The definitions of the two are quite different. It may also be that as early herb beers were called Gruit Beers and that a Gruit beer containing a known root just naturally became Root Beer. This article did not disappoint! Very informative article. Helps explain why different root beers taste a little different from each other. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Enjoy this article? Articles Food. JB May 5, am.
A lot use sarsaparilla; not all. And none use real sassafrass root. Terria Baynor September 22, pm. Alex August 8, pm. Nigel October 10, pm. Well, sassafras and sarsaparilla both contain safrole, a compound recently banned by the FDA due to its carcinogenic effects.
Safrole was found to contribute to liver cancer in rats when given in high doses, and thus it and sassafras or sarsaparilla-containing products were banned. But more recent studies have actually failed to find evidence that the effects seen in rats occur in humans. This, and the fact that several other still legal foods, like the aforementioned nutmeg, also contain safrole, makes the ban seem less science based and more the result of fear.
So, modern root beer is flavoured most often with artificial sassafras, though sometimes with safrole-free sassafras too. More important than checking the safrole content of your beverage, though, might be checking the alcohol content. Traditional root beer was usually alcoholic, whereas modern root beer is rarely fortified with ethanol and is a favourite of kids everywhere. Plus, alcohol and carbon dioxide had antimicrobial properties and protected people from harmful germs.
It is well-known that George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson drank only root beer made according to their favorite recipes.
It seems that root beer was made by accident when an inventive pharmacist decided to use various berries, herbs, and roots to create a miracle drug in The first recipe included sarsaparilla, hops , juniper, wintergreen, spikenard, licorice, vanilla, and birch bark. At least not before one pharmacist talented in marketing tried a recipe containing powdered tea.
Root beer, like we know it today, appeared in American culture in the 19th century. Even though people started to consume it during the s, the first known recipe was noted during the s. Initially, he used dry packages his consumers needed to prepare beverages. The plan was to name the new product Hires Root Tea with sassafras root as the primary ingredient.
His idea was to make a miracle drug that cures all illnesses after mixing different herbs, berries, roots, and bark. The original beverage was a sweet and bitter syrup, but it developed into cordial over time. However, coal miners from Pennsylvania preferred stronger beverages, and Mr. Hires decided to make necessary changes and make the drink variation more appealing to them. Since Hires understood primary marketing rules, he shared free mugs of his new beer at the exposition and gained many new customers.
Very soon, he started bottling root beer and selling both soda fountains and root beer kits. That way, everyone could make their own home beer. When Congress passed a law in that no word noted in the dictionary could be considered an invention, Hires Root Beer Co. It was precisely noted that Hires sold , root beer glasses during the first year and became a multi-millionaire after only a few years.
He made an excellent move when starting to sell bottled root beer in During the Temperance Movement, Hires advertised his root beer as a non-alcoholic temperance drink that was an excellent alternative to booze.
The paradox was that Hires was selling his product as a medicine, but the FDA banned the sassafras root use in as a carcinogen. Therefore, the modern root beer version contains an artificial sassafras flavor or its oil without any health risk.
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