Root Beer: The Quintessential American Soda (2024)

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Root Beer: The Quintessential American Soda (1)

By Susan Verberg

It’s well known that root beer is a sweet, alcohol-free soda, but did you know its “roots” are unique to America?

I decided to explore what exactly makes root beer a root beer and if there are actually any “roots” in there at all!

The Origins of Root Beer

Indigenous peoples in the Americas have long been using sassafras and sarsaparilla—the central ingredients to root beer—for culinary and medicinal purposes, including infused beverages. In fact, botanical infusions have existed around the world for nearly as long as the ability to heat water with fire for things like tea andtinsane. But as the two ingredients most closely associated with modern root beer are North American sassafras (Sassafras albidum) and South American sarsaparilla (Smilaxsp.), root beer is genuinely made up of uniquely American flavors.

When Europeans encountered these “new” ingredients, they were quickly assimilated into European culinary culture in America and exported back to Europe. Over time, this included the evolution of the sweet, alcohol-free root beer soda of today. However, the unique flavors of sassafras and sarsaparilla did not see the same enduring popularity in Europe and today remain little-known to many Europeans.

What are Sassafras and Sarsparilla?

True sarsaparilla (Smilaxsp.) is a tropical woody vine that grows deep in the canopy of the rainforest. It is native to South America, the West Indies, Jamaica, the Caribbean, Honduras, and Mexico, where the Spaniards encountered the plant and introduced it to Europe in the 16th century. There are various species of sarsaparilla, all valued by the natives for their medicinal qualities. The ground cover wild sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis) of the northeast is not related toSmilaxsarsaparilla but has similar flavoring. Its aromatic rhizomes can be used as a substitute for true sarsaparilla (explaining how it got its name).

The Growing Popularity—and Near-Extinction–of Sassafras

When the English first arrived on the coast of the northeast, sassafras trees were reported as plentiful. Sassafras bark was sold in England and continental Europe. It was made into a dark beverage called ‘saloop’ that was touted to have medicinal qualities and used as a medicinal cure for various ailments. This refreshing beverage was sold in place of tea and coffee, which were much more expensive, and served similarly with milk and sugar.

Sir Francis Drake was one of the earliest to bring sassafras to England in 1586, and Sir Walter Raleigh was the first to export sassafras in 1602 commercially. Since the bark was the most commercially valued part of the sassafras plant—due to large concentrations of the aromatic safrole oil—the trees were stripped of their bark, which kills the tree. As significant amounts of sassafras bark were harvested, supplies quickly diminished, and sassafras became more challenging to find. In 1602, one of the first commercial shipments of sassafras weighed a ton, but by 1626 the English colonists failed to meet their 30-pound quota. The Europeans had drunk the beverage—and its central ingredients—nearly to extinction.

Martin Pring of Bristol, England, sailed off the coastline of New England and down the Piscataqua River in 1603 in search of sassafras:

“In all these places we found no people, but signs of fires where they had been. However, we beheld very goodly droves and woods replenished with tall oaks, beeches, pine trees, fir trees, hazels, witch-hazels and maples. We saw here also sundry sorts of beasts, as stags, deer, bears, wolves, foxes, and dogs with sharp noses [coyotes]. But meeting with no sassafras, we left these places with all the aforesaid islands, shaping our course for Savage Rocke discovered the year before by Captain Gosnold, where going upon the Mayne we found people, with whom we had no long conversation, because here also we could find no sassafras. […] Bancroft, following Belknap, identifies Whitson’s Bay with the harbor of Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard, […] and finding a pleasant Hill thereunto adjoining, we called it Mount Aldworth, for Master Robert Aldworths’ sake as a chief investor in the voyage, with his purse as with his travel. Here we had sufficient quantities of sassafras.”

The Origins of Root Beer Production

The tradition of brewing, or fermenting, root beer is thought to have evolved out of other European small beer traditions that produced fermented drinks with low alcohol content. These were considered healthier to drink than possibly tainted local drinking water sources and enhanced by the medicinal and nutritional qualities of the ingredients used. Initially, root beverages were one of many low-alcohol options in colonial America that were thought to be safer to drink than the often-polluted surface water and healthier due to the addition of medicinal (-ish) herbs.

Then the 19th century came around with pharmacists attempting to create a “cure-all” for whatever ails you, and medicinal root concoctions, which also tasted incredible, found a new image. Many popular sodas today have their roots in such an attempt, as does root beer. And while root beverages had been around for centuries, 19th-century pharmacist Charles Hines is credited as the inventor as he came up with the first marketable recipe. First, he sold packages of dry root tea in his store and later developed a liquid concentrate called “Hires Root Tea,” as it was brewed like tea. The word “root” indicated the sassafras root, which was the main ingredient of Hines’ recipe. Then the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876 came around, and likely to appeal to the working-class, Hines changed the name from root tea to root beer. And the rest is history.

Homemade Root Beer Recipe

The making of root beer is pretty simple, with first the simmering of the herbal ingredients to make a simple tisane to which sugar is added to create a flavored syrup. This syrup can be refrigerated for up to a year.

