Americans -> drink Sarsaparilla?

[Sleeper]

Drink is very popular in my home country, been drinking it since I was a kid.

Came as a shock when many American guests have never even heard of it, upon trying they described as candy or the typical Ewww wth was that?!
Came as a shock thinking it's so popular in FO:NV

[Vex Hilarius]

Came to a shock that you invited all Americans as guests.

[Devsman]

US is a big place, and lots of tastes are regional. It's probably more popular in some places than other.

I knew a guy who moved near me from another part of the country who expressed his surprise at finding the concession stand at a hockey game served fried okra.

I expressed my surprise that he went to a hockey game.

[Haerken]

The sassafras root contains the safrole compound which is banned in the USA. Sarsaparilla flavoring in the USA is what can be concocted to taste something like companies say is like the original, but is a different drink than you would have. We would more likely drink root beer anyhow, which I like a lot more.

[Knavenformed]

I've once seen a Sarsaparilla drink here where I live, and it was from a sample shipment ordered from Bundaberg as we use their ginger beer

Very unique taste and I did like it very much, though it felt a bit too artificially sweet for what the root itself added to the taste

But yeah as a standard citizen I have no chances of finding Sarsaparilla here even if I wanted to sadly.

[Solomon Hawk]

I had the pleasure of drinking the real stuff once in my life. (it was sassafras tea at my grandfather's home).
I have plans to get my hands on Sassafras Root so I can make Root Beer myself and I've got the recipe. (Right, it's the same root that's used in making Sarsaparilla.)

Oh, yeah.. I read about the ban because of safrole ...
Sure, it would probably cause me to have cancer too if I bathed in a bathtub full of the pure compound for a YEAR .. (which is basically what they did to rats for the testing to determine its toxicity). Typically, they "painted" the pure extract directly to a rats skin that was shaved of any hair and did it repeatedly and I have witnessed this type of testing happening years ago. ASPCA and Animal Rights Activists would have a serious melt down over that now.

"Moderation in all things"

The real thing has got to be better than all that artificial CRAP that goes into the currently marketed root beers, sassafras teas and Sarsaparillas.

[The John]

sarsaparilla is pretty big in the US, at least where I am

[ULTRA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VhSm6G7cVk

Some Americans live weird sheltered lives where they only eat stuff along the corn-to-livestock chain and they'll feel attacked if you offer them licorice, mint, cilantro/coriander, Asian fruit, macerated liquors, root beer or sassafras; if you spice things with mace or allspice or nutmeg or clove after the 19th century and it's not called "pumpkin spice," or even sometimes if they have to have mustards beyond what they call "yellow mustard." There are still millions of us that actually care about flavor and are familiar with an array of herbal foods, though.

There are dozens of sweet drinks like sarsaparilla that have come and gone in the US over the years which would mystify modern audiences - another example is "Dr. Nut":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Nut

[Löthar Storm]

you ain't lived 'til you been smashed on alcohol infused root beer whilst listening to a dissonant harpsichord the way the Founding Fathers intended.

[NightmareGats]

I wish i could have a taste of Root Beer, especially Sarsaparilla

[CowboyKing06]

I live in the Midwest US and I have sarsaparilla nearly all the time, mostly made by one brand I think you can find it on amazon called "Sioux City", they make a lot of different pops including root beer, cream soda and of course sarsaparilla. I'm sure they make more but those are the only flavors I can find locally.

[mar mar]

apparently

[Devsman]

Is sasparila a type of root beer? I had no idea. I've just heard of it on TV.

[Haerken]

Postat inițial de Devsman:

Is sasparila a type of root beer? I had no idea. I've just heard of it on TV.

No. Root beer has more flavorings added to it. Give me a Sprecher brand soda over any other.

[Skorpius]

Sweet Tea is not served in northern states restaurants, but down south they are.

[Logik]

Sioux City Sarsaparilla