The results are in ...

To the three of you who have been following my recent posts on the fifteen variations of sarsaparilla I've taste-tested in the last couple of weeks, the results are in. I have formulated my scores to create one true and worthy winner. Graphs have been created in Excel—using awesome Excel-lent greyscale stylings—that allow me to prove the results to the non-believers out there.

The excitement has almost killed me already. I would hate to kill another person using the result withdrawal torture methods reality television shows rely on. So let's get right into it. Right after this short break ...

Congratulations to A&W Root Beer. I mentioned in my previous post that I thought it was the best tasting sarsaparilla/root beer. Well, I knew it was. But once all the other information was collated. It still managed to come out on top of the competition. Here are the results.

Just by the froth on the top of its glass, A&W Root Beer managed to beat those nipping at its heels in a three-way tie for second place. The three-way tie was between Hank's Gourmet Philadelphia Recipe Root Beer, Saxbys Sars and Bundaberg Diet Sarsaparilla. Truth be told, I would say I enjoyed Hank's and Saxbys so much I would have placed them in the top anyway (if I wasn't leaving this to the official scores).

Although I did enjoy the Bundaberg Diet Sarsaparilla, it is in the position it is on account of it's awesome kilojoule and carbohydrate levels. If there was a prize for the healthiest option, Bundaberg would have been the clear winner with none of the other contenders coming close.

So what do the scores in the graphic above mean? Let's start by looking at the individual judging categories. First, Carbohydrates (Sugars).

As you can see, Bundaberg Diet is the clear winner. After that, Tru-Blu is the only other contender under 10 grams (per 100mL). From there the other contenders ranged between 10 grams and 12.8 grams (Wimmers).

Kilojoules was another clear-cut win for the Bundaberg Diet variety.

Once again, nothing came close. There was a wider spread in these results however. Tru-Blu once again came second with 151 Kilojoules (per 100mL) with the highest count coming from Saxbys at 224 Kilojoules (per 100mL).

But in the nutritional rankings Bundaberg didn't always come out on top.

While Saxbys was the worst in regards to Kilojoules, it was the best in regards to Sodium. When I was putting all of these statistics together I did wonder if the was anything in the nutritional information that would tell me the secret ingredient that made a winning sarsaparilla. If that is possible, it can't be told by looking at Sodium or Kilojoules with two of the top drinks in this competition coming in first and last in both categories.

It was clear to me that for a fair result this competition needed more than just the nutritional information. For one thing, it needed to rely on presentation as well.

As you can see, the three imported varieties impressed me the most. Even though A&W came in a can, it's design appealed to me greatly and made it blatantly obvious, this was a root beer. This was not some standard soft drink that relied on just fizz and sugar to make you purchase it. It was a root beer! And this was something that nobody got as right as Hank's did. That bottle is simply beautiful.

But design was obviously never going to be the deciding factor. No ... that was always going to be taste.

As you can see, it was close again. The ranking system was simply a one to ten system. A&W is a ten in my book (or Blog—I'm not keeping a hard copy book of this research). Saxbys and Hank's were both a nine with several others coming in behind with a highly respectible score of eight.

So ... How were the scores worked out exactly? Good question. I'm glad I asked. Let's see them all put together. Then I'll explain.

The results were decided by taking into account who did the best with theKilojoules, Protein, Carbohydrates and Fat scores. The top three in each category received extra points. Three points for first, two points for third and one point for third. Fat and Protein were not really required as all drinks were listed as eith zero or less than one.

The drinks then received points for their presentation. These scores were worked out as a one to ten score for presentation (with one being the worst and ten being the best). The same rating system applied to the taste—with one small addition. As taste is the most important factor, the taste results were given greater importance by adding 50% of their own value to themselves. So A&W received fifteen points for its taste score of ten. Saxbys and Hank's received thirteen and a half points for their tastes. And so on.

Summary/Conclusion

With all things considered, A&W was the winner in my sarsaparilla showdown. I found Saxbys to be the best tasting Australian sarsaparilla and Bundaberg Diet Sarsaparilla is the clear winner in the health stakes. It's been an interesting experience and I'm glad I went through the process.

Since putting this together I've discovered that in the United States of America the range of root beer is quite considerable compared to the varieties I've managed to find locally in Australia. Luckily if you are looking for more information on what is the best root beer in the US of A, I believe I know where you need to go. Go visit Cosmo's Root Beer Review. This is the only root beer review site you will ever need. I know this is true because it's written there.

Enjoy (with a sarsaparilla I hope).