Extracting Safrole to Make Government-Banned Root Beer

Safrole is a useful, naturally-occurring chemical precursor that also happens to be found in some of the foods we eat, such as nutmeg and cinnamon. Most notably though, it is found highly concentrated in the roots of the sassafras tree, which is the root that originally put the "root" in "root beer". Ever since its ban in the 1960's however, root beer just hasn't been the same. So in this video, I'll be extracting safrole from wild sassafras and using it to make my own authentic, safrole-based root beer!

Also, be sure to check out Moriah's YouTube channel: @moriahthewriter

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Notes on legality and YouTube-friendliness: safrole itself is NOT a drug. I am not showing how to make drugs. As far as I can tell, you can own safrole in the United States, but you cannot buy or sell it. The amount I made is fairly benign in the eyes of law enforcement, however, if I had made more than a few hundred grams, I might have some explaining to do!
Regarding YouTube, this type of content does not go against the community guidelines: as long as other people are allowed to put up videos of List I precursors (such as benzaldehyde, iodine, or phosphorus), I should be able to do the same.

WARNING: safrole, while fairly safe in low doses, can be poisonous if more than a few milliliters is ingested. Also, safrole itself does not possess the significant psychoactive properties that its derivatives do, so don't try getting high off of it! By the time you take enough to notice its effects, you'll be in pretty bad shape. I take no responsibility for the actions of individuals who attempt to replicate my work. I do not condone drug use or the illicit synthesis of MDMA and other amphetamines.

0:00 Intro
0:21 Root beer is a lie
1:24 Obtaining the forbidden root
2:06 Getting the safrole out
2:51 Steam distillation
4:06 Isolating and washing the safrole
5:21 Making root beer
8:36 Tasting REAL root beer!
9:53 Final thoughts
10:22 Promoting something important
11:06 Conclusion

[LabCoatz_Science]

To address some of the comments I've been getting (I wish I could address all of them personally, but there are quite a few lol):
1. Yes, I know safrole is used to make MDMA/MDA. But that is NOT why it is banned in food. You'd have to process thousands of liters of natural root beer to get any meaningful amount of safrole out, and even then, it would be contaminated with stuff like anethole (licorice/anise), which poisons the various drug syntheses with undesirable and toxic PMA. It would be completely impractical to spend thousands of dollars on root beer when you can just uproot or cultivate a few plants for free. Some have mentioned that old-fashion root beer extract was a contributing factor, since it would've contained much higher levels of safrole that could be extracted and used. Well...then why haven't they also banned almond extract? That stuff is basically a concentrated solution of benzaldehyde, and believe me, people have used it to cooked amphetamines that are much more notorious than MDMA. And again, root beer extract would still contain all of the hard-to-remove poisonous contaminants that I mentioned before, so even that would be a sub-optimal source compared to sassafras.

AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF (thanks to a commenter who brought this up): although it was made decades before, MDMA wasn't even a scheduled substance until the 80's...20 years after the safrole ban. It's therapeutic effects weren't even examined until the 70's. So as far as I'm concerned, there's no real correlation between the ban and safrole's use in drug synthesis.

2. Safrole was banned because it CAN be harmful if ingested in high doses. In low doses, it's fairly safe, which is why you can eat stuff like cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper without suffering from liver failure. That being said, safrole/sassafras is not a health food, medicine, or cure-all. It doesn't "purify the blood". It is still toxic, and any benefits from taking it are outweighed by the damage it does to your liver.

3. Plenty of you have asked about my root beer preferences and which ones I've tasted. My favorite is probably Hank's Gourmet, but A&W and its Great Value knock-off are solid choices. Some honorable mentions are: Frostie's, IBC, Barq's, Sprecher, Bawls Guarana, Triple XXX, and Sioux City...and probably more that I'm forgetting, lol. Least favorites are probably Dad's, Boylan's, and Mug (I'd still drink them though). Virgil's Bavarian Nutmeg was good, but a little weird, imo.

3.5: I recently tried birch beer, as many of you suggested, and it was pretty good! It tastes kind of like Listerine mouth wash, since the essential oil of birch is the same as wintergreen, but it wasn't bad. I still prefer root beer though!

4. When I mentioned going to Europe for "real" root beer, I was basing that comment on the fact the some countries (like Germany, according to a German chemist I know) still allow safrole in foods. It can't be added to food, but it doesn't have to be removed from it either. In other words, you could use sassafras to make root beer in some European countries. Of course, I've been told root beer is somewhat unpopular over there, so...

