When the cartoon character Yosemite Sam burst through the doors of an Old West saloon, he routinely asked for a "sasparilly, and make it snappy!" The drink was actually called either sarsaparilla or sasparilla. It was made from the root of the sarsaparilla plant, and it tasted much like today's root beer. A carbonated beverage called sarsaparilla is still manufactured, but its taste is largely the result of artificial flavorings.
The sarsaparilla plant, or Smilax regelii, is mostly a vine and is found primarily in Central America and South America. The most valued portion of the plant is its root, which has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, much like ginseng or licorice root. The plant's root is very bitter, so it was a common practice for pharmacists to distill the useful chemicals and mix them with sugar water. Thus a popular beverage was born, years before other chemists would invent other medicinal drinks such as the original formulations of some well-known soft drinks.
There has been much debate over the true formula of the original beverage. The Smilax regelii plant was definitely used as a medicinal tonic, and it was often served as a sweetened beverage. Other formulas used a combination of birch oil and sassafras as a substitute for sarsaparilla root.
Some people believe that the informal name of the drink, sasparilla, indicates the use of sassafras extract. Others say that the name is a corruption or mispronunciation of its actual name. The modern beverage is closer to a mixture of birch oil and sassafras than the more bitter sarsaparilla extract.
Extracts from the Smilax regelii plant still are sold for medicinal purposes, and the roots can be purchased in many grocery stores or health food stores. The beverage, however, can be a little more difficult for consumers to find. Smaller bottling companies might produce a version for local consumption, but the popularity of root beer has led to a considerable reduction in popularity of traditional sarsaparilla. Indeed, the chances of someone bellying up to the bar and demanding a "sasparilly" have become rather small.