Where Does Root Beer Come From?

Root Beer Root beer originated in North America and remains most popular in North America. Historically made using the root of the sassafras plant with that being its primary flavour, there is no standard recipe. Root beer can vary from mild and easy drinking to strong and more challenging, but to give a very general definition it is a sweetened, carbonated beverage.

The origins of root beer can be traced back to 18th century American farm brewers who adapted native North American recipes to make very low or non-alcoholic family drinks, known as a small beer. This was a widespread and popular practice and George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin are all said to have had their own favourite root beer recipes.

These small beers were made from all sorts of herbs, barks and roots. Favourite ingredients were sassafras root, ginger, sarsaparilla, hops and birch bark, but wintergreen, vanilla beans, liquorice allspice, coriander, juniper, burdock root, dandelion root, spikenard, guaiacum chips, spicewood, wild cherry bark, yellow dock, prickly ash bark and dog grass were also used.

After extracting the flavours from these naturally occurring products by heating them in water to produce what is known as the wort, sweetener in the form of honey, maple syrup or molasses (which was cheapest and added flavour and colour), more water and yeast were added and the wort was then barrelled to ferment.

If a very low alcohol beverage was required the liquid was bottled and corked straight away and then cooled after a day or two to stop fermentation. The amount of alcohol in these instances would have been akin to what is found in a loaf of bread. Fermentation produced carbon dioxide as a by-product which resulted in some carbonation (fizzing) of the drink.

• Farming families believed that the beverages they made were good for them and given that they were brewed from boiled water from what might sometimes be a tainted source they probably often were a healthier option than water.
• What’s more, the tiny amounts of alcohol had an antimicrobial action as did the carbon dioxide.

Root Beer is first known to have been marketed commercially at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876 by a teetotal Philadelphia pharmacist named Charles Hires who is said to have discovered a recipe for a delicious herbal tea while on his honeymoon.

He introduced a commercial version of the tea which he sold in 25-cent packets of powder, each of which yielded five gallons of root beer. He claimed the powder was a solid concentrate of sixteen wild roots and berries. In 1893, the Charles E. Hires Company began supplying Hires root beer in small bottles.

A & W Root Beer, which is still widely for sale today, is another early brand. It was created by Roy Allen, who began marketing root beer in 1919. Non-alcoholic versions of Root Beer were particularly popular during Prohibition and the constraints of the period probably contributed to preserving the domestic art of making traditional root beers.

1. Sassafras extract from the roots of the very fragrant deciduous sassafras tree was once a primary ingredient in root beers.
2. Unfortunately it was found that the safrole (also once used as a fragrance in perfumes and soaps, food and for aromatherapy) contained in sassafras is a carcinogen and Root Beer took a terrible hit in 1960 when the United States Food and Drug Administration banned its use in commercially mass-produced foods and drugs.

Commercial root beer brewers had to reformulate their recipes, either balancing out the missing sassafras with other roots or synthetic flavours or by removing the safrole from the sassafras root oil. In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act removed the ban on sassafras oil and microbrewers once again began to use sassafras, but it is now unlikely to be found in big commercial brands.

Most mainstream brands of root beer are unadventurous in their ingredients, fairly ubiquitous in taste and are often very sweet. More interesting variations are made by many North America microbrewers and the home brewing tradition survives to this day. Flavourings commonly included in the more interesting modern root beers include vanilla, wintergreen, cherry tree bark, liquorice root, sarsaparilla root, burdock nutmeg, acacia, anise, cinnamon, dandelion, ginger, juniper and cloves.

Modern sweeteners include aspartame, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses and most commonly, sugar. Many brands of root beer contain sodium benzoate as a preservative. Most are caffeine-free but one or two contain caffeine. Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic root beers can have a head, to any degree of thickness and foam when poured.

1. This is often enhanced by the addition of yucca or Auillaja saponaria extracts.
2. Most modern root beer brands are artificially carbonated by injecting carbon dioxide gas or mixing the root beer syrup with carbonated water (as with a soda fountain).
3. Sarsaparilla, a soft drink, originally made from the Smilax regelii plant, can be classified as a root beer, and some consider it to be the father of root beer.

: Root Beer

What is root beer made of?

