November 6, 2021

Homemade Root Beer with Sassafras

I’ve never been a huge fan of root beer, until I tried root beer with sassafras- or as I call it, real root beer. Sassafras is a tree native to eastern America, and it’s the original root in root beer. Get that amazing spiced, aromatic, root beer flavor yourself with a little foraging and this simple recipe. Just mix with carbonated water and you’re good to go!

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Foraging For Sassafras

It’s Fall in the Eastern United States, which means that blending into the Fall forest are trees with a little secret they’re hiding underground. Sassafras is the tree used to make root beer! While the powdered leaves of the sassafras tree are often used as a thickener for gumbo, for root beer you’re after- well, not surprisingly the roots. When the small saplings are pulled, the roots are fragrant, almost citrus-like, and spiced. Small, sassafras saplings grow around a larger, mature tree. Most of these saplings will never grow very tall, as they’re in the shadows of other trees in the forest, so you’re not harming the forest to pull a few for a batch of sassafras. Sassafras can be identified fairly easily by their leaves. The leaves come in different shapes on the same tree, with three lobes, two lobes, and one lobe. You can read a more thorough article on identifying sassafras here. Look for sassafras saplings about 2 feet tall to pull, and reach down toward the base of the tree and firmly pull up. Some soils are harder and more compact than others, so if you don’t feel any give consider either trying a smaller tree or leaving that sapling and moving on another patch. My final tip is to remove the trunk and branches from the roots then and there- I’ve found twisting the root off is easier than cutting- because while you’re not hurting the forest by picking the trees, others might not know that and will give you some well-intentioned dirty looks.

How to Use this Sassafras Root Beer Syrup

Once you’ve made your syrup, there are plenty of ways to use it- here are a few ideas to get you going.

The simplest (and best) use for this root beer syrup is to make root beer! Add some syrup to a glass of carbonated water- start with about a tablespoon and add more until you get the level of sweetness you like.
Use that root beer for a root beer float!
Drizzle some syrup on top of ice cream for a tasty treat.
Add to a latte- the spices work surprisingly well!
Add a little to your smoothie- A banana root beer smoothie sounds divine!
Add some to plant-based milk or water and freeze in molds for root beer popsicles!
Top some pancakes using root beer syrup instead of maple syrup.
Add to baked goods in the place of agave or maple syrup.
Try a root beer cocktail! A little syrup can be added to all your favorites.

Why is Sassafras Banned?

Before the 1960’s, the root beer you bought would have been made from an actual root- the root of the sassafras tree. Even before that, it was used medicinally by the Cherokee and other tribes. But today in both the United States and Canada, sassafras is banned as an ingredient in products. It isn’t sassafras that was the problem, but rather safrole oil inside which is banned. Because of that, you can buy some products that contain sassafras with the safrole oil removed.

But why is sassafras banned, and is it dangerous? Studies done in rats showed that in large quantities it increased the risk of liver cancer in rats. And at that point, the root was taken out of root beer. There were a lot of problems with this study though. Firstly the dosage given to the rats was a huge amount, higher than what was realistically consumed by humans- you would have to drink about 25 cups of sassafras tea to get close. Secondly, boiling water with sassafras root will barely extract any oil, as higher temperatures are needed to extract safrole from the roots. More recent studies have failed to produce health effects in humans. And finally, safrole oil is in other spices we use, including cinnamon and nutmeg, which have remained unregulated.

So why is sassafras really banned? Well, drugs. Apparently sassafras can be used as an ingredient in the psychoactive drug, MDA. So, naturally the simpler method was to call sassafras carcinogenic, ban it, and move on. So is sassafras safe? As I am not a scientist, I can’t tell you for sure. I can say that I feel safe to drink it. According to Peterson Field Guide to Medicinal Plants and Herbs, a 12 ounce glass of sassafras root beer is less carcinogens than a beer of a similar size.

How to Make Root Beer with Sassafras

Making root beer with sassafras has two basic steps- first, you make a spiced, sassafras tea, and secondly you use that tea to make a syrup. Before you make the tea, you’ve got to clean the sassafras. I find that the best way is to soak the roots in water for an hour or more, and then use a scouring pad to scrape off all the dirt. After that, break or chop the roots into smaller pieces, so they easily fit in the pot. Add in the other ingredients for the tea- cinnamon, star anise, wintergreen leaves, allspice, and ginger. After you make your tea and let it simmer, use a fine wire strainer to remove all the solids, leaving you with a strong tea.

Next you’re going to add sugar and a little molasses to turn that tea into a syrup. Let it thicken and reduce a little, and you’re good. You’ll notice that this syrup is a good bit lighter than you might expect root beer to be- it’s because we haven’t added any food coloring.

The final step is canning. If you want, you can always just stick your root beer syrup right in the fridge. But if you’d like to give it a longer shelf-life, you can use a hot water bath for canning. Use clean, sterilized jars, and fill them with the root beer syrup leaving a quarter inch of room on top. Wipe the rims of the jar, and top with the lids. Use a large pot and fill it with water, at least enough to cover the jars completely. You’ll likely need to do a couple batches as they won’t all fit in the pot at once. Bring the water in the pot to a boil, and let boil covered with water for 10 minutes, and then transfer the jars to a kitchen towel on the counter. Let them sit for 12-24 hours without touching them, and check that the seal has properly sealed before transferring them to a cool, dark location for storage.