How to Make a Root Beer Elixir for Health

by Ruth

Don’t be put off by the possibly esoteric list of herbs, or the number of steps, or the length of prep time… Enjoy the process of creating and brewing your family into epic health and relish in the joy that comes from seeing them enjoy a special beverage that totally and 100% supports their health and totally 100% pleases their taste buds. And for anyone who in their pre-raw days consumed a lot of root beer… now you can once more, this time guilt free!

My husband loves the flavour of root beer. In Australia, the closest substitute is Sarsaparilla soda. Both of these, however, aren’t exactly something I’d be happy with my children drinking and definitely not something I’d choose for myself.
I’m pretty sure all the raw mom readers are aware of how damaging consuming pop (or soft drink as us Aussies call it) is for our families’ health. I’m also pretty sure there are at least a few moms out there whose kids still would LOVE it if they served them root beer as a treat. Well… now you can… and as your loved ones enjoy the yummy root beer goodness, you can enjoy the fact that you are supporting their vibrant health rather than compromising it.

HOW TO CREATE A ROOT BEER ELIXIR STEP-BY-STEP

1. Fill a saucepan (ideally heat proof glass) with around 2 litres of cold spring water.
2. Gather and place into your pot of water:
   • 3 TB sarsaparilla root
   • 2 TB burdock root
   • 2 TB dandelion root (make sure it’s raw, not the roasted coffee substitute)
   • 2 TB licorice root -
     (I used all dried, but if fresh is available to you, use fresh instead, just double the amounts.)
   • 2 TB freshly grated ginger
   • 1 vanilla bean, snipped into 4 pieces
3. Slowly simmer the herbs in the water until it gently boils, reduce the heat and let mixture infuse for a couple of hours at least (overnight even).
4. Strain mixture and add sweeteners. I personally use a couple of spoonfuls each of molasses and evaporated cane juice and then reheat the brew to boiling and let reduce to a syrupy consistency. Remember that the licorice itself adds a sweet flavour, so use less concentrated sweetener then you normally would. I like molasses for the colour and iron content even though it isn’t raw. I haven’t tried it yet, but I bet simmering dates in the brew would work fine. Or just add straight up honey. You could even add in some cinnamon and stevia for sweetness without calories. I’m a little more lax on the sweeteners for this, as it isn’t an everyday drink.
5. Let cool and decant into a glass bottle.
6. Add 5 – 10 drops WINTERGREEN essential oil and shake vigorously.
7. Store in fridge for up to a week. Use about 1/3 root beer mix to water (using sparkling mineral water gives you the same bubbly feeling as the regular pop version does and seriously kids of all ages love it… just don’t tell them it’s healthy!)

The most important ingredients to replicate that root beer taste are the sarsaparilla and the wintergreen. Feel free to experiment with the others. All the dried root herbs are liver tonics. Pretty much everyone’s liver in western society could use a little help and cleanse. Go easy on this stuff if you are pregnant. The licorice helps carry the other herbs to where they are needed in the body (i.e. the liver) but also has the tendency to increase blood pressure (another reason to exercise caution drinking this during pregnancy). All the ingredients are safe for children. The wintergreen really is the key ingredient. If you are at all cautious about ingesting essential oils check out the chapter on using essential oils in food preparation in the book Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine by Gabriel Cousens. I love using essential oils in my food, especially cardamom essential oil (but that is a whole other post in itself). You can buy wintergreen oil from the Hulda Clark store where she uses it in her healing protocols.

Seriously, Wintergreen oil is amazing stuff. When I was playing around with the root beer elixir (before the addition of the wintergreen) something wasn’t quite right, so I googled traditional ways of making root beer and came across information on wintergreen leaves being the main ingredient of the root beer of yesteryear. We just happened to have some of the oil lying around, so I added it in and WOW, my cordial now tasted like the real deal. My husband gulped his glass down and begged for another.

From my research, wintergreen is a super potent healing agent for joint injuries, muscle pain, bursitis, and arthritic conditions. As it is so potent though, I would not recommend consuming extreme amounts of wintergreen. My husband is currently rehabilitating a pretty major hip injury sustained from some hectic mountain biking. If you are the mom of active and thrill seeking teen boys, that’s another reason to give this recipe a try.