Sarsaparilla is one of those flavours everyone of a certain age remembers from a jar on a sweet-shop counter, even if hardly anyone could tell you what it's actually flavoured with.
A root, not a berry
Sarsaparilla comes from the root of Smilax ornata, a climbing vine, rather than anything fruit-related despite the name's sweet sound. It's long been confused and conflated with sassafras, a different plant used for a very similar purpose — historically, drinks sold as "sarsaparilla" sometimes actually contained sassafras instead, and the two names got muddled for generations.
From tonic to everyday drink
The flavour's roots go back to traditional small beers in England and Europe, where spruce or birch bark was a common flavouring, prized partly for its reputed scurvy-guarding properties. When colonists reached North America, they adopted Native American use of sarsaparilla and sassafras roots for the same kind of brewing. The resulting drink was sold as much as a health tonic as a refreshment — a reputation it carried for a long time, even though many of the stronger medicinal claims attached to it over the years were exaggerated.
Victorian Britain's favourite root drink
By the Victorian era, sarsaparilla's pleasant taste was well known across Britain, and sarsaparilla cordial — milder and less medicinal-tasting than its American root beer cousin — became an established drink in its own right, with some UK sellers dating the cordial back to the 18th century. The flavour eventually made the jump from bottled cordial to boiled sweets, giving it the second life most people now actually know it from.
Why root beer won out in America
Over time, root beer overtook sarsaparilla as the dominant name and flavour profile in the US, partly because safety concerns around sassafras pushed commercial production toward artificial flavouring. Sarsaparilla as a named drink and sweet flavour held on more strongly in Britain, Malaysia and the Philippines, where it's still made today.
What we stock
We carry the classic boiled-sweet version in bulk: Dobsons Sarsaparilla Jar 2.72kg for a traditional jar sweet, and Dobsons Sarsaparilla Mega Lollies for the same flavour in a lollipop format. Both sit within our wider Dobsons range.
Frequently asked questions
What does sarsaparilla actually taste like?
Similar to root beer but milder and less medicinal — earthy and slightly sweet, often alongside vanilla, wintergreen or anise notes.
Is sarsaparilla the same as root beer?
Related, not identical — both come from the same tradition of root-flavoured small beers, but root beer became the dominant US name while sarsaparilla stuck in Britain.
Why was it popular in Victorian Britain?
It was sold as a tonic as much as a drink, tracing back to traditional small beers valued for their health claims, and became a well-liked cordial in its own right.
What sarsaparilla sweets does Supreme Sweets stock?
Dobsons Sarsaparilla Jar 2.72kg and Dobsons Sarsaparilla Mega Lollies, both bulk-jar formats.
Sources: Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets (via Wiktionary); Insanely Good Recipes: Root Beer vs Sarsaparilla; Mr Fitzpatrick's: Roots and Spices.