1919 Root Beer Recipe

Prepare botanicals

If using whole vanilla bean, split it lengthwise and scrape seeds. Place the split bean, seeds, sassafras bark (or extract), sarsaparilla root, wintergreen leaves (or extract), star anise, allspice berries, dried ginger, and lemon zest into a medium saucepan.

Add 6 cups water to the saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Do not boil vigorously; maintain a low simmer to extract flavors for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, reduce heat to low, add granulated sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and salt. Stir until sugars are fully dissolved, keeping the mixture at a low simmer for another 5 minutes to integrate flavors and slightly thicken the syrup.

Remove the saucepan from heat and allow the mixture to steep and cool for 30–45 minutes. This resting step deepens flavor extraction from the herbs and spices.

Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a heatproof bowl or pitcher, pressing gently on solids to extract as much syrup as possible. Discard solids.

If you used a vanilla bean, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract now (if you used extract earlier, it’s already included). Taste the concentrate and adjust: if it’s too strong, add 1/4 cup warm water; if too weak, return gently to heat and simmer 2–3 minutes to concentrate further. Let cool to room temperature.

To make ready-to-drink root beer, combine 1 part root beer concentrate to 3 parts cold water as a starting point. For this recipe, mix approximately 3 cups concentrate with 9–12 cups cold water depending on desired strength and sweetness. Stir to combine.

For a fizzy commercial-style finish, chill the diluted root beer thoroughly (at least 2 hours). Then either carbonate in a soda siphon or soda-maker following the manufacturer instructions, or gently stir in chilled club soda to taste (start with 2–4 cups).

Serve over ice in tall glasses. For root beer floats, add a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream to each glass just before serving.

Store any leftover concentrate refrigerated in a sealed jar for up to 2 weeks. Diluted finished soda keeps refrigerated for 2–3 days; re-carbonate or stir before serving if fizz has diminished.