Earp's Original Sarsaparilla

A nostalgic, cane-sugar sarsaparilla that plays it safe and lands squarely in the easy-drinking middle of the category. Reviewers consistently read it as fairly sweet and on the fizzy side, with a recurring black-licorice and wintergreen-mint lift over a sarsaparilla root note that most wish were bolder; the maker's promised whisper of smoke stays faint. A couple of palates find it smooth and almost root-beer creamy, while others catch a syrupy, lingering finish and a sharp carbonation bite. Pleasant and float-friendly rather than complex, it's a reliable everyday sipper that won't thrill connoisseurs hunting for a big, woody, saponin-rich sarsaparilla.