Root Beer: The Quintessential American Soda (2)

Root Beer Ingredients

4-6 cups of water
1 cup fresh sassafras roots (about 3.5 feet of ¼-inch roots, chopped in ½-inch pieces; can mix in some bark but stay heavy on the roots). OR ½ cup dried sassafras roots OR ¼ cup sassafras AND ¼ cup sarsaparilla
½ cup finely chopped burdock root and/or dandelion root
1-2 cloves
1 star anise OR ½ tsp anise seeds OR ½ tsp fennel seeds OR 1 tsp licorice root
1 tsp coriander seeds OR 4 crushed allspice berries OR 6 crushed spicebush berries
½ cinnamon stick OR ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
extra-strength: 2 drops of wintergreen OR peppermint extract
¼ cup light molasses
6 cups of cane sugar (equal amount to the volume of the tisane)
2 quarts of (carbonated) soda water OR a pinch of yeast
Fine metal sieve or cheesecloth and funnel
mason jars and lids (for the extract)
flip-top bottles (for the root beer)

Making the Syrup

Chop any fresh and dried roots, twigs and leaves into half inch pieces. Add these, and your choice of spices, to a medium-sized pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes – add a lid to minimize evaporation.
Add the molasses and simmer for another 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it cool. If you want to use an extract, add it now (return the lid).
When cool enough to handle, strain out the solids.
Add the sugar, stir well to dissolve. Bring back to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes, uncovered.
Pour the syrup into mason jars and seal. Refrigerate until use.

Making the Root Beer

The easy way: add 1-2 tablespoons of syrup to a normal glass and dilute with soda water/seltzer.

The fun way: add a ¼ cup of syrup (or more, to taste) to a flip-top bottle, dissolve with non-chlorinated warm (around 98° F) water, and sprinkle a small pinch of bread yeast on top. Close well, and keep at room temperature (70-80° F) until there are visible fermentation bubbles going up the sides of the bottle. Then immediately refrigerate to slow down fermentation, which in turn is pressurizing the bottle.

Home fermented soda is notorious for being over-carbonated: this can be avoided by not over-using yeast, by filling the bottle with at the most an inch of headroom, and by chilling rapidly, and in time. Fermented root beer stores well in the fridge, and will often age nicely, but also can become slightly alcoholic. Keep an eye on the brew if it’s shared with the kids!

About the Author

Susan Verberg lives with her family, furry and human, on a small homestead in upstate New York. She enjoys growing European variety fruits for fermentation, especially wild ferments, in summer and researching traditional meads and herbal beers in winter. She enjoys sharing her exploits in mainstream homesteading magazines, as well as the occasional medieval brewing-oriented academic journal. Visit her website to learn more:medievalmeadandbeer.wordpress.com/

Sources

Cummings, Kate. Sassafras Tea: Using a Traditional Method of Preparation to Reduce the Carcinogenic Compound Safrole. All Theses 1345, 2012. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1345
Dietz, Birgit and Judy L. Bolton. Botanical Dietary Supplements Gone Bad. Chem Res Toxicol. 2007 Apr; 20(4): pp. 586–590. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2504026/
Digby. The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Knight Opened by Kenelm Digby. Brome, 1669. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16441
Gibbons, T. G. Sarsaprilla; a short account of its introduction into Europe; … its medical virtues, etc. 1871 (p. 3) https://books.google.com/books?id=c8QN2oaqyy0C&dq=introduction+of+saraspirilla+into+europe+from+mexico&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Pring, Martin. The Voyage of Martin Pring, 1603. Burrage, Henry S. (editor). Early English and French Voyages, Chiefly from Hakluyt, 1534-1608. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906. Pp. 343-352 (p. 346-47). http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/aj/id/2523
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saloop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassafras_albidum
http://nourishedkitchen.com/homemade-root-beer-recipe/
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/homemade_sassafras_root_beer/
https://honest-food.net/root-beer-syrup-recipe/
http://fermentationadventure.com/how-to-make-homemade-root-beer-sassafras-sarsaparilla-recipe/

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Root Beer: The Quintessential American Soda (2024)

FAQs

When was sarsaparilla banned? ›

Sarsaparilla was made from the Sarsaparilla vine, while Root Beer, roots of the sassafras tree. These days, Root Beer recipes do not include sassafras as the plant has been found to cause serious health issues. The vine was banned by the American Food and Drug Administration for commercial food production in 1960.

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What root beer does Mcdonald's use? ›

Barq's Root Beer (Large)

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What state drinks the most rootbeer? ›

NORTH CAROLINA: Root Beer

North Carolina's most-searched soda isn't Cheerwine or Pepsi, though both were born in the state. Instead, North Carolinians love root beer.

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What is Coca-Cola's root beer called? ›

Barq's (/ˈbɑːrks/) is an American brand of root beer created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by the Coca-Cola Company.

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What replaced sassafras in root beer? ›

Many of the root beers of today still taste like sassafras, however, from artificial sassafras flavoring or extracts without safrole.

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What is the difference between root beer and sarsaparilla? ›

Sarsaparilla is known for having a more bitter flavor, which led to the creation of root beer for a more sweet and enhanced flavor.

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Is it safe to take sarsaparilla? ›

Sarsaparilla is generally safe but potential side effects may include stomach upset, particularly if people take it in high doses. The methanol extract of Jamaican sarsaparilla may have similar effects to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen.

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Why did cowboys drink sarsaparilla? ›

Sarsaparilla was widely consumed all across 19th-century America, easy to find in the local saloon if the one-road town one rode into had no dedicated apothecary or pharmacy, and was supposedly quite popular with cowboys and ranchers looking to tame a rumbling tummy or put a little pep in their step, much as people use ...

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Can you get real sarsaparilla? ›

There a two versions of the Old West. First there is the Hollywood version and second, there is the real Old West. Earp's Sarsaparilla can be found in the “Real Old West”. After a hard day of gun fight'n nothing beats the taste of a real sarsaparilla.

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The people in those areas had been consuming sarsaparilla for centuries. They believed the root of the sarsaparilla plant had potent medicinal qualities and used the kind of sarsaparilla root tea they brewed to cure everything from impotence to flatulence.