It’s a funny word. For some, it conjures up images of parched cowboys at the saloon after a dusty day on the prairie. For others, it harkens back to the neighborhood soda counter where teenagers sipped cherry cola from a striped paper straw. And for some, it’s just a big “huh”?
So, let us give you the low down on Sarsaparilla; it is a carbonated soft drink made from the root of the native Central American plant smilax ornate. The climbing, woody vine grows deep in the canopy of the rainforest. In Spanish, this plant is known as zarzaparrilla, and it is native to South America, Jamaica, the Caribbean, Mexico, Honduras, and the West Indies.
The sarsaparilla root was used in the early days as medicine. Furthermore, it was considered a natural remedy for health ailments and contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
Charles E Hires, the founder of Hires Root Beer, first experimented with sarsaparilla in his Philadelphia pharmacy in 1869. He sold root beer made with sarsaparilla as a cold drink at the Centennial Exposition in 1976.
Our all-natural, vegan, gluten-free Cherry & Sarsaparilla Fruit Notes add a modern twist to the sarsaparilla tale. The nostalgic taste of cherry cola combined with the medicinal properties of a cannabis gummy in one delicious bite.