I've always liked the Ginger Beer from the Maine Root folks which is available at Whole Foods. Not too sweet with a nice ginger zing. Had dark and Stormy's with it a few nights ago

[VivreManger]

Over the last several months I have been conducting a taste taste of Ginger Beers. The most assertive taste happens to be the cheapest and most commonly available, Goya. I find it for 79 cents (I believe) a bottle at Stop & Shop, notably the one in Watertown next to Russo's. Next on my list is a brand made locally in New Bedford, but at the moment the name escapes me.

Gosling's, at least according to what I am reading here, is not in the same league.

[MC Slim JB]

Noticed that the Barritt's ginger beer in cans I nearly bought last night is HFCS-sweetened, and Goya is, too (though I agree it has a nice sinus-clearing fresh-ginger flavor, and some capsicum, too).

A.J. Stephan's is definitely cane-sweetened: does anyone know of any other locally-available brands that meet this criterion? I've started to notice that tongue-coating effect of HFCS, and now I'm doomed to seek organic mixer alternatives for my highballs. On a related note, I notice that Q Tonic is now available locally in 750ml bottles, which helps a little on its punishing price.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[nsenada]

Fentiman's is pretty good - you can get it, and almost every other brand out there (except Goya, which you can get at a fair number of supermarkets) at Marty's in Newton. I find the Goya to be the spiciest, but it just overwhelms all the other flavors with its heat. Maine Root just tastes weird to me - there's a lemongrassy flavor going on there that veers to much away from regular old ginger for my taste.

My favorite is Stewart's, and I have a stockpile in the basement (they discontinued it last June). I find the Reed's "extra" to be pretty good, and TJs carries it. Oddly, I like Donelan's supermarkets "house brand" to be pretty good, haven't looked for it in a few months.

[nsenada]

Saw a large stockpile of Barritt's in bottles (which I had never seen before) at the liquor store in the same strip mall as Firefly's in Framingham about a month ago. They did have the cans at Marty's.

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

Slim, you should try Whole Foods' 365+ tonic. Sugar instead of HFCS, and at under $3 for a six-pack of 12 oz bottles, hugely less expensive than Q or Fever Tree at a comparable quality level.

[MC Slim JB]

Actually I am buying the WF tonic thanks to your tip here, but I was at Martignetti's the other day, needed tonic, and the Q 750ml was all they had that was HFCS-free (I think they use agave, not cane, in that one.)

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I think that if you're looking for an aggressively ginger-forward, hot ginger beer, Gosling's isn't for you. But when it first showed up last summer, I did a side-by-side comparison between the Gosling's ginger beer and Barritt's, and to my surprise discovered that I liked the Gosling's better, both by itself and in a D'n'S.

[nsenada]

I did the same thing and reached the same result. The Barritt's just tasted too weak.

[almansa]

My reference point is Old Tyme from Jamaica. It was my go-to drink as a child. But I only do diet, and I liked the Gosling's. Not spicy enough for me, but a worthy brew just the same. Speaking of diet, and tonic (above), and Foodmaster, Johnny's in Melrose now stocks 6oz ( I think) cans of Polar diet tonic.

[skippy66]

I just bought diet Goslings at Kappy's in Sudbury. But, they also had Barrett's in cans and Barrett's in bottles made with pure cane sugar. They had a bunch, so I don't think it was leftovers. I thought Barrett's was gone for good. Does anyone know anything?

[BarmyFotheringayPhipps]

I've heard nothing about Barritt's being gone. Do you mean in the sense of no longer being made (which in terms of soft drinks from Bermuda would be akin to Coca-Cola going out of business) or in terms of no longer being exported to the States?

[purple bot]

I was told at a liquor store when I asked that Barritt's would no longer be available and that it would be Goslings from now on. I can't remember if they said Goslings bought Barritts or not, but I remember being pretty bummed, because the Goslings is much sweeter and less spicy than the Barritt's. In the meantime though, I've found Barritts (although rarely) so what I'm guessing is that Goslings figured they should be making more money from dark & stormys and not sharing with Barritt's (which was the "official" ginger beer of dark & stormy originally)

[nsenada]

I had heard the same thing from a couple of different sources. Might be a Gosling's subterfuge.

[magic helmet]

Barritt's isn't gone, they are in the process of getting U.S. distributors lined up from what I know. I think that Kappy's may be one of the local places that's carrying them again. The reason that the Goslings ginger beer is everywhere (in New England, anyway) is that it's being distributed by Polar.

BTW, for those not familiar with the Goslings ginger beer, this is actually a new soda that Goslings introduced last year I believe.

[betseyb]

The Melrose location also carries Goslings ginger beer, according to my husband. I believe he has also purchased it at Kappy's.

[Splendid Spatula]

Goslings, both reg and diet, is also to be had at Cambridge Wine and Liquors - formerly Mall Discount Liquor at Fresh Pond next to WF.

[almansa]

I must say I didn't see it there, but I bring it home from work or get it at the Wellington Circle Kappy's.