Bob Terwilliger wrote:
> Sky wrote:
>
>> Since both gumbo file' and rootbeer are derived from sassafras, can they
>> be substituted for each other?
>
> Root beer has more than just sassafras flavor. (Note that the FDA banned
> sassafras in root beer quite a few years ago.) You can REALLY taste the
> wintergreen in some brands of root beer. Birch beer and sarsparilla are
> similar to root beer but not much like gumbo filé. Of course you don't have
> ANY natural flavors in the cheap root beers. (Hmmm... Given that wintergreen
> flavor flavor I mentioned, I wonder how root beer would be as the braising
> liquid for lamb.)
>
> So the bottom line is no, they really can't be substituted for each other;
> they're not very much alike.
>
> Bob
>

If you want something similar to commercial rootbeer, use those little
bottles of McCormick's or Schilling's rootbeer extract and follow the
directions -- they make 5 gallons, and it doesn't keep very well.

If you want to make your own from scratch, and want it to taste
recognizable, rather than sassafras I think the primary flavors should
be wintergreen and molasses with a little vanilla. (wild cherry bark
is another possibility.)

Filé powder won't work at all. Well, maybe as a minor ingredient, but
it won't get you the sassafras root smell you want.

Bob

On 6/11/2010 11:07 AM, zxcvbob wrote:
> If you want something similar to commercial rootbeer, use those little
> bottles of McCormick's or Schilling's rootbeer extract and follow the
> directions -- they make 5 gallons, and it doesn't keep very well.
>
> If you want to make your own from scratch, and want it to taste
> recognizable, rather than sassafras I think the primary flavors should
> be wintergreen and molasses with a little vanilla. (wild cherry bark
> is another possibility.)
>
> Filé powder won't work at all. Well, maybe as a minor ingredient, but
> it won't get you the sassafras root smell you want.
>
> Bob

When I was a kid, my sister and I would dig up small pieces of sassafras
root for my grandmother. She would steep it in a pot of hot water, then
sweeten it. I tasted it when it was hot and tasted like root beer. I
never tasted it chilled.

Becca

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:34:45 -0500, Becca > wrote:

> When I was a kid, my sister and I would dig up small pieces of sassafras
> root for my grandmother.

My grandmother made it too, except we didn't harvest roots although we
did have sassafras growing in the woods.

> She would steep it in a pot of hot water, then
> sweeten it. I tasted it when it was hot and tasted like root beer. I
> never tasted it chilled.

I've never equated sassafras tea and the taste of root beer, nor do I
taste any mint in modern root beer. We don't drink sweet tea
either... not even when it's sassafras.

--
Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:34:45 -0500, Becca wrote:

> On 6/11/2010 11:07 AM, zxcvbob wrote:
>> If you want something similar to commercial rootbeer, use those little
>> bottles of McCormick's or Schilling's rootbeer extract and follow the
>> directions -- they make 5 gallons, and it doesn't keep very well.
>>
>> If you want to make your own from scratch, and want it to taste
>> recognizable, rather than sassafras I think the primary flavors should
>> be wintergreen and molasses with a little vanilla. (wild cherry bark
>> is another possibility.)
>>
>> Filé powder won't work at all. Well, maybe as a minor ingredient, but
>> it won't get you the sassafras root smell you want.
>>
>> Bob
>
> When I was a kid, my sister and I would dig up small pieces of sassafras
> root for my grandmother. She would steep it in a pot of hot water, then
> sweeten it. I tasted it when it was hot and tasted like root beer. I
> never tasted it chilled.
>
> Becca

i used to make sassafras tea when i was a kid, too. it was good.

your pal,
blake

blake murphy wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 14:34:45 -0500, Becca wrote:

>> When I was a kid, my sister and I would dig up small pieces of sassafras
>> root for my grandmother. She would steep it in a pot of hot water, then
>> sweeten it. I tasted it when it was hot and tasted like root beer. I
>> never tasted it chilled.
>>
>> Becca
>
> i used to make sassafras tea when i was a kid, too. it was good.
>
> your pal,
> blake

We've purchased this at Kroger-very refreshing!
http://www.sassafrastea.com/home/