Root beer
North American soft drink originally brewed from sassafras or sarsaparilla.
Root beer is a North American drink that got its start as a brewed small beer. Its original flavor came mainly from the root bark of the sassafras tree or the sarsaparilla vine. People in the United States have been drinking it since the 1700s. These days, it’s usually a sweet, fizzy soft drink without alcohol or caffeine, and it often has a thick, foamy head.
Because safrole—a key part of sassafras—was outlawed by the U.S. FDA in 1960 for causing cancer, most commercial root beers now use artificial sassafras flavoring. Many major producers exist, and a common treat is adding vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float.
Root beer was sold in candy stores as early as the 1840s, with written recipes appearing in the 1830s. In the 1800s, it was often served hot and used as a medicine. It was combined with soda water as a syrup by the 1850s, not as a ready-to-drink beverage. Both Native Americans and Europeans knew about sassafras’s medicinal benefits, and druggists marketed root beer for that purpose.
Pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires was the first to successfully sell a commercial root beer brand. He created his root tea from sassafras in 1875, introduced it at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, and started selling the extract. Hires, a teetotaler, originally wanted to call it “root tea,” but changed the name to “root beer” to appeal to Pennsylvania coal miners. He began bottling the drink in 1886, and by 1893 it was widely distributed across the U.S. Non-alcoholic versions became especially popular during Prohibition.
Not all root beers were sassafras-based. Barq’s, a competitor that started in 1898, used sarsaparilla and was simply labeled “Barq’s.” In 1919, Roy Allen opened a root beer stand in Lodi, California, leading to A&W Root Beer. He was known for serving his homemade root beer in cold, frosty mugs. IBC Root Beer also emerged around this time and remains well-known. The FDA’s 1960 ban on safrole came after lab animals given large doses of sassafras tea or oil developed liver damage or cancer. While sassafras is no longer used in commercial root beer, natural extracts with safrole removed are available. A Museum of Root Beer opened in Wisconsin Dells in 2022.
A traditional recipe involves cooking a syrup from molasses and water, cooling it for three hours, then mix
- origin
- North America
- first documented recipes
- 1830s
- first commercial brand
- Charles Elmer Hires, 1875
- key ingredient banned
- safrole, 1960 (US FDA)
- common modern form
- sweet, carbonated, non-alcoholic, caffeine-free soft drink
- notable brands
- Hires, Barq's, A&W, IBC
Lore & Background
Root beer has been consumed in the United States since at least the 1700s, with written recipes appearing in the 1830s and sales in confectionery stores from the 1840s. In the 19th century, it was often drunk hot and used medicinally, as the benefits of sassafras were known to Native Americans and Europeans. It was combined with soda as early as the 1850s, sold as a syrup rather than a ready-made beverage. Pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires successfully marketed the first commercial brand, developing a root tea from sassafras in 1875 and debuting it at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876. A teetotaler, Hires originally wanted to call it 'root tea' but chose 'root beer' to appeal to Pennsylvania coal miners. By 1893, root beer was widely distributed across the United States, and non-alcoholic versions became especially successful during Prohibition. Competitors included Barq's, which began selling a sarsaparilla-based root beer in 1898, and A&W Root Beer, which originated from Roy Allen's 1919 root-beer stand in Lodi, California, where he served it in cold, frosty mugs. IBC Root Beer also emerged during this period.
Reader's Guide
Root beer's significance lies in its long history as a distinctive North American beverage, evolving from a medicinal, fermented small beer to a mass-produced, non-alcoholic soft drink. Its traditional flavor came from safrole in sassafras, but after the US FDA banned safrole in 1960 due to carcinogenicity in lab animals, commercial producers switched to artificial sassafras flavoring or safrole-free extracts. This shift reshaped the industry, though some brands like Hansen's used safrole-free sassafras extract. Root beer is notable for its thick, foamy head, originally from sassafras's mucilaginous properties, now often replicated with starch or surfactants. It is commonly used in root beer floats with vanilla ice cream. The beverage is produced in Canada and every US state, with some brands exported globally. A Museum of Root Beer opened in Wisconsin Dells in 2021, reflecting its cultural legacy. Most major brands are caffeine-free except Barq's, which contains about 1.8 mg of caffeine per fluid ounce. Alcoholic versions, called hard root beer, have been produced in the 2000s.
Did You Know?
- Root beer has been drunk in the United States since at least the eighteenth century.
- Safrole, a key component of sassafras, was banned by the US FDA in 1960 due to its carcinogenicity.
- Charles Elmer Hires, a teetotaler, originally wanted to call his beverage 'root tea' but chose 'root beer' to appeal to Pennsylvania coal miners.
- A Museum of Root Beer opened in Wisconsin Dells in 2021.
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