# Is there any actual use for Sarsaparilla? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 9, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883 "2017-09-09T10:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/1 "2017-09-09T10:20:39Z")
My elder daughter had a birthday party this afternoon. Among other food and drinkstuffs, she bought a bottle of Sarsaparilla for the event “because I want to know what it tastes like” While this is of course a laudable goal, the net result is that she’s found out that the answer is “vile” and now we have 98% of a bottle of sarsaparilla in the fridge, which isn’t going to get any emptier if we rely on people in THIS family to drink it. I hate throwing things out. Is there any other use for the stuff? Is it good for the garden? Shoe polish? Floor cleaning? I’m open to any suggestion that doesn’t involve imposing it on my tongue… ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/2 "2017-09-09T11:35:29Z")
Of course there is, never tried it myself since, a/ I’ve never seen it here and b/ I am extremely unadventurous when it comes to drinking crap, but it is needed for American Sunday School Picnics, when the eye-glassed young bank clerk with a straw boater has to offer it to the shy long-white dressed parson’s daughter, and they both spoon. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/3 "2017-09-09T13:05:02Z")
Open a temperance theme bar. Or post it to me, I love the stuff. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/4 "2017-09-09T13:22:41Z")
Use it as bait for a hipster-trap. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/5 "2017-09-09T16:19:12Z")
I don’t know, take it to Pittsburg? It’s still very popular in Pittsburg. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/6 "2017-09-09T16:20:09Z")
Add ice cream and make a float? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/7 "2017-09-09T17:10:59Z")
I’ve never had sarsaparilla. How much different in taste is it compared to root or birch beer? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/8 "2017-09-09T17:36:13Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I’ve never had sarsaparilla. How much different in taste is it compared to root or birch beer? I once read a mystery story where the perp was identified and captured when he claimed to have distinguished between sarsaparilla and root beer when in fact they tasted the same. I’m not even sure if I’ve had sarsaparilla, but I do like my root beer. And no, it is NOT a purely American thing like some threads here have insisted, as it’s very popular in Thailand too. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/9 "2017-09-09T17:37:52Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I once read a mystery story where the perp was identified and captured when he claimed to have distinguished between sarsaparilla and root beer when in fact they tasted the same. I’m not even sure if I’ve had sarsaparilla, but I do like my root beer. And no, it is NOT a purely American thing like some threads here have insisted, as it’s very popular in Thailand too. I recall seeing A&W stands when I was in Thailand. I think in Hong Kong also. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/10 "2017-09-09T17:38:16Z")
I’ve had it, and thought it was quite similar to root beer. I liked it. Now maybe the OP got an off brand, but I am surprised by the degree of dislike. What does the OP think of root beer? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/11 "2017-09-09T17:39:31Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I recall seeing A&W stands when I was in Thailand. I think in Hong Kong also. Yes, and they sell A&W in cans too. But I thought Mirinda the best brand, although they seem to have discontinued it toward the end of my stay. Here in the US, we’ve become fond of Mug brand. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/12 "2017-09-09T17:40:24Z")
You wouldn’t get far in a British pub if you demanded Sarsaparilla. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/13 "2017-09-09T19:12:23Z")
I like it, but the only brand available around here is Hey Song, which I can get from the local Asian supermarket. It’s similar to root beer, but definitely distinct. Has a bit of a “bubblegum flavor” note to it. Maybe some people just don’t like the flavor because they associate it with inedible things, the way some don’t like artificial cherry flavor because it tastes like medicine. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/14 "2017-09-09T19:16:02Z")
When I was a kid, I remember root beer (particularly A&W, which at the time was only available at A&W drive-ins) as having a very sharp “bite” to it and Sarsaparilla as having an even more pronounced bite. I’ve tried both recently and found them both to be overly sweet; no bite at all. I’m not sure whether the formulas have changed or my memory is faulty. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/15 "2017-09-09T20:26:19Z")
As a kid there was an ole-timey chain around that had it on the menu. I’d drink some once in a while. It had a taste that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike root beer. It seemed a lot like root beer, except it really wasn’t at all. I liked it as an occasional change of taste. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/16 "2017-09-09T20:56:47Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Of course there is, never tried it myself since, a/ I’ve never seen it here and b/ I am extremely unadventurous when it comes to drinking crap, but it is needed for American Sunday School Picnics, when the eye-glassed young bank clerk with a straw boater has to offer it to the shy long-white dressed parson’s daughter, and they both spoon. It’s much more current than that, doesn’t anyone recognize: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Bg7aEwv4HEQ/maxresdefault.jpg "A Good Sarsaparilla") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg7aEwv4HEQ) ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/17 "2017-09-09T21:03:04Z")
I was always told it was just an old west form of root beer… learn something new everyday ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/18 "2017-09-09T21:10:12Z")
meant to say: I was always told it was just a form of root beer from the old west … learn something new everyday ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/19 "2017-09-09T21:15:01Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Of course there is, never tried it myself since, a/ I’ve never seen it here and b/ I am extremely unadventurous when it comes to drinking crap, but it is needed for American Sunday School Picnics, when the eye-glassed young bank clerk with a straw boater has to offer it to the shy long-white dressed parson’s daughter, and they both spoon. Do you think this constant idiotic shitposting you do is “cute” or what? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/20 "2017-09-09T22:46:45Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Do you think this constant idiotic shitposting you do is “cute” or what? You’ve been around plenty long enough to know this ins’t appropriate for here. Don’t do this again. If you’ve got a problem with a poster, take it to the Pit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883.md?page=2)