Where does root beer get its flavor?

Answer 1

From the sassafras root

Answer 2

The first documented evidence of the production of "root beer" was in the American colonies. Prior to that, sassafras was being shipped back to Europe after the New World was discovered. I have not found any evidence of root beer being made with it, only tea, and mead. (I have found one instance in Digby’s The Closet Opened where sassafras is an ingredient.)

Historians often credit Charles Hires with creating the root beer flavor we know today, but I believe that he simply made it popular. Here is a list of ingredients and countries from a 1922 pamphlet about Hires Root Beer.

Birch Bark - United States, New England Chirreta – India
Dog Grass – Germany Ginger – Africa
Ginger – China Ginger – Jamaica
Hires special plant Hops – United States, Northwest
Juniper Berries – Italy Licorice – Spain
Licorice – Russia Sarsaparilla – Honduras
Sugar – Cuba Vanilla – Mexico
Wintergreen – United States, North Carolina Yerba Mate, Brazil

In 1960 the FDA outlawed sassafras because it contains safrole, which was proven to cause cancer in lab rats. The primary element in the root beer flavor we know today is wintergreen.

There are two ways to make root beer. 1) Use an extract or 2) make it from scratch.

Answer 3

It was originally the Sassafras Root but then it was banned...Sassafras contains the chemical known as safrole which is has been shown to be a carcinogen in laboratory animals and has been banned by the US Food and Drug Administration. Some commercial varieties of root beer use artificial flavoring agents, other varieties use sassafras extract from which the safrole has been removed. Removing safrole from sassafras extract and verifying that it is safe is a task which is beyond the ability and equipment of most homebrewers. Many home brewers use commercially produced root beer extracts for flavoring their root beer, because these extracts do not contain safrole.

In addition to sassafras flavor, root beer often has other flavorings, including anise, burdock, cinnamon, dandelion, ginger, juniper, spikenard / sarsaparilla, vanilla, wintergreen, and / or yellow dock and sweetened with aspartame, corn syrup, honey, maple syrup, molasses, and, most commonly sugar. Although originally carbonated with yeast, most modern root beer brands are artificially carbonated. Most brands of root beer contain sodium benzoate as a preservative.

Answer 4

It's flavored with several things,but the main flavor is from the sassafras root.You can take a piece of sassafras root "looks the color of a carrot" and slice it up, boil it like tea,add sugar or with out sugar.It has that unique taste like root beer but not the exact same taste. Ask some older person you know about the sassafras tree,what it looks like and dig up a piece of the root and try it.Older people seem to know more about these kind of things,plants ,trees,flowers, etc. I tried it and it taste good.

Answer 5

Sarsaparilla had health-related issues and I'd be surprised if you can still get it as an extract. Factory root beer gets its "suds" from the yucca root.

Root beer gained popularity during prohibition, probably to hide normal beer production. Both can be fermented in the bottle. Root beer gives less than 1% alchohol when it is brewed.

Finding all the ingredients listed in the cookbook recipes is next to impossible. McCormick Spice Company makes a Root Beer Concentrate. You still have to mix it with 5 gals. of lukewarm water, 1/2 pkg of yeast, sugar and bottle it all in sterile plastic bottles. Age it 1-2 days. Consume it in less than 8 days.

Store bought root beer has lots of preservatives.

Hamburger joints that make their own beverage make it fresh from concentrate every morning. Frosty mug is the best way to serve, doesn't dillute the still warm brew.

Most of the taste comes from vanilla, and wild cherry bark extracts with lots and lots of sugar.

Answer 6

I had no idea people knew so much about Root Beer. A & W is the smoothest and has the best flavor. But then, some people prefer "the bite".

Answer 7

Root beer is a fermented beverage made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark (which is carcinogenic), nutmeg, anise, and molasses among other ingredients. Many local brands of root beer exist, and homemade root beer is made from concentrate or (rarely) from actual roots. Like alcoholic beer, root beer has a thick and foamy head when poured.

Root beer is a predominantly North American beverage, constituting about 3% of the American soft drink market.

Answer 8

The original was made from sassafras tree roots. I have them growing in my yard. And yes, as some of the other answerers said it has carcinogens but it's healthy attributes outweigh in my personal belief. I collect the roots and drink it as either hot tea or iced tea. I also use the leaves to make gumbo file...a staple here in the Cajun country. But the aroma of the root smells just like as if you opened a bottle of commercial Root Beer.

Answer 9

Frothy, spicy, sassy, creamy...that's root beer, invented back in the early nineteenth century and still spawning more new independent labels in today's marketplace than we can track. Root beer's enduring appeal stems from its true grassroots (pardon the pun) origin. This American favorite with its mysterious sweet flavor and old-fashioned aura is crafted from a delicate balance of sugar, roots and early farmhouse tradition.

A truly American phenomenon, root beer, then known as "root tea," was first made from sixteen wild roots including dandelion, sassafras, ginger; herbs and various berries, including juniper and wintergreen, as well as sarsaparilla and hops. Brewed in American farmhouses since the late seventeenth century, it was used for both medicinal purposes and as a refreshment.

It wasn't until 1875 that a young man named Charles Hires introduced root beer to the mass market. Hires, a drugstore proprietor and pharmacist, first tasted it on a New Jersey farm during his honeymoon (or so one story goes). He brought the basic recipe back to Philadelphia and started his own factory there, ten years before the introduction of Coca-Cola.

Answer 10

Root beer is a fermented beverage made from a combination of vanilla, cherry tree bark, licorice root, sarsaparilla root, sassafras root bark (which is carcinogenic), nutmeg, anise, and molasses among other ingredients. Many local brands of root beer exist, and homemade root beer is made from concentrate or (rarely) from actual roots. Like alcoholic beer, root beer has a thick and foamy head when poured.

Answer 11

From the Sassafras Root. Root Beer has been around for ages but not until someone discoverd the carbon that is now added...it was a pretty flat drink!