# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2017, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/21 "2017-09-10T00:23:36Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I don’t know, take it to Pittsburg? It’s still very popular in Pittsburg. And maybe not quite as much but around Pittsburgh as well. 😉 Now head north-east to the Endless Mountains and its all Birch Beer. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/22 "2017-09-10T00:49:23Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Add ice cream and make a float? This. It beats root beer floats all to hell. ---
**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 10, 2017, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/23 "2017-09-10T01:19:10Z")
Is it a regional drink? ---
**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 10, 2017, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/24 "2017-09-10T01:32:40Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I don’t know, take it to Pittsburg? It’s still very popular in Pittsburg. > [@kopek](#): > > And maybe not quite as much but around Pittsburgh as well. 😉 Now head north-east to the Endless Mountains and its all Birch Beer. He could have meant [Pittsburg, Kansas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburg,_Kansas). > [@NeonMadman](#): > > 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. I think the formulas may be different. In Thailand, we did not care for the canned A&W, but the stuff in the A&W shops tasted completely different, much better. > [@nightshadea](#): > > I was always told it was just an old west form of root beer… learn something new everyday > [@nightshadea](#): > > meant to say: I was always told it was just a form of root beer from the old west … learn something new everyday Two goes and still you failed to render “every day” correctly. No sarsaparilla OR root beer for _you_. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2017, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/25 "2017-09-10T02:53:45Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > He could have meant [Pittsburg, Kansas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburg,_Kansas). That’s where I was going but I guess I should have gotten the state name, at the least, into play. :smack: ---
**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 10, 2017, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/26 "2017-09-10T03:39:52Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > That’s where I was going but I guess I should have gotten the state name, at the least, into play. :smack: Could have been [Pittsburg, California](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburg,_California). ---
**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 10, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/27 "2017-09-10T06:54:22Z")
I’ve never had root beer, but maybe that should be next on my list of things my daughter should see what it tastes like ;). _Ginger_ beer I’ve had (as often as possible) Ginger’s a root, right? Is root beer liquorice-like? I thought the Sarsaparilla had a rather liquorice taste, but my two liquorice-loving family members swear not. The ingredients list gives me no clue here, since it’s all carbonated water, sugar, and E-numbers ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2017, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/28 "2017-09-10T07:13:58Z")
Maybe you could use it like Coke to remove rust stains at the bottom of the dunny. Apart from that, I’ve got nothin’. It’s not fit for human consumption, and god knows how it ever got invented into a soft-drink. ---
**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 10, 2017, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/29 "2017-09-10T15:39:54Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > And maybe not quite as much but around Pittsburgh as well. 😉 Now head north-east to the Endless Mountains and its all Birch Beer. Damn it, i _knew_ that looked wrong. So much for trusting in spell-check. Maybe spell-check in based in Kansas or California? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/30 "2017-09-10T21:15:36Z")
> [@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 think that is one of Donald Sobol’s _Two Minute Mysteries_. I remember the story too. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/31 "2017-09-11T03:57:29Z")
Sarsaparilla is very popular in Taiwan. Here’s a commercial: [hey soong sarsaparilla - Bing video](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hey+soong+sarsaparilla&&view=detail&mid=CBF20D1441C58978CCA3CBF20D1441C58978CCA3&&FORM=VDRVRV) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/32 "2017-09-11T05:16:37Z")
What’s a dunny?? ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/33 "2017-09-11T08:56:40Z")
I was about to offer that Sarsparilla is relatively popular in Australia before noting where you were located. :smack: Curious to know which brand you bought? As to other uses? Why, Drink it up! I love a nice Sarsparilla, my personal favourite is the Bundaberg brand. I miss it, along with many other foods from home. ☹ If you didn’t like Sars, don’t bother trying Root Beer, they are similar enough that whatever you found offensive in the Sars, you will similarly dislike in root beer. ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/34 "2017-09-11T09:01:09Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > What’s a dunny?? The place to take a slash, the toilet. 😃 ---
**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 11, 2017, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/35 "2017-09-11T09:10:36Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > Sarsaparilla is very popular in Taiwan. Here’s a commercial: [hey soong sarsaparilla - Search Videos](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=hey+soong+sarsaparilla&&view=detail&mid=CBF20D1441C58978CCA3CBF20D1441C58978CCA3&&FORM=VDRVRV) AHA! At least two and possibly all three of the Mandarin teachers at my kids’ primary school are Taiwanese. End of term present … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/36 "2017-09-11T15:35:06Z")
Anybody ever pronounce it as spelled, _sar-sap-a-rilla_? I did, once. ---
**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 11, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/37 "2017-09-11T16:19:25Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’ve never had root beer, but maybe that should be next on my list of things my daughter should see what it tastes like ;). _Ginger_ beer I’ve had (as often as possible) Ginger’s a root, right? Yes. When I lived in New Zealand I found that ginger beer was much more popular than it is in the US. Of course in the US ginger _ale_ is very popular, but I think the taste isn’t as strong as typical ginger beer. > [@](#): > > Is root beer liquorice-like? I thought the Sarsaparilla had a rather liquorice taste, but my two liquorice-loving family members swear not. The ingredients list gives me no clue here, since it’s all carbonated water, sugar, and E-numbers I was going to say that I don’t find anything in common with liquorice, but I see that the [Wiki page on root beer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_beer) includes it as one potential ingredient. But I don’t think that most of the ingredients the list are typically found in root beer. Root beer was originally made from sassafras root. However, I see that Barq’s, one of the more famous brands of root beer, was originally flavored with sarsaparilla rather than sassafras. I have occasionally had birch beer, flavored with birch bark, which also tastes very much like root beer. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/38 "2017-09-11T17:08:09Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > I’ve never had root beer, but maybe that should be next on my list of things my daughter should see what it tastes like ;). _Ginger_ beer I’ve had (as often as possible) Ginger’s a root, right? > > Is root beer liquorice-like? I thought the Sarsaparilla had a rather liquorice taste, but my two liquorice-loving family members swear not. The ingredients list gives me no clue here, since it’s all carbonated water, sugar, and E-numbers Ginger beer and Root beer taste nothing at all alike. Some root beers and some sarsaparilla and even some birch beer do taste alike. Quite sweet, with yes, a little licorice. ---
**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 12, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/39 "2017-09-12T01:39:12Z")
Birch Beer, like Sarsaparilla, seems to me to be a Pennsylvania thing, at least in the northeast. I can get Birch Beer in central PA, but not much further east than that. Root Beer, on the other hand, is available everywhere. Any reason for that, aside from local taste, and the ambition of retailers to satisfy that? ---
**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 12, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883/40 "2017-09-12T01:49:48Z")
I get birch beer all the time here in NJ. I think I have some in the house right now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-actual-use-for-sarsaparilla/795883.md?page=3)