Whenever 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, and tasted much like today's root beer. A carbonated beverage called sarsaparilla is still manufactured today, but its taste is largely the result of artificial flavorings. The original formula for the sarsaparilla beverage is often a source of debate.

The sarsaparilla plant is mostly a vine, found primarily in Mexico, Central America and South America. The most valued portion of the sarsaparilla is the root, which has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, much like ginseng or licorice root. Natural sarsaparilla 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 called sarsaparilla was born, years before other chemists would invent other medicinal drinks like the original Pepsi and 7-Up.

The debate over the true nature of the sarsaparilla or sasparilla beverage starts with the ingredients that provide its name. The sarsaparilla plant was most definitely used as a medicinal tonic, and it was often served as a sweetened beverage. Other formulas substituted sarsaparilla root with a combination of birch oil and sassafras, a tree found in the western United States.

Some believe the informal name of the drink, sasparilla, indicates the use of sassafras extract. Others say the name is a corruption of the original sarsaparilla. The modern beverage is closer to a birch oil/sassafras mixture than the more bitter sarsaparilla extract.

Extracts from the sarsaparilla plant are still sold for medicinal purposes, and the roots can be purchased in certain grocery or health food stores. The beverage called sarsaparilla can be a little more difficult to find. Smaller bottling companies may produce a version for local consumption, but the national interest in sarsaparilla's cousin root beer has shrunk considerably. The chances of bellying up to the bar and demanding a sasparilly are rather small these days, sad to say.