How Root Beer Changed the Business World
31 July 2011
A Sonic drive-in restaurant in Dover, Delaware
BARBARA KLEIN: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: And I'm Christopher Cruise. This week on our program, we look at the history of root beer. Most Americans know it only as a soft drink enjoyed by generations of children and adults. Yet root beer played a part in shaping the modern food and beverage industry. It even launched the Marriott hotels around the world.
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BARBARA KLEIN: Root beer is a sweet drink similar to birch beer but popular mostly in North America. Different versions can be made from at least thirty choices of ingredients. These include sassafras, vanilla, wintergreen, cherry-tree bark, licorice root, black cherry and cane sugar. Brewers who make root beer can also use flavorings like nutmeg, molasses, cinnamon, clove and honey. Some versions contain caffeine.
A cool treat especially on a hot summer day is a root beer float, sometimes called a "black cow" or "brown cow." You simply fill a glass with root beer and float vanilla ice cream on the thick foam on top. Some people have their own recipes for root beer floats which you can watch them making on YouTube.
CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: But some root beers taste like bubble gum or medicine. This helps explain why not everyone likes root beer. There was even a scene about that in the movie "Big Fan."
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