Arcy's Root Beer

I'm a big fan of root beer. I have no loyalty towards any kind of brand, as I like to try all different kinds of root beer. I do have my favorites like A&W, but my choices are of course, severely limited by where I live. I get access to imported brands through S&R and Rustan's, but here in San Pablo all you get are brands like Sarsi, Mug, Zesto and... well, that's it. A&W used to be more accessible locally, as well as Barq's, but local groceries don't stock them anymore.

I think my favorite would be Dr. Pepper, which sometimes makes an appearance at Ultimart Mall, sourced from, I believe, S&R. It's debatable whether Dr. Pepper is actually root beer, so to avoid any debate, I would say my favorite would be A&W. As much as I like it, it's something I wouldn't want to have regularly. It's the kind of root beer that's so rich and thick that it can get old very quickly if you drink it on a regular basis. For that I would have to go with Mug, which is the kind of a perfect regular root beer for my taste. Light, no too heavy, not so bubblegummy. I also love Sarsi (there's a kind of loyalty involved as it started out as a local brand) but like A&W, it's something I wouldn't want to drink regularly. I think Sarsi and A&W would be just perfect in small doses. Barq's is well... just a little too bubblegummy for me.

So how about Arcy's Root Beer? I saw this online one day and saw that it was being sold locally. But I haven't seen it anywhere here in San Pablo. It's part of the RC family of sodas which should make it easy to access here since RC Cola is sold here. Not as prevalent as Coke or Pepsi, but it's here if you look hard enough.

As a fan of root beer, I wanted so bad to find Arcy's and try it. I was willing to go from sari-sari store to sari-sari store to do it! I even left a message at their official Philippine website, asking if I could order 2 cases of their 240ml bottles (I was that confident I would like it). But I never got a reply.

Then one day I saw a 1.5 liter bottles of Arcy's being sold at Ultimart! I almost flipped! But I didn't buy it. My reasons are weird. I like buying small bottles because I like drinking only small doses per sitting. I don't buy big bottles, drink a glass and save the rest for later. I believe that once you open that bottle, you have to consume it right away or else the carbonation would fall flat and it wouldn't be as nice anymore. I'm perfectly willing to share it with people in the house, but people in the house don't drink soda so much so.... I wouldn't want that much soda going to waste.

So I just let it go, hoping one day I'd find this root beer in smaller bottles.

That's what happened today! I found Arcy's Root Beer being sold in 250ml cans at SM Department Store! I got two cans right away. I wanted to get more, but I wanted to try it out first. I couldn't wait to get home! And once home, I poured it on a tall mug full of ice and then...

wow.

I didn't like it.

Have you ever tasted Bazooka, the bubble gum that came with a comic strip? Well, it tasted EXACTLY like Bazooka bubble gum. What's wrong with Bazooka bubble gum? Nothing really, but as far as root beers go, the ones that taste too much of bubble gum I don't normally like. And this one tasted of bubble gum much... MUCH more than Barq's does.

So now I've got one more can of it. I'm not actually sure if I still want to drink it. Well, perhaps if there's nothing else to drink, aside from water, I probably will. One day.

SOI at New Glorietta, Makati

We weren't planning on eating at Soi when we went to Glorietta earlier today. In fact, I had decided Ilyn and I would eat at MU Noodle Bar, but that plan went to bust when inattentive waiters made us feel unwanted so we left. Sorry guys. Seminar for your waiters, I guess.

Ok so we wandered around and settled on Soi. I guess we were up for some Thai food. We remember eating at this awesome Thai restaurant in Malate some years ago and that was fantastic.

Anyway I ordered Grilled Squid that had a one pepper rating in terms of spiciness. They call that "Mild". A two pepper rating is considered "Hot". I think I can take mild, no problem. For drinks, I had Pandan Soda.  Ilyn had Thai Kangkong and for drinks Thai Ice Tea.

Our lunch started off pretty nice with a nice complimentary plate of nuts and chips, and a steady stream of cold water. At least here the waiters are far FAR more attentive.

Things started to turn sideways when the drinks arrived. Granted they had some really interesting drinks on the menu. When they arrived, they still looked interesting. After we tasted them well.... Ilyn didn't like the Thai Ice Tea. She said it was a little too heavy and there's something like chocolate in it. Well, that's fine... it's probably really like that and she just doesn't prefer it.

My drink, Pandan Soda, however.... when you order "soda" you have a certain set of expectations. You expect it to be fizzy and bubbly, and you expect it to be cold. When I tasted it however, it was actually kind of warm. Sure there was ice floating on top, but the liquid at the bottom of the glass where the straw reaches... it was WARM. Well OK, maybe that's the way the Thais like it I don't know. But the part about it being "soda", well, that wasn't true. Look, I know soda. I know the texture of soda. This wasn't soda. It wasn't fizzy, and there were no bubbles. Nothing about this drink was soda. It was just pandan tea that was warm with ice on top.

Things got worse when the squid arrived. You know, when you order something "grilled" you have a certain set of expectations. Well one, you expect it to be hot, being fresh from the grill. You might even expect to see it smoke. When it arrived, it didn't look hot to me. I actually touched it and you know what? It wasn't hot at all. In fact, it wasn't even warm. It was room temperature. Like it had been grilled an hour ago and was just served to me. I know that might not be the case, but how else can you explain this squid not being HOT?

Also, the spicy rating was a lie. There was nothing spicy about it. No, my tolerance for spiciness is very low so just a little amount of pepper in dishes I will notice. There was practically no hot pepper in this. It wasn't spicy at all. NOT AT ALL

Thankfully enough, it actually tasted nice. The sauce that came with it was very nice. It's just disappointing that it was neither hot nor spicy.

Ilyn didn't like her Thai Kangkong as well. She said it was too oily. I tasted it and although it also has a "Mild" spiciness rating, there was also nothing spicy about it.

As much as we felt bad about it, we never finished our food or our drinks. I usually gobble up squid because it's a favorite of mine, but this one... I just couldn't. I was just too disappointed.

I didn't finish the drinks too. I was so frustrated that after lunch I went out and got myself a can of Sprite just so I can get that soda fix I didn't get from this so called pandan soda.

No, not returning. Sorry guys. Your waiters are nice though.