original flavor for birch beer soda etc

[PATheron]

Where did people come up with the flavor that is what we think of as birch beer soda today? Was it just dreamed up with sugar and has nothing to do with a birch tree? I know they distilled bark to make oil but that wasn't an original flavor was it? Real birch beer that is brewed just used birch sap for volume and honey for all the sugar from what Ive seen. Can we make something from a birch tree that people say wow this tastes like birch beer soda and I really want to buy this from you and give you a lot of money for it. Theron

[Gary R]

Theron,

I've made both Birch Beer NA and with alcohol. It tastes very good. I used Black Birch sap and boiled it to a desired color. Then it is poured over a bunch of the small branch tips that are cut into small pieces. Let it steep until cool. Filter it and add additional sweetening if needed. Carbonation was the problem. I used yeast and had problems. Soda Stream is now available. It carbonates beverages. I haven't used one but I think that would be the way to go.

[DrTimPerkins]

Where did people come up with the flavor that is what we think of as birch beer soda today?

There are tons of different food products made from plant products. The origins, what they are made of, and how they are produced vary tremendously. 'Birch"-based beverages have been around for a real long time and are made in several different ways, with little regulation as to what it is or how it is made. There is birch sap (raw), beverages made from twigs, bark, birch oil, "birch" drinks made from oak bark..... Often these beverages are made from combinations of different plants and different plant parts. Most traditionally, birch beer (non-alcoholic) is made from the extract of birch bark with added sugar and perhaps other herbs. Today most of the flavoring agents in birch beer are synthetic.

[GeneralStark]

There are a number of traditional birch beer recipes out there. The primary chemical that birch contains to produce the "wintergreen" flavor is methyl salicylate. This is often extracted by boiling or soaking the twigs of the black birch.

One word of caution. This chemical is produced by the tree to discourage browsing by herbivores and it is toxic. I have a friend that brewed some traditional birch beer and became quite ill after consuming one glass.

I don't believe the sap contains this chemical, at least not in a very high concentration. Most modern birch beer soda is made using "natural" and artificial flavoring.

[PATheron]

Appreciate the info guys. Sounds like the traditional flavor came from the bark, either the twigs or distilling it to oil or whatever. Ill bet your right Gary if you did it like you did and got the flavor you wanted and then used the new soda machine youd have the good tasting soda were thinking of. In the one woods I tap its mostly all red maples with quite a few black birches and Ive been doing some thining but I didn't cater to just the maple if there were a nice ash or birch or whatever I left it and just cut down the junk. Ive thought about doing something neat with the birches but the syrup just didn't taste that good so Ive been just thinking about what I might do someday with them if anything. Theron