What Root Is Root Beer Made Of? – Root beer is traditionally made from a blend of roots, herbs and spices. Common ingredients include sassafras, wintergreen, sarsaparilla and licorice. Some craft brewers also use spices like ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg for added flavor and aroma.

Is root beer still made with sassafras?

The history of Root Beer and Sarsaparilla – Sarsaparilla and Root Beer were founded by the Native Americans before arriving in Europe. Both beverages are named after their distinct differences in ingredients when they were first made. Sarsaparilla was made from the Sarsaparilla vine, while Root Beer, roots of the sassafras tree.

Why do they call it root beer?

Today I found out why root beer is called that when it doesn’t contain any alcohol. This popular soft drink pairs well with vanilla ice cream, resulting in root beer floats that are common sights at kids’ birthday parties in North America. The common version that we know today isn’t an alcoholic beverage, but a sweet soda that can be enjoyed by all ages.

So why is it called “root beer?” The answer lies in the history of root beer. Most food historians (yes, they exist) think it likely that the first versions of root beer started out as “small beer,” a beverage brewed from herbs, bark, and berries. Small beer was popular in medieval Europe, where rampant water pollution had a tendency to make people sick.

Brewed drinks like tea and beer were considered the healthier option. The same was true in early Colonial America before safer water facilities could be developed. Small beer contained alcohol—usually between 2% and 12%. The beverage was so commonplace that it turns up in a variety of classical literature, including several of William Shakespeare’s plays and Vanity Fair by William Thackery.

• Fast forward a few centuries to find pharmacists attempting to create a “miracle drug” or “cure-all” for people’s ailments in the late 19 th century.
• Many of the popular carbonated beverages today have their roots in such an attempt.) Historians generally believe that root beer was created on accident by a pharmacist experimenting with a variety of roots, herbs, bark, and berries used in small beer recipes in order to make a brew to cure every sickness.

The original “root beer” was sold as a syrup for consumers to water down into a type of cordial. It was both sweet and bitter, probably not unlike cough syrup today, and obviously didn’t take off as a beverage you’d buy for anything other than potentially curing sickness.

1. It should be noted that it’s unknown whether or not the original pharmacist commonly credited as the creator of root beer was actually Charles Hires.
2. Obviously, types of root beer had been around for centuries, so he cannot accurately be described as the “inventor.” He was, however, the first one to come up with a recipe that was widely marketable, hence why he is given credit.

According to his biography, Hires ran across a delicious tea recipe while he was on his honeymoon, which he decided to replicate and sell as a cure-all. However, the honeymoon story has little evidence to back it up, and it’s likely that Hires was simply experimenting with various ingredients until he came up with a recipe that worked.

He began selling dry packages of the tea mixture in his drug store, and later developed a liquid concentrate which people could mix with water. Initially, the mixture was called “Hires Root Tea” as it was brewed like tea from the dry packages. The packets cost twenty-five cents and supposedly could make up to five gallons of root tea.

The “root” in the name of Hires’ concoction came from its main ingredient, the sassafras root. Hires changed the name of his product from “tea” to “beer” sometime before the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. It’s likely that he changed the name to make the beverage more appealing to the working class.

In the midst of the second wave of the Temperance Movement, the name caused outrage amongst the movement’s leaders. Hires, on the other hand, advertised root beer as the “temperance drink,” arguing that it had no alcohol and was a great alternative to alcoholic beverages. Thus, “root tea” became “root beer.” (Note: It isn’t entirely accurate to say root beer doesn’t contain alcohol as carbonated beverages like root beer, Pepsi, Coke, Dr.

Pepper, etc. do have trace amounts of alcohol, as do many other things, like yogurt, just not any significant amount.) The name change turned into a great marketing scheme. At the Philadelphia exposition, Hires handed out free cups of his brew, gaining new customers.

1. It’s likely that marketing the product as “beer” was the key to its success, and Hires soon was bottling root beer and selling concentrated syrups to soda fountains.
2. He even made “root beer kits” available for individuals to make their own root beer at home.
3. Root beer continued to be marketed as a “health beverage” with the slogan, “Join Health and Cheer, Drink Hires Root Beer!” Funny enough, in 1960 the United States Food and Drug Administration banned the main ingredient—oil from the sassafras root—because of research proving it was a carcinogen and also contained safrol, which damages the liver- not exactly healthy.

