In this blog we are going to tell you about Difference between Root Beer and Sarsaparilla, so read this blog carefully to get the complete information.
Over time, there are a lot of beverages available in the market. Most people prefer to have their favorite beverage at special events. Among so many beverages, two popular beverages that are hard-core in American culture are Root Beer and Sarsaparilla. Both are prepared with vines and roots and are famous soft drinks. They were initially created as medical drinks or tonics. In this article, we will tell you more about Root Beer and Sarsaparilla and how they differ from each other.
What is Root Beer?
Root beer was developed in 1875 by Charles Elmer Hires. It was prepared as a commercial beverage from the Sarsaparilla plant and other ingredients. Now, root beer comes in the form of alcoholic, non-alcoholic, carbonated, or non-carbonated drinks. All brands use sodium benzoate as a preservative. The new age root beers are typically sweet, carbonated, and foamy and it contains flavored artificial sassafras. Other flavors of root beer include burdock, ginger, cinnamon, dandelion, anise, sarsaparilla, juniper vanilla, wintergreen, etc. In root beer, molasses, honey, aspartame, maple syrup, corn syrup, and sugar are used to sweeten the flavor. However, the root bark of sassafras named safrole is restricted to use by the FDA in the preparation of root beer in the USA. It is considered that this extract has cancer-causing oils and is unsafe and unhealthy for consumption. Earlier, root beer originated because it was known that mixing fermented and low alcohol content drinks which have nutritional and medicinal ingredients can improve health.
What is Sarsaparilla?
The term Sarsaparilla is derived from the word ‘zarzaparrilla’ which means brambly vine. It is considered that Sarsaparilla was used by people way before root beer. It has a bitter taste and this is the reason that root beer was formulated sweetened. However, Sarsaparilla is still a popular beverage. In Sarsaparilla, ingredients like licorice and wintergreen are used to sweeten the extract. It contains minerals like iodine, iron, silicon, zinc, copper, manganese, etc. It also constitutes several vitamins like vitamin A, B-complex, Vitamin C, and D. It has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Therefore it is useful in treating skin diseases and also works as a blood purifier and aphrodisiac. From the 15th century to the 19th century, the extract was collected from the American Sarsaparilla and it was easily available for treating syphilis. However, it has proved itself to be beneficial for treating syphilis but still, its effectiveness is always questioned.
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Main Differences between Root Beer and Sarsaparilla
The following are the main differences between Root beer and Sarsaparilla as mentioned below:
- The main difference between root beer and sarsaparilla is in the taste of these beverages. Root beer is a sweet drink but Sarsaparilla is relatively bitter.
- The ingredients used in the formulation of root beer include sarsaparilla plant, cinnamon, aspartame, cinnamon, honey, nutmeg, anise, and wintergreen. On the other hand, the only ingredient formulated in sarsaparilla is the sarsaparilla plant.
- Root beer is available in different forms including alcoholic, non-alcoholic, carbonated, and noncarbonated forms while sarsaparilla is mainly a medicinal drink that is now used as a beverage as well.
- Previously, root beer was made with the bark of the sassafras plant but this extract was later banned as it has cancer-causing oils. On the other hand, sarsaparilla has many health benefits as it is beneficial in treating syphilis and is also used as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent.
- Root beer was developed by Charles Elmer Hires in 1875 as a commercial drink whereas sarsaparilla was discovered by native Americans.
Conclusion
Both root beer and sarsaparilla are popular beverages. Root beer is sweet, foamy, and can be alcoholic or non-alcoholic and can be carbonated or noncarbonated. On the other hand, Sarsaparilla is a non-alcoholic and healthy beverage. The common thing about root beer and sarsaparilla is that they both are prepared from the base ingredient of the sarsaparilla plant. However, root beer has additional ingredients which makes it different from sarsaparilla. Root beer has no medicinal benefits while sarsaparilla is known for its medicinal properties. So if you are having beverages then we would recommend you to try Sarsaparilla which would be beneficial for your health as well. We hope that this article was helpful and now you have understood the difference between these two terms.
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I Hope this blog is sufficient enough to provide the information about Difference between Root Beer and Sarsaparilla. Thanks for reading this blog.
