Best Substitutes for Root beer

Out of Root beer? Here are the best alternatives that work in cocktail recipes.

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Original Ingredient

Root beer

Other Sweet, herbal nose with sassafras, wintergreen, vanilla, and warm spice. Palate is boldly sweet with complex root extract flavor and effervescent carbonation. Long, nostalgic, candy-like finish.

Recommended Substitutes

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Dr. Pepper

Use as a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.

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Sarsaparilla

Use as a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.

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Coca-Cola

Use as a 1:1 substitute unless otherwise noted.

General Substitution Tips

  • Match the alcohol level: a 40% spirit needs a similarly strong replacement or adjust volume.
  • For liqueurs, dilute spirits + simple syrup can replicate sweetness and proof.
  • Citrus substitutions: lemon and lime are mostly interchangeable at a 1:1 ratio.
  • For bitters, Angostura is the most neutral substitute for most other aromatic bitters.