Not Just Whiskey Or Coffee: Cowboys Swigged This Forgotten Drink In The Old West

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Contrary to what you might see in movies or on TV, cowboys were not always tossing back only coffee or whiskey (though they certainly consumed plenty of whiskey and ordered it in "fingers.") Another beverage that was popular in the gunslinging days of the Old West was sarsaparilla, a non-alcoholic drink made from the dried roots of several types of Smilax plants. If you've heard of it, you might have heard it mispronounced as "sasparilla." This drink, often served in brown glass bottles, experienced its heyday among settlers and travelers during westward expansion, but Native Americans had been making a medicinal drink based on the Smilax plant since at least the 1400s.

Sarsaparilla's popularity among cowboys likely rested on the fact that it covered a lot of bases. With its fragrant aroma and spicy sweet (though somewhat bitter and medicinal) flavor, it was a common thirst quencher, but it was also a "jack of all trades" sort of health tonic. The Smilax root was thought to increase one's overall vigor and cure everything from digestive issues to sexually transmitted infections and even tuberculosis — common threats during the time and place of the American cowboy. Needless to say, those health promises were overselling sarsaparilla, but the beverage seemed to keep the bellyaching at bay.

Ironically, though sarsaparilla was a popular drink for much of the 19th century, many beverages referred to as sarsaparilla didn't contain the Smilax root at all. As with much of food lore, it isn't clear precisely how or when the recipes began to vary, but some versions contained a different root heavy on the letter "s": sassafras. Slightly less earthy in flavor, sassafras is actually one of the roots that go into root beer. Though there isn't a definitive moment that sarsaparilla started to fade into the sunset, it did ultimately get eclipsed in popularity by creamier and sweeter tasting root beer, which incorporates flavorings like vanilla and caramel along with roots like sassafras. During the time of the Old West, the names got a little muddied. A cowboy feeling a little hungover (or otherwise ill) may have asked the bartender or pharmacist for sarsaparilla and been handed a sassafras drink referred to as either "root beer" or "sarsaparilla" — and he likely wouldn't have minded or even known the difference.

If you'd like to channel your inner cowboy, you can find sarsaparilla soda online (such as Sioux City Sarsaparilla on Amazon) or at select grocery stores and specialty retailers. Sarsaparilla isn't always included in the ingredients lists, but trust that any beverage with the name is designed to taste like a stronger-flavored cousin of root beer. Then rustle up some grub like John Wayne's peppered cowboy steaks or soup with actual salt pork (a vintage preserved meat that kept cowboys going in the Old West), and wash it all down with a cold sarsaparilla soda — old Western movie watching optional.