Because of this, today root beer typically contains an artificial sassafras flavour rather than the real thing. So at this point the whole name is a lie. If you liked this article, you might also enjoy our new popular podcast, The BrainFood Show ( iTunes, Spotify, Google Play Music, Feed ), as well as:

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Bonus Facts:

Both Benjamin Franklin and George Washington were fans of small beer; Franklin wrote in his autobiography that he would have a small beer with breakfast sometimes, while George Washington had developed his own recipe for his favourite small beer. Without root beer, we wouldn’t have the Marriott Hotels and certain fast food restaurants. In 1927, a young couple named John and Alice Marriott opened up a root beer restaurant called Hot Shoppe in Washington. The restaurant experienced a huge amount of expansion over the years and turned into the Mariott Hotel chain. The Marriotts actually bought the shop from A&W, now a well-known restaurant chain root beer brand. A&W helped to popularize the idea of franchising. By 1960, there were over 2000 A&W restaurants—more than McDonald’s at the time! Another restaurant that got its start in root beer was Sonic, which started off as a root beer and hamburger stand and now has over 3500 restaurants in the United States. There are hundreds of different recipes for root beer and the drink has a wide range of flavours. Common ingredients in root beer include vanilla, cherry tree bark, wintergreen, molasses, anise, liquorice root, cinnamon, and honey among others. The primary ingredient is still sassafras flavour. Root beer is almost exclusively a North American drink. There are a few international brands, but the flavour is quite different from, say, A&W. If you browse the shelves in Australia or the UK you’re probably more likely to find “ginger beer” than root beer.

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Does root beer come from beer?

Plus 5 sweet and unique craft brews to savor slowly – January 23, 2014 This week, we’re taking a break from our never-ending quest for great beer to begin wella quest for a different kind of great beer: root beer ! First off, the question on everyone’s mind: is root beer actually beer? The answer is yes and no.

1. Root beer belongs to a secondary classification of beer, not one brewed with traditional cereal grains like wheat and barley, but with actual plant roots, A&W, Dr.
2. Pepper, Barq’s and others have done a great job popularizing root beer in the modern era, but many of the best are still made at craft breweries.

Root beer is made using sugar, yeast, water and spices. The big kicker is that root beer typically isn’t allowed to ferment, so this beer is usually kid-friendly, though they can be made with an ABV similar to that of craft beer or brewed without alcohol for a sweet, refreshing treat.

Here are five of the best root beers made by breweries, as they should be. Hard Root Beer: Sprecher Brewing Company: Bourbon Barrel Aged Root Beer Sprecher might not be a household name, but they quietly have cornered the market with their awesome gluten-free beer (Shakparo), a great German-style Schwarzbier (Black Bavarian) and now this excellent alcoholic root beer, aged inbourbon barrels! It’s a respectable 5% ABV, with just enough bourbon flavor, sweetness and spice to make this a standout.

Small Town Brewery: Not Your Father’s Root Beer We like extreme beers because they push the boundary of what’s possible, even if they might only be worth a one-time try. This, however, is not one of those beers. While the regular version clocks in at a pedestrian 10% (hah!), there’s an even stronger version clocking in at an ass-kicking 19.5%.

• Both versions are huge by beers by any standards, yet the amazing thing is they are actually smooth, with a sweet, spicy flavor profile that steals the show.
• Craft Root Beer (non-alcoholic): Abita Brewing Company: Root Beer The always-enterprising brewery from the Big Easy makes some great root beer, too! This one is made with natural cane sugar.

It’s a little creamy and has some good spiciness to it as well. It’s packaged just like their beer and lives up to their reputation as a very reliable brewery. FX Matt Brewery: Saranac Root Beer One of the grandfathers of the New York craft beer scene, FX Matt Brewery definitely doesn’t get the respect it deserves, especially because — little known fact — they used to brew most of Brooklyn Brewery’s beer.

1. They also make excellent craft sodas, including this stand-out root beer.
2. Hints of molasses, brown sugar and licorice make this one a go-to.
3. Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Co.: Henry Weinhards’s Root Beer The famous Pacific Northwest brewery also makes an excellent root beer made with sassafras.
4. This one has a distinct sweetness from honey and vanilla.

