"Now it is much easier to buy the extract ready-made" would seem to explain why all the rootbeers on the crocer's shelf taste pretty much the same, from the cheapo chainstore brands to the premium labels like IBC. They all use the same ready-made extract with identical ingredients blended in the same percentages. Absolutely no imagination. You have to go to a natural food or gourmet store and pay twice as much to get a naturally brewed rootbeer with any individual character.

Bruce