Root beer

[Cambo]

(Note: looked for a soft drinks thread or some such, search threw up nothing, but if there is one, happy to be moved there.)

Not a common drink in NZ, in fact, first time I'd seen it was when I curiously picked it up from the local dairy last week. I knew it was a big American soft drink, thanks mainly to Stephen King's tendency to childhood nostalgia.

YUM! I'm a big soft drink fan (more than is likely good for me), and I've found a new favourite for now. I like how it's a little bit spicy, and the vanilla tastes like just a little hint rather than the sickliness of Vanilla Coke.

I can see this being a rather limited thread, but just wanted to share.

[Menolly]

If you can find birch beer, or sarsparilla (although I much prefer birch beer, myself), you now have to give them a try. Blows standard root beer away, IMO. And then there's the butter beer served at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. OMGoodness!

However, if you can find root beer on tap, and by that I mean from a barrel, not your typical Fanta/A&W-tap root beer, you are in for a truly creamy treat. There's a stand every year at the local medieval faire which brews their own root beer, cream soda, and orange soda and then dispenses it via tap by order. Yum!

[Vraith]

Just raising my hand to say I'm a birch beer and root beer fan. tasties!
Cream soda, too, though it's got too much sweetness for all the time. But when I want it, I want it.

[DoctorGamgee]

Root bear is awesome! There is a company in America called Watkins that sells Root Beer Extract for cooking which I have found really awesome too. I don't know what the shipping to New Zealand would be on that, but if you can get it, it would be an interesting addition.

Lots of great recipies for BBQ sauces with it, as well as some great ideas for use in other things.

Doc

[aliantha]

Root beer is made from sassafras root. A Fun Fact to Know and Tell (tm)! You can also make a tasty iced tea from sassafras concentrate.



Erm, I did have a point... Oh yeah! I have a recipe for making your own cream soda!

1 2-liter bottle of chilled sparkling water or seltzer
1 cup granulated sugar (experiment with a touch of brown sugar or molasses)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Pour 2 cups of seltzer water out of the bottle (and do whatever you would normally do with plain seltzer). In a 2-cup measure, dissolve the sugar in 2 cups of cool tap water. Add the vanilla extract and mix well. This is your flavored syrup.

Slowly pour the syrup into the bottle of seltzer. It helps to prevent foaming if you tip the seltzer bottle and pour the syrup down the side of the bottle.

Cap the seltzer bottle and gently rock it back and forth to mix the syrup and water. Let sit a few minutes and then taste-test your soda.

[Cameraman Jenn]

I do love root beer and birch beer but sarsparilla soda on it's own seems to be a bit much for me. It's definitely interesting to kinda see what's the soda of preference for different areas around the states. Growing up in MA, every vending machine and store had ginger ale by the score. Here in SF, ginger ale is hard to come by and NEVER seen in a vending machine such as one by coke or pepsi. My friend Terry who became a fan of ginger ale through me, recently visited New England for the first time and one of the high points for her was being able to get decent ginger ale all over the place including restaurants. When it comes to ginger ale, this is one of my faves:
www.blenheimgingerale.com/

[Cambo]

I like sarsparilla too! Menolly, unfortunately root beer is so uncommon here that I doubt I'd be able to locate anything but the Pepsi brand. Maybe at a food festival...maybe. Australian company Bundaberg has their own sarsparilla drink, which is tasty as hell. Creaming soda is a favourite, as well, and popular enough here that you can find some delicious independently brewed ones.

Could someone explain birch beer to me?

Thanks for recipe, Ali. But what is seltzer? I think we're running into a cultural translation problem there. Would I possibly know it as soda water?

[Vraith]

But what is seltzer? I think we're running into a cultural translation problem there. Would I possibly know it as soda water?

Technically, seltzer is water with pure co2 pressure infused. Soda water is carbonated but with sodium or potassium bicarbonate, which barely changes the taste, [especially once mixed] and makes it less acidic. In most cases they're interchangeable in drinks though I know a couple people who claim to be able to taste the difference. [soda water is also often called club soda in the u.s. at least.]
Tonic water is different, even though you didn't ask. It has quinine, [and maybe some sugar? not sure of that part] which makes it good for gin and such, not so good for whisky and such.

[aliantha]

I'm glad Vraith knew the answer, Cambo, because I would've had to google it... And yes, here in the States we can get seltzer, club soda or tonic water as a mixer.

The beverage companies here have been playing around with fizzy water, adding flavorings and fake sweeteners. I prefer seltzer with a little flavoring but no sweetener. Vintage is my favorite brand -- cheap (usually 69 cents for a 1-liter bottle) and tasty.

[TerisasMirror]

There's a stand every year at the local medieval faire which brews their own root beer, cream soda, and orange soda and then dispenses it via tap by order. Yum!

HOGGETOWNE ROCKS! I have got to get there this year.

Menolly, unfortunately root beer is so uncommon here that I doubt I'd be able to locate anything but the Pepsi brand.

Too bad. There are some great independents in the US. My favorite was bought by Coca-Cola and (thank goodness!) they had the brains to not mess with the formula. Its Barq's (pronounced Bark's). Originally a local southern Louisiana root beer, and the only commercially available root beer that contains caffeine.

Could someone explain birch beer to me?

It's similar to root beer, but is made using oil distilled from birch tree sap. An alcoholic version is possible, if you ferment the sap & use the fermented sap instead of the oil. Birch beer is more common in the northern US, I think. Down here it's sarsaparilla or root beer.

[Menolly]

There's a stand every year at the local medieval faire which brews their own root beer, cream soda, and orange soda and then dispenses it via tap by order. Yum!

HOGGETOWNE ROCKS! I have got to get there this year.

Fellow Watcher Hyperception just won a pair of tickets to the faire and a Hoggetowne Medieval Faire t-shirt on WIND-FM earlier this week. The first weekend is the week after I go in to the hospital. We hope I'm up to attending by then, but if not, there will always be the following weekend.

Menolly, unfortunately root beer is so uncommon here that I doubt I'd be able to locate anything but the Pepsi brand.

Too bad. There are some great independents in the US. My favorite was bought by Coca-Cola and (thank goodness!) they had the brains to not mess with the formula. Its Barq's (pronounced Bark's). Originally a local southern Louisiana root beer, and the only commercially available root beer that contains caffeine.

I'm not even a fan of Barq's; I truly only like the independents I've had.

Could someone explain birch beer to me?

It's similar to root beer, but is made using oil distilled from birch tree sap. An alcoholic version is possible, if you ferment the sap & use the fermented sap instead of the oil. Birch beer is more common in the northern US, I think. Down here it's sarsaparilla or root beer.

You can occasionally find birch beer by Sioux City in the area. That's a brand I do enjoy.

[MsMary]

Nothing compares to the homemade root beer I've had. The commercial varieties are all way too sweet.

[Menolly]

Homemade root beer, MsMary? Again, I've had microbrewed at medieval faires versions, but I'm uncertain if that is what you mean. Do you have a recipe you can share for the homemade one(s)?

[MsMary]

I've never brewed it myself, only tasted others' homemade brews. So I don't have any recipes, sorry!

[sgt.null]

i need to try the Moxie Creme Soda...