What is "sarsaparilla"

Sarsaparilla \Sar`sa*pa*ril"la\, n. [Sp. zarzaparrilla; zarza a bramble (perhaps fr. Bisc. zartzia) + parra a vine, or Parillo, a physician said to have discovered it.] (Bot.)

1. Any plant of several tropical American species of Smilax.

2. The bitter mucilaginous roots of such plants, used in medicine and in sirups for soda, etc.

   Note: The name is also applied to many other plants and their roots, especially to the Aralia nudicaulis, the wild sarsaparilla of the United States.

tropical American plant, 1570s, from Spanish zarzaparrilla, from zarza "bramble" (from Arabic sharas "thorny plant" or Basque sartzia "bramble") + parrilla, diminutive of parra "vine," which is of unknown origin. Hence, also, "a medicinal preparation of sarsaparilla" (1570s). In 16c.-17c. the dried roots were held to be efficient in treatment of syphilis.

n. 1 Any of various tropical (Central and South) American vines of the genus ''Smilax'', such as (taxlink Smilax regelii species noshow=1), which have fragrant roots. 2 The dried roots of these plants, or a flavoring material extracted from these roots. 3 A beverage (soft drink) flavored with this root. 4 Any of several North American plants, of the genus ''Aralia'', having umbels and small white flowers.

1. n. any of various prickly climbing plants of the tropical American genus Smilax having aromatic roots and heart-shaped leaves

2. carbonated drink flavored with an extract from sarsaparilla root or with birch oil and sassafras

Sarsaparilla is a soft drink, originally made from the Smilax regelii plant, but now sometimes made with artificial flavours.

Sarsaparilla was popular in the United States in the 19th century. According to advertisements for patent medicines of the period, it was considered to be a remedy for skin and blood problems. Ruth Tobias notes that it evokes images of "languid belles and parched cowboys." In Hollywood westerns from the 1930s to the 1950s, ordering sarsaparilla in a saloon (instead of whiskey) is often met with mockery by the manly cowboys nearby. Sarsaparilla drinks feature widely in American popular culture, particularly in works related to the American West. In the 1957–1961 ABC western television series, Sugarfoot, the title character, Tom Brewster, played by Will Hutchins, is a teetotaler who orders sarsaparilla "with a dash of cherry" whenever he enters a saloon. Sarsaparilla was also believed to be a preventative against venereal disease, possibly because of the diuretic effects of flushing the urethra after intercourse.

Nowadays, sarsaparilla is sometimes considered a type of root beer. There are dozens of brands of sarsaparilla made by microbreweries, mainly in the United States.

Sarsaparilla is not readily available in most countries, although many pubs and most major supermarket chains in the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Australia stock sarsaparilla-flavored soft drinks, and sarsaparilla remains available in the United Kingdom as a legacy of the temperance movement. Australian sarsaparilla has a different flavor from American root beer or sarsaparilla. Bundaberg brews sarsaparilla from "real sarsaparilla root, licorice root, vanilla beans, and molasses."

Sarsi is a sarsaparilla-based drink popular in Asia.

Sarsaparilla is produced on a small scale in the United Kingdom. Baldwin's produces a Sarsaparilla Cordial in the United Kingdom, and have done so since 1844. It is produced in Walworth Road, London, and is readily available in Pie & Mash shops in the East End of London, where it is popular, as well as being available in the Supermarket Tesco. In the north of England, sarsaparilla is still produced by Fitzpatrick's, Britain's last Temperance bar, indicating its previous importance to the temperance movement there.

U.S. classic sarsaparilla was not made from the extract of the sarsaparilla plant, a tropical vine distantly related to the lily. It was originally made from a blend of birch oil and sassafras, the dried root bark of the sassafras tree. Sassafras was widely used as a home remedy in the nineteenth century – taken in sufficient doses, it induces sweating, which some people thought had health benefits. Sarsaparilla apparently made its debut as a patent medicine, an easy-to-take form of sassafras, much as Coca-Cola (then an easy-to-take form of cocaine) was first marketed in 1885 as a remedy for hangovers, headaches, and morphine addiction. Besides the effects of the ingredients, sodas were popular in the United States at the time, due to the belief that carbonated water had health benefits.