The good thing is, it’s not overpowering and makes for an excellent sweeter style. More beer on Food Republic:

5 More Gluten-Free Beers That Are Actually Worth Drinking So Canadian Craft Beers Are Really Good, Eh? Yes, Yes They Are. 5 Foolproof Ways To Get Your Girlfriend Into The Craft Beer Game

Is root beer just soda?

Root beer is simultaneously one of the best but also most underrated soft drinks out there. Millions of people all over the globe love the slightly vanilla full-bodied flavor of root beer. But people often have a lot of questions about root beer. Specifically, is root beer a soda? The answer is yes.

Root beer is a kind of soda. However, we need to be careful here. Root beer is a soda but it is not a cola soda. This is a subtle distinction that many people do not grasp. Root beer is a soda because it is a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage, but it is not considered a cola because it does not contain the extract of the Kola nut, which many would consider to be a requirement to be a cola-style soda.

We thought you might be interested in this selection of Root Beer here Root beer is a unique drink that originated in North America and it kind of occupies its own territory in the soft drink landscape. So read on to figure out the untold story about this famous and very beloved soft drink,

What flavour is Dr Pepper?

What does Dr Pepper taste like ? – Dr Pepper has been described as having a sweet and savory flavor, with subtle notes of cherry and caramel. Dr Pepper is not overly sweet like some sodas, but it still packs enough of a punch to satisfy your cravings for something refreshing.

Why did Mcdonald’s stop selling root beer?

Aldi product that ‘tastes exactly like McDonald’s item from 80s’

An Aldi shopper has caused a stir on a popular page for shoppers at the budget supermarket, by comparing one of their products to a McDonalds equivalent from the 1980s. For a brief period of time in the 80s, appear to have sold root beer – a distinctly American fizzy soft drink with a sweet, herbal flavour.However, the selling of root beer by the brand was restricted to a small number of McDonalds restaurants by 1992, due to poor sales, and stopped completely in 1993.But one fan thinks the root beer currently sold by the brand tastes just like the McDonalds one from the 80s.

Traditional Indianapolis diner meal with a root beer (Image: Handout/Mirror) Posting in the Facebook group ‘, they said: “I’ve got good news for people who enjoyed the taste of root beer at McDonald’s in the 1980s: Aldi is selling root beer at the moment, and it tastes exactly like the root beer at McDonald’s in the 1980s.” For more news and features about London directly to your inbox sign up to our newsletter,

Is root beer healthy?

Is root beer healthy? – Root beer as a soft drink has got tremendous fan following over the past several years because of its light and crisp taste. It is also widely preferred over diet soda. However, root beer contains a lot of ingredients that do not make it a healthy drink for you.

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS): It is high in sugar, You would not like to consume it because it can cause weight gain and lead to chronic conditions such as diabetes, The sugar content can erode your teeth enamel, weaken your teeth, and cause tooth decay, Caffeine: The caffeine present in caffeinated root beer can make it hard for you to sleep at night. It can also stain your teeth if you regularly drink it. If you are also consuming coffee, you are consuming more caffeine. In excess, caffeine can make you nervous and restless. It can give you frequent trips to the bathroom and make you dehydrated. Caramel: Caramel is added to give the root beer its typical color. California’s list of cancer -causing agents has listed caramel-coloring process as one of those agents. Artificial food flavor: Artificial food flavorings are added to enhance the existing flavor of root beer. Some health risks related to their consumption include:

Allergic reactionsWorsening of asthma Abdominal pain Diarrhea Vomiting

Consuming root beer occasionally is acceptable. However, consuming it more than a couple of times a week can affect your health, cause weight gain, and eventually invite other health problems such as obesity and other chronic diseases.

Why is Dr Pepper named Dr Pepper?

Originally made in Morrison’s Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, the drink’s unique flavor was a hit when it was first sold in 1885. Wade Morrison, the drug store owner, named it ‘Dr. Pepper’ after Dr. Charles Pepper, a Virginia doctor who was the father of a girl Morrison was once in love with.

Why is root beer only popular in America?

Beverages like it were traditionally made by Native Americans using the root of the Sassafras albidum plant which is indigenous to North America.

Is root beer just ginger beer?

