Quite a brag it is but a hollow one it is not.  Dozens of awards followed and their tonic water stands as the top selling brand.  Fever-Tree’s availability spans more than 70 countries and it almost certainly adorns a shelf in a nearby grocery.  For them the success has rained down in sheets.

The bottle suits the mission.  With a curvy, elegant silhouette, the 16.9 ounce (500ml) glass container sports an embossed fever tree and attractive labelling with a metallic finish.  The logotype feels a bit mundane and the font choice below it the same.  On the neck label, the logo’s tree is printed over the logo’s tree, which looks messy and seems unnecessary. The total effect presents as upscale but better packaging exists.

Within live 100 calories per 8oz serving, translating to 150 for 12.  Carbonated spring water makes up the base layer, sweetness blooms from real sugar and on top of that it touts natural ginger flavoring as well as actual fresh ginger.  The ginger used arrives from three different, far-reaching origins.  Ivory Coast contributes one, Nigeria the second and the third grows in India.  Each rides a slightly different spectrum of flavor which Fever-Tree claims compliments each other perfectly.  No preservatives are present.

The enchanting scent of fresh ginger bursts from the bottle upon opening.  Nested in a glass, spiciness entwines for a heavenly nose.  There’s sugar too, subdued.  Moderate carbonation permeates a liquid given a frosted glass appearance by the powder of fresh ginger softly drifting within. 

A reserved sweetness blankets the tongue a moment before a satisfying dousing of fresh, earthy ginger.  Prickles play about in the mouth and tickle the nose.  Botanical notes arrive as the prickles travel back in the mouth and touch the top of the throat, offering a spicy finish.  The ginger taste holds for an extended portion of the progression, remarkably long.  Heat rests upon the tongue in its wake, a lasting token of the experience.

Like an orchestra, elements each lay down their parts, harmonizing into a symphony of flavor.  Notes come from everywhere in a sublime complexity, assembling into a sophisticated ginger beer, both exotic and accessible.

The objective at the outset was to create the best mixers ever made and it’s hard to imagine a ginger beer better than this one.  It ticks every box and creates several more.  It holds the perfect balance of sweet and heat and the ginger tastes freshly grated off the root.  It’s spectacular.  It’s perfect.  It’s everything a ginger beer aspires to be.

Final Decision: God Tier – Untouchable

Purchased locally at: HEB

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The ginger beer sits stored in a silver can with royal blue trim.  The background is filled with wooden planks not unlike a backyard fence.  The hand-written logo floats above an illustration of a golden retriever, the most eye-catching feature of the can.  There’s a story there.

John grew up with a family dog like a lot of kids did.  His was a beloved pet lovingly named Bailey.  Bailey performed classic tricks, like fetching the newspaper, and loved boat rides to places where she could search for fish slipping by.  Bailey was cute as a button and in her picture sports a fetching red bandana.  Not many ginger beers have a mascot, and Bailey suits the job well.

Kure’s is comprised of only four ingredients with no arcane preservatives.  Carbonated water makes up the foundation with cane sugar, ginger juice and citric acid.  Ginger juice always feels good to see on a label.  This combination is good for 100 calories in the 12-ounce can.

On the nose floats the welcome scent of ginger, smelling freshly cut.  The cloudy white liquid holds plenty of sediment, that real ginger drifting through.  The inception tastes slightly sweet until a rush of fresh ginger storms through, accentuated with citrus.  A touch of heat tickles more than prickles.  Ginger persists after the swallow, then is joined by a jolt of tartness before a finish of sweetness, lazily lingering for a few seconds.  Heat builds as the can is consumed but never reaches a distracting intensity.

Kure’s began with home brewing and even now, canned, tastes like it was just created in the next room.  The ginger is a superstar, coming through brilliantly and the citrus emboldens the effect.  It’s not trying to do anything fancy, just deliver a great tasting traditional ginger beer.  It succeeds wildly.

Final Decision: First Tier – Exceptional

Purchased at: Mayfair Liquors in Denver, CO. Also available throughout Colorado and northern Illinois. | Cases available online at kuresgingerbeer.com

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Gabriel Oliver-Kose calls Boulder his original home.  He worked dining and bar jobs there and in Denver and on the side nurtured a passion for fermentation. 

The early history of ginger beer walks hand-in-hand with fermentation.  Yeast bacteria and sugar were stirred into a solution of water, ginger juice and other desired flavorings.  The mixture was left to ferment, producing a flotilla of bubbles (and if left long enough, alcohol too).

Inspired by the classic history of the drink, Oliver-Kose founded OliKo, producing a fermented ginger beer made from cultures and fresh ingredients.

The packaging is stunning.  There’s nothing else on the market like it.  The logo features a beautiful typeface adorned with just enough detail to generate interest and a modern look that’s not so trendy that the design will expire when a fad passes.  The geometric artwork carries a freshness, appearing modern and young, though upscale without being stuffy.  The clear glass bottle holds a shape unseen in the ginger beer world, offering an impression of a carefully crafted small-batch beverage.  The sum design defies convention, implying a one-of-a-kind product, no less than a disrupting force.

There’s four ingredients: filtered water, ginger vinegar, cane sugar and cold pressed ginger juice.  Nothing else.  No preservatives at all, not even the gray-area occupying citric acid.  The label calls for constant refrigeration.  It goes on to say that the 12-ounce bottle holds 100 calories, two six-ounce, 50-calorie servings.

On the nose floats a tangy ginger, fresh smelling, strong too, with a hint of fermentation.  Shaking and pouring reveals minimal carbonation.  Nestled in a glass, the liquid is opaque and just a perfect color.  Very enticing, very tempting.  And that temptation pays off.

There’s first a zing, the tang of the ginger vinegar.  Sweetness hovers there, suspended low like a cloud of dry ice.  It’s tamed, well-behaved, minimal, just enough to avoid dryness but attracting little attention.  The ginger rushes in, strong and energetic, tasting remarkably fresh-squeezed.  Botanical notes follow.  The finish is lively, prickly and tangy.  Going back in for more immediately crosses the mind.  The moderate heat builds a little with each taste, prickling mostly on the tongue but brushing the roof, lips and back of the throat, lingering on long after the sip.

Exciting describes the progression.  Fireworks.  The flavor comes in phases, constantly reinventing itself.  This is such a fresh-tasting ginger beer, alive with the sights and smells of a farmer’s market.  The ginger flavor feels like you dug it up there at the farm itself, sliced it open with a pocket knife and pressed it directly to your nose.  The hints of vinegar, the acid, it just deepens the experience.  The sweetness stands behind, with dignity.  Most ginger beers are built on pillars of sugar and ginger, the two starring roles.  Here the sweetness is a supporting actor, or even an extra, enriching the scene but not featuring in it.

There’s no doubt about it.  This is one of the best ginger beers ever made.

Final Decision: God Tier – Untouchable

Purchased at: Mother Tongue in the Broadway Market in Denver, CO. Their website has a list of other locations in Boulder and Denver. Their online shop currently says “under construction” so maybe one day you can order it? Maybe?

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