5. Here's why I made my root beer the way I did: this is a science/chemistry channel, therefore my focus was on extracting the safrole, not making old fashion sassafras tea the way your grandma did (hence why I didn't just steep the roots like most people do). Also, I don't have a soda stream, nor do I have the money to spend on one, so I used club soda. I've tried fermenting root beer before, and it throws off the flavor. I could've used dry ice, but that's harder to get and working with in under pressure is unnecessarily dangerous. My goal was to make something that tasted and looked like store-bought root beer, not to make a 100% all-natural brew. Hence why I was not ashamed to add extracts and food color. I tried a few other recipes found on YouTube, but they all fell flat (sorry "Glen and Friends Cooking", cinnamon DOES NOT belong in my root beer!).

6. To everyone sharing cool stories, giving helpful advice, and complimenting me (or my sister) in any way: thank you very much, I wish I had time to personally thank all of you!

Also, to the few people complaining and insulting me because I said the words "my family's lake cabin": get over it. Not everyone on YouTube is trying to show off. I'm not rich, and I only included that because it seemed relevant to the story.

[littlerayofsunshine]

My great granny would dig up sassafrass trees in the mountains of north Georgia and make her own sassafras tea. Died of a stroke in her sleep at the age of 93. She lived on her own until the age of 91.

[MrDmorgan]

I've drank sassafras tea all my life (69) and have made authenic root beer for decades. I use dried roots, brown sugar, anise but I naturally carbonate mine using champagne yeast. It doesn't add off flavors and is closest thing I've found other than the old fountain style A&W, sold at roadside stands

[tomyat]

I grew up in New Orleans, and we had a very large sassafras tree in our backyard. One day, I was playing with a post hole digger and dug up some of the roots and told my mother that it smelled just like root beer. She told me that her mother showed her how to make sassafras tea from the roots. I dug up some of the roots for her, and she showed me how to do it. It tastes just like root beer but without the fizz. It's been a long time since I've seen someone do this. Thank you for this content. This brought back so many memories for me.

[stldiva]

I grew up drinking sassafras tea as a kid. My uncle would dig up a couple small pieces of root, we'd clean it and make tea. good

[MalleusSemperVictor]

"It's banned because, uh... cancer. Definitely not because MDMA. We're always here to help." - The Government

[drunkwoodswyllia]

My grandma was 3/4 Cherokee. She taught me how to make sassafras tea 45 years ago! She said it was good for the body and soul! I have taught my daughter and grandsons how to make the tea! Thank you sir for bringing back some memories

[timlambert]

You need to try sassafras tea, you basically boil the root in water, sweeten with sugar. We did this as children, such lovely memories.

[Inmyopinion]

I am part Cherokee 25% from the Carolinas and I love sassafras tea made it myself 68 years old I'm living the life a very healthy man

[punkdigerati]

The wintergreen you're missing is the thing they replaced sassafras with when it got banned. You should try birch beer and spruce beer and other alternatives to get a sense of the variety.

[grantman]

I'm a woodworker and years ago a friend gave me a bunch of sassafras lumber. When working it, the smell of root beer was all around the shop. What a great smell...and great lumber to work with.

[philloliver]

Sassafras leaves, when dried and powdered, are known as "Filé", which is used as a seasoning and thickener in Cajun food like gumbo.

[jebstuart]

Back in the 70's my grandfather was just starting to close down his birch still. They produced birch oil for many years for soda companies. Black Birch logs were stripped of bark and placed into copper lined boxes and steamed. The liquid after steaming was heated and condensed into a wooden box that had a collection jar. It operated the same way as a corn mash still. Artificial flavoring did them in but the still was still standing till mid 80's and you could still smell the birch smell.

[kzfittycent]

You’re a great brother! As a father your support for your sister brought a tear to my eye.

[deesevrin]

You can make original rootbeer in a similar fashion to ginger beer: make a tea with your sassafrass bark and other desired herbs, use demerara sugar for extra goods. Add some homemade gingerbug to ferment the fizz into it, bottle it up and let it ferment for a few days to a week. The fermented fizz gives it a wonderfully olde timey flavour.

[Markevans]

When I was a kid A&W had home brewing kits in grocery stores. I had it once and it was the best tasting drink I ever had. The key that you missed is actually brewing it with yeast. This creates a carbonation with really small bubbles and thuse a super smooth taste. Despite that, great video.

[scotthoffmaster]

At one time sassafras was economically as important as tobacco in the south. A made up study that made it look far worse then it is allowed them to ban it and force the use of a synthetic form. You can conclude that someone in the gooberment was getting kickbacks from the company that made the chemical!

[peanutbutter]

"Government-Banned Root Beer" is a phrase I never thought I'd ever read.

[aesoundforge]

I make sassafras tea just by boiling the roots for 15/20 minutes. Has a nice red color that old time birch beer used to have. I highly recommend trying it.

[Cavemankind_]

Very informative. For those interested, harvesting the sassafras root toward the end of winter is the optimal time. Since all of the sassafras tree’s nutrients, like safrole oil, are concentrated within the root system, as the tree “hibernates” during winter.
Though this makes it more difficult to identify, and must be found via bark pattern identification.