Nearly all bottled soft drinks are colored artificially. Sarsaparillas ordinarily are colored with caramel, which is made by carefully heating sugar or glucose. Sarsaparilla produces small flowers and black, blue, or red berry-like fruits which are eaten greedily by birds. Smilax, a member of the lily family, is a genus of about 350 species, found in temperate, tropical and subtropical zones worldwide.
The plants belonging to this genus are found throughout Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas. The name sarsaparilla or zarzaparilla comes from the Spanish word zarza (bramble or bush), parra (vine), and illa (small)—a small, brambled vine. Sarsaparilla root was used as a general tonic by indigenous tribes in South America, where New World traders found it and introduced it into European medicine in the 1400s.
The roots of sarsaparilla contain a high concentration of nutrients and organic compounds that can be added to soups, stews, herbal supplements, drinks, and desserts.
Sarsaparilla in beverages
