Sarsaparilla is a soft drink, originally made from the Smilax ornata or other plants, but now sometimes made with artificial ingredients. In most Southeast Asian countries, it is known as sarsi, and there is a Sarsi brand. It is similar to root beer.
History
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". Sarsaparilla is sometimes considered to be a type of root beer. There are dozens of brands of sarsaparilla made by microbreweries, mainly in the United States.
Availability
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-flavoured soft drinks, and sarsaparilla remains available in the United Kingdom as a legacy of the temperance movement. Australian sarsaparilla, produced by major manufacturers such as Bundaberg Brewed Drinks, has a different flavour from American root beer or sarsaparilla. Sarsi is a sarsaparilla-based drink popular in Asia.
United Kingdom
Sarsaparilla is produced on a small scale in the United Kingdom. Baldwin's has produced a Sarsaparilla cordial continuously since 1844. It is produced in Walworth Road, London, and it is readily available in pie and mash shops in the East End of London, where it is popular, as well as being available in some supermarkets. In the North of England sarsaparilla is produced by Fitzpatrick's, Britain's last temperance bar, reflecting its former importance to the temperance movement there.
United States
Classic U.S. 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 It was originally made from a blend of birch oil and sassafras, the dried root bark of the sassafras tree.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 19th 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 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.
Sarsi (brand)
Philippines
In the Philippines, Sarsi is a brand name for a sarsaparilla drink originally manufactured by Cosmos Bottling Corporation, a local company that is now a subsidiary of Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines, Inc. Cosmos Bottling Corporation was established in 1918 as Manila Aerated Water Company. Sarsi was originally branded as Cosmos Sarsaparilla until the 1970s. The unique taste that separates Sarsi from other sarsaparilla-based soft drinks is attributed to the sugar substitutesaccharin, even though its "regular" formula contains high fructose corn syrup or cane sugar.
Malaysia
In Malaysia, F&N Sarsi is a brand name for a sarsaparilla drink manufactured by the F&N Group. It is unrelated to the brand established in the Philippines.
In Cambodia, the drink is one of the flavors sold under the Fanta brand, bottled and distributed by Cambodia Beverage Company Ltd., a unit of the Coca-Cola SABCO Group.
In China, the drink's introduction can be traced back to the 1920s, when A.S. Watson began producing sarsi in Shanghai and other Chinese cities. In the 1940s, Li Zhiyang, Li Guanling, Huang Youtong, Liang Hanqi, and Wang Zhensan were among eleven people who had worked in Watson's Canton and founded Asian Waters in Guangzhou to continue producing Sarsae there and in other mainland Chinese locations. Asia Sarsae is now produced by Xiangxue Pharmaceutical.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, Sarsae is the most popular brand of the sarsi drink. It is manufactured and distributed by the A.S. Watson Group, which pioneered in carbonated beverages in Hong Kong. The drink was the central plot device of a 1985 film called It's a Drink, It's a Bomb, about a hand grenade disguised as a Sarsae cola. Its explosive power is activated once its ringpull is released.
India
It is a popular drink in South India and called Nannari, usually served with club soda and lime juice.
Indonesia
There are two well known Sarsaparilla brands from Indonesia; Badak from North Sumatra and Indo Saparella from Special Region of Yogyakarta. Badak was established by a Swiss national named Heinrich Surbeck in 1916 in Pematangsiantar, North Sumatra and Indo Saparella was establish ca.1960 in Yogyakarta. Both brands can be found in some local restaurants and stalls.
Taiwan
HeySong Sarsaparilla is the most popular brand of sarsi drink in Taiwan. It is manufactured by HeySong Corporation. It is available in three varieties:
Regular — regular sarsaparilla flavor.
Sweetie Energy — sweet and mellow, similar to A&W's cream soda, but with added guarana extract.
Salty — significantly saltier with a bitter aftertaste, like Barq's root beer in the US.
Hi-Mark by Green Spot is the only known sarsi drink in Thailand. It has been discontinued in the market since 2000. Sarsi is now available in Thailand, 2018.
In Vietnam, the drink is one of the flavors sold under the Mirinda brand, bottled and distributed by Suntory-PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage. There are two local brands offering their own sarsi drink:
Sá Xị Chương Dương by Chuong Duong Beverages.
Wonderfarm Zizy by Interfood Shareholding Company.
