Plants and Root Beer

Plants and their integration into one of our favorite beverages - root beer - is one of those recipes that has evolved over the years. Original root beers were a bit different than today's versions. Most of today's versions predominate with wintergreen, and some vanilla. Centuries ago they may have contained ginger, licorice, juniper berries, and usually predominated with Sassafras and Sarsaparilla. The common theme though is that the drink varied by culture and locale and took on its own unique characteristics. It is difficult to find commercial versions of root beers made with these organic plant materials today, but some smaller companies are doing it.