Jump back in time with A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda

If you’re reading a soda review over here at Snackology, odds are it’s for a new flavor of Coke Zero or Mountain Dew. Today, though, I’m bringing you a rare newsletter about ... root beer? Cream soda?

We’re talking about the new A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda. (Specifically the Zero Sugar version, because that’s the Snackology way.)

An ice cream sundae soda feels like we’re jumping back in time, kind of like in the Twilight Zone episode “Walking Distance.” The big difference here is that ice cream sodas cost more than ten cents — and we’re not going to give ourselves some kind of time-loopy injury. (Um, spoilers if you haven’t seen that classic episode from 1959.)

Sorry. Where were we? Oh yeah. A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda.

What it costs

It feels like soda is always on some kind of sale, and my Harris Teeter had A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda marked down to $10.99 for a 12-pack. The end cap I found this case on was gutted. No non-Zero Sugar versions. Just this one pack left.

My thoughts

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I opened my first can of A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda. I usually associate A&W with root beer, so that might have been what I was envisioning as I poured the can into my trusty Genesee Bock glass.

But then I noticed that this beverage was much lighter than your average root beer. And there was absolutely a whiff of chocolate in the mix.

My childhood love of root beer (and my recent joy at finding Barq’s Zero Sugar now regularly stocked at my grocery store) had blinded me to the reality that A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda is in reality a cream soda. Also a longtime favorite of mine!

For the past three decades, any time a chocolate soda has popped into my world, I immediately think of Picture Perfect, the 1995 made-for-TV movie that ran on ABC. It starred Home Improvement’s Richard Karn as one of a group of neighbors pretending to be a family in order to win a bunch of prizes including a new mystery soda which was revealed to be a chocolate soda.

A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda isn’t an overpowering chocolate soda. It’s 95 percent a cream soda with just enough of a touch of chocolate at the end of each sip. (If you give this flavor a try, let me know if you can pick up on the “hint of sprinkles and a cherry on top” that some reviewers have caught.)

Snack score

🍪🍪🍪 (3 out of 5 cookies)

Does a chocolate soda work? My answer here is yes. Would I buy A&W Ice Cream Sundae soda again? Probably not. I’ll work my way through the cans I have left after this review and probably skip stocking it in our fridge in the future. But it’s fun as a one-off purchase.