Root Beer Float Day is around the corner, and something sweet and fizzy is bubbling up. Fans watch for deals and promotions ...

Root beer, as we know it, is a rather modern addition to the world of carbonated beverages. It was first concocted like a tea by Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires in 1876.

Add the eggs and root beer extract. Combine the flour and baking soda, then slowly add to the mixture. Beat well. On a greased cookie sheet, drop one-inch balls of cookie dough.

Heading into November and December, she says, she receives as many as 10 calls a day from customers looking for root beer extract, which is usually unavailable in the supermarket’s baking aisle.

The name “root beer” was coined by Charles E. Hires, a Philadelphia druggist who introduced it to the world at the 1876 Centennial Exposition.

These days, root beer in these parts is made with root beer extracts sold by two local companies. Shank's Extracts, now based in an industrial park in East Hempfield Township, was founded in 1899 ...

In this case, that beverage was root beer -- or root beer extract, to be precise -- being sold by a local grocer named Emile Zatarain at the 1899 Louisiana Exposition.

Put 1/3 into a separate bowl and stir in 1/4 tsp of root beer extract. Add ½ tsp or vanilla bean scrapings into remaining frosting. Assembly ...

After it boils, Wentz adds the special root beer extract, vanilla and a little honey. The whole mixture then goes into a large soda keg with more water and is zapped with carbon dioxide.