Nothing beats a cold can of root beer, whether served straight up or as part of an ice cream float, to quench your thirst. Barq’s is a well-known brand of root beer that you can find across the United States, but it has many rivals in the market.
Is there no caffeine in Barq’s? And if that’s the case, does the caffeine come from natural sources, or is it something that manufacturers have added?
Please find out more about the amount of caffeine in Barq and how it stacks up against the caffeine levels in other sodas and iced coffees.
So, without any further ado, let’s jump right into it!
Does Root Beer Have Caffeine?
Most modern varieties of root beer don’t contain any caffeine, so the answer is no. It is common for a root beer brand to add caffeine after the fact rather than produce the beverage itself. Due to the lack of kola nuts, most root beers lack caffeine. Root beer is often used as a mixer for alcoholic drinks, even though it is not alcoholic.
As a soft drink, people adore root beer worldwide, not only in the United States but worldwide. The name “root beer” comes from the fact that people first made it from sassafras root.
The beer has a rich, creamy texture and a unique sweetness from the herbs used in the brewing process. You can find caffeine in some root beer.
One of the popular brands of root beer known as Barq’s contains caffeine. There are 22 milligrams (mg) of caffeine in a can that is 12 ounces, which is not a high caffeine beverage.
Root beer today is almost universally flavored with synthetic sassafras. Makers also use Sarsaparilla root that has had the safrole chemically removed in some kinds. Check the ingredients to know how much caffeine is present in your beverages to limit or eliminate caffeine intake.
Because in most cases, they use the same ingredients to manufacture sodas, such as carbonated water, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial taste, and color. Gluten-free Root Soda is also a good source of these.
Exactly What Makes Root Beer Different?
Root beer has a distinctive herbal flavor and aroma. Other sodas like Coca-Cola and Pepsi have a similar taste because of the way they’re created by processing the Kola nut, which makes the drinks caffeinated.
Traditionally, people made root beer using a primary ingredient of saffron. However, scientists discovered that sassafras root contains safrole, a cancer-causing agent.
This led to the FDA banning sassafras from being used in food and drink manufacturing. In the present era, makers make root beer with safrole-free safrole-flavored artificial flavoring or chemically-treated safrole-free root.
Does Barq’s Root Beer Have Caffeine?
More than a century has passed since the creation of Barq’s Root Beer. A well-known brand, there is still much uncertainty over whether or not it includes caffeine.
Caffeine is present in the original Barq’s root beer. However, the beverage is less caffeinated than popular iced coffees.
There are 22 milligrams (mg) of caffeine in a regular Barq’s root beer can that is 12 ounces in size. Contrary to coffee and tea, cocoa does not contain caffeine alone. Caffeine is not naturally occurring in Barq’s Root Beer; it is an added element. Despite this, it is possible to get caffeine-free varieties of Barq’s Original Root Beer in a few counties that make up the state of Utah. Diet Root Beer and Red Creme Soda are the two sodas that Barq’s offers that are free of caffeine and found throughout the country.
The Coca-Cola Company’s Diet Barqs Root Beer is a calorie-free variant of Barq’s Root Beer.
Caffeine is absent from the diet Barq’s version.
In addition to aspartame and ace-k, Diet Barq’s Root Beer is available in various quantities sweetened with aspartame.
Does Mug Root Beer Have Caffeine?
PepsiCo’s Mug Root Beer is a carbonated soft drink that does not include caffeine and is marketed under that brand name.
Some variants of root beer include caffeine, but in general, none of the flavors contain the stimulant. For example, there is caffeine in the original Barq’s root beer label. Makers sandwich natural and artificial flavors between citric acid together. But, they add caffeine separately, as you correctly noted.
Along with a few other less well-known brands, Barq’s Root Beer contains a trace quantity of the stimulant caffeine.
Mug also offers decaffeinated cream soda, in addition to diet versions of both coffee and tea (all caffeine-free)
Does Berks Root Beer Have Caffeine?
You can find caffeine in regular Barq’s. Each 12-ounce container contains 22.5 milligrams.
Compared to these beverages, Barq’s has a much lower caffeine content. Regarding caffeine level, it’s on par with A&W’s Diet Cream Soda and the chocolate-flavored Slim-Fast beverages.
Since both the original and the diet versions employ the same basic formula, this isn’t surprising. It’s the only difference: they replace the corn syrup in the original version with aspartame in the diet version.
For those who live in Utah, there is a good chance that your original Barq’s is caffeine-free as well. There are many Mormons in Utah, and they abstain from drinking caffeinated beverages.
Due to the addition of caffeine, Barq’s stands out from the competition. In the United States, makers decaffeinate most root beer for health reasons.
Does A&W Root Beer Have Caffeine?
Root beer from A&W does not contain any caffeine at all.
When Roy Allen and Frank Wright joined together in 1922 to advertise their soft drink goods more effectively, it was at that time that they decided to give their new venture its current name.
There is also a diet variant of this root beer with zero calories, in addition to the standard variety, which has 10 calories. No amount of caffeine is present in any of the variations.
Keurig Dr. Pepper is the new owner of A&W Root Beer and the company responsible for its distribution.
What Brands of Root Beer Do Not Have Caffeine?
Most root beers now on the market do not contain caffeine. The kola nut, a prominent ingredient in carbonated drinks, is the source of caffeine in other forms of soda drinks. You can extract caffeine from the kola nut, which is a source of this stimulant.
On the other hand, modern root beer uses filtered water, sugar, and a sassafras extract free of safrole. However, these are only a few of the most important ingredients, which may differ from one brand to the next.
The original recipe for root beer, which dates back to the 1870s, did not include any caffeine.
In contrast, most colas, including Coca-Cola, specifically incorporated caffeine as a medicinal component in their products.
In contrast to colas, root beer was not first marketed as a therapeutic beverage, as was the case with Coca-Cola and Pepsi.
The following is a list of some well-known caffeine-free root beers:
- A&W Root Beer
- Mug Root Beer
- Dad’s Root Beer
- Barq’s Diet Root Beer
- Diet A&W Root Beer
Read Also: Is Beer Carbonated?
Final Words
Compared to other soft drinks, root beer may be a healthier option because it does not include caffeine or acids that can wear down teeth. The downside is that it has its own set of health issues.
Root beer is unhealthy because it contains high fructose corn syrup, linked to obesity and tooth decay, among other health conditions.
Root beer’s lack of caffeine should not hint that it is a healthy beverage. Root beers include a lot of sugar and calories, even more than most colas.
When purchasing root beer, we strongly recommend verifying both the brand and the flavor.
Indeed, root beer doesn’t have any caffeine or alcohol, but other root beer soda brands do. So always double-check, especially if you’re buying beverages for young children.
Barq’s is a great alternative for people trying to limit their caffeine consumption because of its stimulating properties.
Root beer has been a staple of American culture for more than a century, and we only expect its popularity to grow in the years to come. However, the facts above should not deter you from having a nice root beer with your pals from time to time. Remember to keep everything in moderation.
