Looking for a Root Beer recipe

[Kelownachef]

Does anyone have a homemade natural root beer recipe, not a kit recipe but made from sarsaparilla roots?

[budrichard]

There are no Root Beers or ingredients for Root Beers in the US that use sarsaparilla because

"Sassafras albidum--"Sassafras albidum" (roots)--safrole, the oil from these roots, is believed to be carcinogenic, so artificial versions are generally used instead."

from Wiki.

I drank a lot of Root Beer as a child and I don't have cancer yet.

The stuff one can get today is a pale imitation of the real stuff.-Dick

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are a few recipes in my copy of the Scientific American Cyclopedia of Formulas. It's out of copyright, so you can find it in Google Books.

[Pierogi]

Unless you have an "on the hoof" or natural source for your sarsaparilla roots, you may have a hard time finding safrole or sassafras oil. It's a precursor to illicit methamphetamine production, and is heavily controlled by both State and Federal drug agencies.

[Meanderer]

Saveur had a recipe several years ago. I managed to find the ingredients, including dried sarsaparilla root, at a shop specializing in herbs and spices. Unfortunately, the final product wasn't very appealing--it finished dead last in a blind taste test against three other products.

[mgaretz]

Sassafras is not the same as sarsaparilla!

Last time I checked you could still get both at good herb/health food shops, but you'll find the sassafras labeled for external use only.

There are no restrictions on sarsaparilla, yet you'll probably be dissappointed because it doesn't have that much flavor compared to sassafras.

Your best bet is to get some commercial root beer flavoring and go from there.

FYI, the predominant flavor in post-sassafras rootbeers (these days) is wintergreen.

[Chris Hennes]

According to McGee:

Safrole, the main aromatic in oil of sassafras and therefore of traditional root beer, causes DNA damage and was banned as an additive in 1960 (root beer is now made with safe sarsaparilla or artificial flavorings).