Root Beer Background
Before we jump into the tastings of root beer. We’ve got to know a little more about its making and what we’re looking for in a flavor. Root beer was originally brewed using sassafras root. This same root can be filed down to a powder and is put in many gumbos as a spice. Sassafras can also be steeped into a tea until the FDA banned sassafras in cooking oils and foods in 1960, siting lab reports that claimed ingesting it led to liver damage and certain types of cancers. Of course today, they’re more then happy to let us ingest high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils, but let’s not get off topic.
After 1960, soda companies were forced to switch over to artificial sassafras flavorings and spices to recreate their flavors, that is until 1994 when the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was passed, eventually lifting the ban on sassafras use in foods. Today, most root beers are still made with artificial flavorings along with some of these ingredients:
- Pimenta dioica – Allspice
- Vanilla planifolia – Vanilla
- Trigonella foenum-graecum – Fenugreek
- Myroxylon balsamum – “Tolu Balsam”
- Abies balsamea – “Balsam Fir”
- Hordeum vulgare – “Barley” (Malted)
- Myristica fragrans – Nutmeg
- Juniperus communis – “Juniper” (fruit or “berry”)
- Cinnamomum zeylanicum – Cinnamon (bark)
- Cinnamomum aromaticum – “Cassia” (bark)
- Syzygium aromaticum – Clove
- Foeniculum vulgare – Fennel (seed)
- Zingiber officinale – Ginger (root)
- Illicium verum – Star Anise
- Pimpinella anisum – Anise
- Humulus lupulus – Hops
- Mentha species – Mint
- Hypericum perforatum – St. John’s Wort
- Cane Sugar
- Molasses
- Honey
Most of which will be hidden under the clandestine “spices” label in the ingredients section to secure each maker’s secret recipe is not revealed.
Each brand has its own history to their specific root beer, but to North America, root beer was invented by Charles Hires, a Philadelphia pharmacist who according to his biography discovered a recipe for a delicious herbal tea while on his honeymoon. The pharmacist began selling a dry version of the tea mixture and also began working on a liquid version of the same tea. The result of was a combination of over twenty-five herbs, berries and roots that Charles Hires used to flavor a carbonated soda water drink. The Charles Hires’ version of a root beer beverage was first introduced to the public at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial exhibition. The Hires family continued to manufacture root beer and in 1893 first sold and distributed bottled root beer. Charles Hires and his family certainly contributed greatly to the popularity of modern root beer, however, the origins of root beer can be traced further back in history.
The historical root beer was analogous to small beer, in that the process provided a drink with a very low alcohol content. In spite of roots being used as the source of many soft drinks in many countries throughout the world (and even alcoholic beverages/beers), the name root beer is almost unused outside of the United States, Canada and the Philippines. Most other countries have their own indigenous versions of root-based beverages and small beers but with different names and branding.
December 4 is International Root Beer Day (IRBD). IRBD was first celebrated on December 4, 1995 in Venezuela with American root beer imported from Curaçao.
Alright kiddies, that’s enough background on the beer of root, let’s get fizzin!
Tags: beer, charles hires, history, root beer