Root beer generally has lots of flavors, none of which are ginger. The main ingredient is Sassafras root, but also look for vanill, cherry bark, cinnamon, molasses, burdock, winter green and tons of other flavorings in root beer. Ginger beer is mostly ginger, carbonated water and sugar, sometimes some spice.

Does Coca-Cola have root beer?

Barq’s Root beer manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company Barq’s Root Beer TypeManufacturer Country of origin Introduced1898 ; 125 years ago ( 1898 ) Variants

• Diet Root Beer
• Red Crème Soda
• Cherry Bite (Spicy Cherry cola)
• Diet Red Crème Soda
• French Vanilla Crème Soda
• Birch Beer
• Diet French Vanilla Crème Soda
• Floatz (Discontinued)
• Peach (Discontinued)

Related products,,, Website Barq’s is an American brand of created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by, It was known as “Barq’s Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer” until 2012. Some of its formulations contain,

Does Fanta have root beer?

Fanta Root Beer Near Me – Buy your favorite Fanta Root Beer online with Instacart. Order Fanta Root Beer from local and national retailers near you and enjoy on-demand, contactless delivery or pickup within 2 hours.

How is root beer different from soda?

Is Root Beer Healthy for Teeth? – Although root beer is widely grouped in with other sodas, studies have proven that root beer is unlike the rest. After examination of the make-up and ingredients of root beer, researchers found that this type of soda rarely has any traces of citric or phosphoric acid.

1. This makes root beer healthier for teeth when compared to typical colas.
2. Root beer acidity is also much lower than other sodas on the market.
3. It generally has a pH between 4.03 to 4.75 which is far less acidic than other types of sodas.
4. With a lower acidic content, less harm occurs to the enamel.
5. However, just like dark colas, root beer can still cause tooth staining which may require professional teeth whitening to correct.

Of course, the food and beverages you eat are only part of maintaining a healthy mouth and smile. Drinking a Coke or Sprite occasionally won’t cause a complete disaster in your mouth, but routine cola-consumption along with poor dental hygiene can cause plenty of problems.

Is root beer an alcoholic drink?

When does root beer contain alcohol? – As noted earlier, root beer naturally does not contain alcohol, and it’s also caffeine and gluten free, But there are exceptions to the rule, such as when caffeine or alcohol are intentionally added back to the formula to create energy drinks or hard sodas.

In the beverage space, variety is the name of the game, which is also true with root beer. Today, you can find Sprecher Root Beer in a variety of styles, all delicious: Bottles, cans, low-calorie, caffeinated ( Rev’d Up Root Beer ) and maple –– you can even make your own with Sprecher Root Beer syrup extract,

In recent years, one of the more popular flavors of root beer is hard root beer, which contains alcohol. In 2013, Sprecher released its own version of hard root beer. According to a press release at the time, Sprecher Hard Root Beer was described as having “all the flavors and characteristics of Sprecher Root Beer nicely melded with bourbon and oak flavors.” “We had a lot of customers asking for a hard root beer,” said Jeff Hamilton, then president of Sprecher.

” Since this is a variation of what we do best, two of our Wisconsin distributors — Beechwood Sales and Service and General Beverage — suggested a limited initial roll out to test markets. That will let us know if we need to change anything before we go into large scale production.” Over the next few years, the popularity of hard sodas and hard root beer rose exponentially and then quickly fell again, as consumer preferen ces for sweet drinks with alcohol fluctuated.

Currently, hard sodas and the category of “flavored malt beverages” (FMBs) are undergoing a resurgence, according to Wine Enthusiast, even if it’s not reaching the heights of its mid-2010s apex. Today, Sprecher currently offers hard root beer in our taproom for tours and to-go crowlers and growlers.

Is root beer just ginger beer?

Root beer generally has lots of flavors, none of which are ginger. The main ingredient is Sassafras root, but also look for vanill, cherry bark, cinnamon, molasses, burdock, winter green and tons of other flavorings in root beer. Ginger beer is mostly ginger, carbonated water and sugar, sometimes some spice.

What Flavour is Dr Pepper?

What does Dr Pepper taste like ? – Dr Pepper has been described as having a sweet and savory flavor, with subtle notes of cherry and caramel. Dr Pepper is not overly sweet like some sodas, but it still packs enough of a punch to satisfy your cravings for something refreshing.