I stumbled onto this root beer recipe earlier: http://www.byo.com/recipe/312.html

I'll avoid reprinting it here, but that is one involved root beer recipe.  I might try that in the future, but considering all of the stuff it needs I'll probably put it off.  If anyone checks this out and it's any good let me know.  I suspect, given the sassafras and the lack of much anise, that this is probably not a modern tasting root beer.  I'm sure it tastes interesting, and root beer-like, but probably not much like what you would get out of a bottle of A&W. 

The coriander, sweet gale, mace, and black cherry juice seem interesting.  I'm also interested in seeing how the various malts affect the taste.  I've seen coriander mentioned before and intend to try it in my root beer sometime.

Well, this weekend I finally got back to making some root beer.  I tried the 10:2 flavoring I made a few weeks ago again, but this time without sarsaparilla, because I think maybe the sarsaparilla was adding some off flavors and not really any good ones.  When I made the 10:2 flavoring last time I had some left over which I kept in a bottle with an eye dropper.  It once again came out tasting watered down. 

I think that keeping the leftover flavoring in a bottle pre-mixed isn't working.  Maybe I need to keep it refrigerated, or it needs to be more air tight (right now I have a cap on it that has a dropper that might be letting in air).  Or possibly somehow the oil is settling to the bottom, or the sides, and I need to find a better way of mixing it up before I use it.

I'll continue to experiment with it and see if I can find a solution, and I'll try to do some research on it.  In the meantime, I'll probably just start using the flavoring ratio once and toss it, or try to use it all up in one day with several batches. I think it's a good ratio, and without the sarsaparilla I might have something that tastes pretty good for a bare minimum, non-licorice flavored root beer.  I'll just have to wait and see.

Root beer news story of the day: Non-Carbs Shine While Sparkling Struggles Last year soft drink makers had good earnings, but only because their non-carbonated beverages did really well.  Ready to drink teas, enhanced water, and energy drinks were quite popular last year.  I can't say that's all that surprising.  Actually I've been thinking it would be fun to try and post a recipe for a root beer energy drink, if I can find sources for caffeine, taurine, B12, and all that jazz.