SC - Sugars

[Magdalena]

Gwynydd of Culloden wrote:

>
> BTW, could someone please clear up for me what is meant in the States by "root beer"?  I have rather taken it to mean "sasparilla" while my Lady contends that it is "ginger beer".  Given that it was on a suggested list of possibles for taking to a pot luck, I have a nasty feeling that she is right.
>

    Root beer and ginger ale are not at all the same thing.  Ginger ale, rather than ginger beer, is the usual name for the carbonated (usually) soda made primarily from ginger, with additional flavoring from lemon and sometimes tartaric acid and sometimes vanilla.  Raspberry ginger ale is also very
good.  ;>
    Root beer is usually a carbonated soda made with sarsaparilla as the primary ingredient, with optional flavorings such as wintergreen, spearmint, nutmeg, anise, vanilla, cinnamon, and molasses.  Birch beer is frequently mixed up with root beer, and I've seen it sold under the name root beer.  They
do taste quite similar.
    My favorite ginger ale is the stuff I make myself.  ;>  The best root beer in the world is Virgil's Special Edition Bavarian Nutmeg Root Beer, imported from Bavaria, for which I happily pay 6$ US per pint.  Their regular stuff is excellent, but expensive for the taste.  I'm very fond of the extract
I buy at the homebrew store, but the brand escapes me.

- -Magdalena
(who adores ginger ale and root beer)