Making homemade root beer is easy and fun and makes a tasty drink that is at least as delicious as your favorite store-bought variety.  What's more, you can be as simple or as fancy as you like, and you can make anything from sassafras tea to root beer to hard root beer - or all of the above!

Homemade root beer recipe

Step 1 - Identifying the Sassafras Trees - the root in "Root Beer" comes from Sassafras Root

Sassafras trees grow east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States.  And yes, Sassafras ROOT is what gives root beer its name!  Sassafras trees can be identified by either

• the leaves or
• the bark on saplings in the winter

Check out this short video on Identifying Sassafras trees here:

Step 2 - Dig up the sassafras root

Once you have identified a sassafras sapling, dig down to find the root.  Dig around some more to loosen the soil around the root and pull!  The more you have loosened the soil, the larger piece of root you will be able to pull up.  Only the horizontal underground root is used in making homemade root beer.  And yes, you are uprooting a small tree.

Worried about killing a tree?  Me too! Consider, however

• Sassafras trees grow in a colony all joined together by their roots.  The tree colony spreads by rhizomes.  A healthy colony will sprout another sapling next spring.  And pulling one sapling in a colony will not kill the parent tree or the root system of this larger organism.  Maybe you have heard of this tree colony phenomenon in Aspen trees.  Sassafras shares this characteristic.
• You could dig around more and saw off the end of a root without pulling up an entire sapling.  If you check the root systems of saplings, look for one with more shallow roots.
• Knowing this, be mindful when you are harvesting and don't overharvest.
• Make your harvested root go as far as possible so you don't need more root anytime soon.  See step 3 below!

There's one more trick to a final ID confirmation on sassafras root - the sniff test:

Step 3 - Whittling or shaving the root.

Be sure to rinse your harvested root well.  You could put the entire root as is in boiling water, or saw it up into smaller chunks, but it is by far best to whittle it into shavings.  This increases the surface area and allows more flavor to be infused into your tea and eventually homemade root beer.  With this method, you don't need to place as much root into your tea pot.

Because the aromatic part of sassafras is volatile, it is prone to lose its potency over time.  If you harvest more than you will use at one time, store the extra whole and whittle it just before brewing.

Step 4 - Make a decoction

A decoction is just a fancy word for tea made from roots or bark or other tough substances that don't dissipate into the water (substrate) as readily.  Instead of pouring boiling water over the plant matter as one does in making tea, you boil the plant mater in water for 10-15 minutes.  That's all you have to do to make a simple, pure and delectable sassafras tea and homemade root beer.  If you want it stronger, leave the lid on the pot after turning the burner off, and let the decoction steep for an additional 30 minutes.  This will make a really dark, almost opaque tea.  Mmmm!

For every ounce of fresh shavings, or about 3 Tablespoons, add 1/2 gallon of water.

If you want to get funky with your sipping creation, try this gourmet 5-star Rockin' Homemade Root Beer Recipe:

Ingredients

• 2 oz. sassafras root (shavings)
• 1/4 oz. winter green leaves
• 4 star anise
• 1/2 vanilla bean (cut into pieces)
• 1/4 cup raisins (minced finely on a light coating of cornstarch - optional)

Add to a 1/2 gallon - 1 gallon of water.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  Allow to steep off of the heat for another 30 minutes.  I gave a range.  Start with a half gallon.  If it seems too strong, you can dilute at any point with more water.

** An alternative to yeast-carbonated root beer (below) is to make a concentrate.  To make a concentrate, only use a quart of water in your decoction.  Then for every 1/2 cup of sweetened syrup concentrate, add 1.5 cups seltzer water **

Step 5 - Strain and Sweeten

This applies to simple sassafras tea or the gourmet version.

The amount of sweetening depends on your preference.  I'm used to less sweet things, so a tsp per cup is plenty for me.  Sweeten with the sweetener of your choice.  If you like homegrown, locally sourced foods, use honey.  If you want a rich-bodied sweetener that compliments the hearty-earthiness of sassafras, try brown sugar or turbinado sugar.  For a sweeter sip, use up to 1 cup per gallon.  Or more if you like!

At this point you have made sassafras tea, a delicious drink by its own right!  I haven't met a child yet who isn't delighted by a simple surprising cup of sassafras tea.  As a bonus feature, sassafras has been used for centuries as a tonic and blood purifier.

To ferment for carbonation &/or alcohol content, keep reading

Step 6 - Add yeast & ferment

To a gallon of sassafras tea (simple or spruced-up variety), add a packet of champagne or sparkling wine yeast.  If you are just carbonating for carbonation and don't want to make a strongly alcoholic drink, plain wine yeast will do.

Pour into a gallon jug with a narrow top and fit with an airlock:

To make a fizzy sassafras tea with minimal alcohol that is fairly kid-safe, allow to ferment at room temperature for two days, three at the most.

To make something as alcoholic as beer, allow to ferment for a full week.  For this too, wine yeast is sufficient

To make a really potent drink, keep fermenting until the bubbling quits.  Add some more sugar to taste.  We find this loses much of the tasty sassafras flavor, and like really strong beer, has an unappealing strongly alcoholic taste.

Again, as an alternative to yeast-carbonated root beer make a concentrate when you brew the tea.  To make a concentrate, only use a quart of water in your decoction.  Then for every 1/2 cup of sweetened syrup concentrate, add 1.5 cups seltzer water.  Instant homemade root beer - voila!

Step 7 -  Bottle

Fit with a tight, secure lid and store in the fridge.  Those little yeasty microorganisms are still alive and will continue to metabolize your sugar - more at warm temperatures.  This will create more CO2 in your drink, which could pop its top.  Keep cool - you and the rootbeer.

Isn't sassafras toxic or cancer-causing or something?

Yes and no.  The oils in sassafras root have been found to be mildly carcinogenic.  BUT,

• The volatile oils in sassafras root contain safrole.
• Safrole is also found in black pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil, and other commonly consumed items.
• The EPA lists safrole as a level B2 carcinogen based on animal studies, meaning it is probably carcinogenic to people but there is no study data on humans.
• HOWEVER, the oils are NOT water-soluble.  Therefore, the tea and homemade root beer are completely safe!
• Besides, I read somewhere (I know, I know) that the amount of carcinogens in a 12-oz serving of homemade sassafras root beer is less than that in a can of beer.  So, you decide.