Adios A&W. Customers Say This Walmart Soda Beats The Fizzy Brand By A Mile - Tasting Table

"Various users on Reddit claim that Great Value's root beer is not too dissimilar from A&W's and Barq's in quality, but is creamier and smoother with more pronounced vanilla. Walmart shoppers tend to agree, adding that the soda is packing so much flavor and rich creaminess for a fraction of the price of name brands."

"When root beer was invented, it employed sassafras and sarsaparilla to achieve its signature profile. But in 1960, it was discovered that safrole, an oil in both of those ingredients, is a carcinogen. Thus, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned their use. While some producers use sassafras extracts where the safrole has been removed, it's more common that brands recreate root beer's unique profile with vanilla and wintergreen, plus anise, juniper, licorice, ginger, and dandelion."

""Yes, it is a generic Walmart brand," notes one reviewer on Walmart's website. "Still, one of my top root beers. It hits that craving very well." Another online shopper describes Great Value's root beer as "perfectly balanced with creaminess and sweetness with neither being overpowering.""

Walmart's Great Value Root Beer has gained recognition among consumers as a high-quality alternative to popular name brands like A&W and Barq's, often at a fraction of the cost. Priced around $4.75 for a 12-pack compared to $8-$12 for competitors, shoppers praise its creamy, smooth texture with pronounced vanilla flavor. Root beer's complex flavor profile traditionally relied on sassafras and sarsaparilla until 1960 when safrole was banned as a carcinogen. Modern root beers recreate this profile using vanilla, wintergreen, anise, juniper, licorice, ginger, and dandelion. While Walmart's ingredient list remains vague, listing only "natural and artificial flavor," consumers consistently report the product delivers excellent flavor balance and creaminess at an exceptional value.

Read at Tasting Table