Root Beer

Root beer can be described as carbonated beverage that is made from the root of a sassafras plant or the bark of a sassafras tree. In other words, sassafras is the primary flavor of root beer. Apart from that, a number of other minor flavors are also used. However, root beer does not naturally contain caffeine. It is very popular form of beer in North America and is also known as sarsaparilla. There are basically two forms in which one can find root beer - one is alcoholic form and the other is soft drink form. With this, the question ‘what is root beer‘ must have been answered. Now, let’s move on to the other aspects.

 

Apart from sassafras flavor, root beer often has a number of other flavorings as well. These include 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. Initially, yeast was used to carbonate root beer. However, with time, it has been replaced by artificial carbonation. Majority of the root beer brands also use sodium benzoate, as a preservative.

 

In case of soft drink version of root beer, one usually finds extracts or flavored syrups being used. They are diluted into carbonated water and converted into a soft drink. While making alcoholic version root beer, a solution of extract and sugar is used. It is later fermented with yeast and the result is a beverage with about 0.4% alcohol. Initially, in both the cases, the extract used was that of the roots of the sassafras tree, containing safrole that has carcinogenic properties. However, it has now been replaced by a safrole-free variety.

 

Some Brands of Root Beer