sassafras alternative

itisnot_me · 10-01-2009, 03:57 AM

hey all i have searched and searched for recipes for root beer and have found lots of them. So many my brain hurts. haha. i have come across this site a few times in my searches and thought it would be a great place to ask.

anyways i was wondering if anyone knew of an sassafras alternative. cause some recipes call for sassafras but i know about the whole ban. If there was an alternative to it, it would make these recipes a whole lot easier to make.

thanks in advance

Suthrncomfrt1884 · 10-01-2009, 01:11 PM

You can still find sassafras online. Acacia can also be used.

itisnot_me · 10-01-2009, 01:55 PM

ok cool. i looked into it and barq's root beer uses it. haha cool.

I just dont want to buy the root so i don't have someone knocking at my door. and just dont want to take the risk. So that is why i am trying to find "the" or other replacements. I want to find the best range of ingredients

i read somewhere that wintergreen has replaced the root. is there any truth to this

also what part of Acacia do i use

**Shooter** · 10-02-2009, 10:55 PM

I do know wintergreen is used in some recipes. I don't think sassfras is quite as illegal to purchase as you might have been led to believe. I think if you're selling sassafras there is a restriction on how you can market it if it still contains safrole. Use it at your own risk, personally I think that risk is overblown, but I don't think the feds, or even the locals for that matter, are going to bust down your door if you buy some sassafras.

itisnot_me · 10-03-2009, 12:17 AM

ok cool. well another reason why i am looking too would be if i could pick it up at the store instead of buying it online

thanks

KingBrianI · 10-03-2009, 12:22 AM

You can find sassafras extract at some fancy grocery stores. It will have the safrole removed so no risk of negative health effects. They use it to make tea. I had some at one point but can't seem to find any. I remember when I was a kid my grandfather would go out in the spring and dig up some sassafras roots and boil them in some water to make sassafras tea. I guess the old timers thought it helped "thin the blood" after a cold winter. Now that I think about it, maybe drinking safrole as a young child is what's wrong with me!

itisnot_me · 10-03-2009, 12:27 AM

well we can run some test to find out. haha.

i am going to be going to a asian market to see i they have some roots. i heard those are good places to check out.

thanks

talenos · 10-03-2009, 12:52 AM

I've heard the modern root beer taste her in the US at least is from wintergreen.

**Shooter** · 10-03-2009, 04:15 AM

I believe Virgil's rootbeer uses wintergreen. I may be wrong, but I tried one for the first time a few weeks back and seem to recall looking at the label to see if it had sassafras and seeing that it contained wintergreen.

dontman · 10-03-2009, 04:46 AM

Even if a commercial beer has sassafras listed as an ingredient you can be assured that it is modified to remove the safrole since the ban is on selling commercial products containing safrole.

I have several asian markets near me so I was planning to search for roots there as well. And even if they don't make great root beer they are supposed to make great root iykwim

I would love a good recipe using actual roots if someone knows of one.