Root beer was created by pharmacist Charles E. Hires on May 9, 1866. It began as an herbal tea made of various roots, berries, and herbs for cough and mouth sores, inspired by a root tea served to him, on his honeymoon.
Hires sold his first root beer on June 16, 1869 in Philadelphia.
Originally, Hires packaged his herbal mixture in boxes and sold it to housewives and proprietors of soda fountains.
After spending ten years perfecting the recipe in his drugstore, Hires presented his beverage at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.
Hines decided to call his root tea powder "root beer" despite it not containing any alcohol because he wanted to market it to Pennsylvania coal miners. He thought that would sound more appetizing than "herbal tea."
Hires used aggressive advertising to help spread the word about his drink. By 1893, root beer was being distributed widely across the United States.
Hires is now part of the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.
Root Beer was one of the original eight flavors of Jelly Belly beans.
A consequence of the prohibition law was that manufacturers of soft drinks such as root beer saw their sales greatly increase.
The A&W of root beer fame stands for Allen and Wright.
Root beer is traditionally made using the roots of the sassafras tree (sassafras) or the vine Smilax ornata (sarsaparilla) as the main flavor.
After sassafras was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960 due to the controversially claimed carcinogenicity of its constituent safrole, most commercial root beer recipes stopped containing sassafras. Some commercial root beers do use a safrole-free sassafras extracts and sassafras remains an ingredient in use among hobby or microbrew enthusiasts.
Hires sold his first root beer on June 16, 1869 in Philadelphia.
Originally, Hires packaged his herbal mixture in boxes and sold it to housewives and proprietors of soda fountains.
After spending ten years perfecting the recipe in his drugstore, Hires presented his beverage at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition.
Hines decided to call his root tea powder "root beer" despite it not containing any alcohol because he wanted to market it to Pennsylvania coal miners. He thought that would sound more appetizing than "herbal tea."
Hires used aggressive advertising to help spread the word about his drink. By 1893, root beer was being distributed widely across the United States.
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| A Hires' Rootbeer advertisement from 1894. |
Root Beer was one of the original eight flavors of Jelly Belly beans.
A consequence of the prohibition law was that manufacturers of soft drinks such as root beer saw their sales greatly increase.
The A&W of root beer fame stands for Allen and Wright.
Root beer is traditionally made using the roots of the sassafras tree (sassafras) or the vine Smilax ornata (sarsaparilla) as the main flavor.
 |
| A mug of root beer. By Markmark28 - |
After sassafras was banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1960 due to the controversially claimed carcinogenicity of its constituent safrole, most commercial root beer recipes stopped containing sassafras. Some commercial root beers do use a safrole-free sassafras extracts and sassafras remains an ingredient in use among hobby or microbrew enthusiasts.
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