Mooresville's couple root beer a hit

Suzanne and Scott Ramsey of Mooresville, along with their partner Jeff Fleenor, are the folks behind the scenes at Uncle Scott's.

By Susan Shinn

For The Salisbury Post

If you’re a fan of root beer, you’ll love Uncle Scott’s All Natural Root Beer.

If you’re not a fan, you might be after one bottle.

The beverage is the creation of Scott and Suzanne Ramsey of Mooresville. Locally, you can find it at Okey Dokey and Co. General Store; Atwell One Stop, Stag ’n’ Doe and Steve’s Corner Store in China Grove; Conrad & Hinkle Grocery in Lexington; and McLaughlin’s Farmhouse and McCann’s Place in Mooresville.

The bottles sell for $2 a piece or $8.75 for a six-pack.

“We want folks to visit local stores,” Scott says.

A candy fiend, Scott always takes time to load up from Okey Dokey’s barrels of old-fashioned treats.

Bette Pollock of Okey Dokey says the response to the root beer has been very good.

“I always tell customers that it’s made locally,” she says. “We like to promote local products.”

Scott loved making root beer as a child. He and his wife had considered making it. But first, they installed a specialty grape vineyard of French and Spanish grapes. They lost all 700 vines two years ago in a bad freeze.

So they came back to their root beer idea.

July 22 marks the third year the root beer hit stores.

“You cook it like you’re making beer,” Scott explains. “It’s as complex as wine.”

The root beer has a whole lot going on when it hits your tongue. Some people immediately taste the licorice, Suzanne says, while others pick up on the cherry, vanilla and cinnamon flavors.

Scott and Suzanne are proud of the fact that you can pronounce all of the ingredients: filtered carbonated water, vanilla, cinnamon oil, caramel, wood extract, licorice root oil, anise oil and natural gum arabic.

Just so you know, a dollop of vanilla ice cream mellows the flavor even more.

Suzanne says she’s heard of the beverage being used as an ingredient in baked beans, barbecue sauce, marinades, cocktails and cakes.

The duo brought in a partner, Jeff Fleenor. Jeff and Scott deliver the beverages to 57 stores and restaurants in Rowan, Mecklenburg, Iredell and Davidson counties, while Suzanne Ramsey is in charge of all the marketing. She’s the only full-time employee so far in this venture.

“I have the cutest delivery person there is,” Suzanne says of Scott.

Scott works full-time in sales, while Jeff works for an independent contractor who builds race cars.

“We really try to create a good relationship with our customers,” Suzanne says.

A native of New Mexico, Suzanne owned her own business and also had her own radio show. That’s where she met Scott, a native of Pittsburgh.

Scott moved to the Charlotte area in 1988 and the couple have been married for seven years.

Suzanne says that working with her husband is “absolutely great.”

“We had full lives and careers and neither of us had never married,” she explained. “We were both ready for a partner. We look forward to working together every day.”

Jeff and Scott were good friends from Scott’s racing days, and the three know one another’s strengths and witnesses, Suzanne says.

They’ve conducted tastings at farmers markets and festivals.

They’re considering adding another product to their repertoire — either a blueberry, raspberry or black cherry soda in the next year or two.

“That’s still in the development stages,” Suzanne says.

The root beer’s name comes from Suzanne’s nieces.

“They said, ‘Uncle Scott, this is the best root beer we’ve ever tasted,’” Suzanne says. “I said, ‘There’s our name.’”

It’s amazing, she says, how many people have an Uncle Scott.

Suzanne points out that Aug. 6 is National Root Beer Float Day, and she’s noticed another interesting trend with her product of late.

“Root beer is like, the thing to have at weddings now,” says Suzanne, a former event planner.

So how big do the Ramseys want their company to get?

Scott defers to his wife.

“I’m just a truck driver,” he says.

“We’ll see where it goes,” Suzanne says. “We’re getting a kick out of it now.”

Jeff echoes Suzanne’s sentiments.

“We want to be able to stand behind the product and have fun doing it.”

You’ll soon be able to order Uncle Scott’s All Natural Root Beer online. Visit www.unclescottsrootbeer.com for more information.

Freelance writer Susan Shinn lives in Salisbury.