Sunset Sarsaparilla

Sunset Sarsaparilla (also known as the Beverage of the West Coast) is a well-known consumable item in Fallout: New Vegas.

Background
Around or before 1918, a local saloon owner living in a small town decided to produce a new brand of soft drink. This action was in response to the limited choices the American people had regarding carbonated beverages at the time. He asked his usual patrons what flavor he should make his new beverage, but to no avail. Luckily, a stranger down at the end of the bar suggested the bartender make a sarsaparilla-flavored drink. He agreed to share his family's recipe for their signature beverage with the barkeep, in return for permission to sample a bottle at the latter's own discretion, in order to ensure the recipe was being followed exactly to the letter. Seeking a potential for wealth and success, the saloon owner agreed, arranging a meeting with the stranger the next evening. However, the sheriff paid a visit to him the next morning, delivering the bad news that the stranger had unfortunately been ambushed and murdered by bandits on the road. Cursing his luck, the barkeep shut down his saloon early that day, just when the sun began to set. To his surprise however, he found a bottle and a letter sealed with blue wax in the shape of a star right on the surface of the bar, just as he had finished locking down the establishment. It turns out the sealed envelope contained the recipe for a sarsaparilla-flavored drink, the same one the now-deceased stranger had promised him earlier.

The bartender sampled the contents of the bottle, finding it "singularly delicious." He used the recipe to brew his now-signature beverage - Sunset Sarsaparilla. It eventually went to become a great success, churning in tons of profit for the former saloon owner. Being an honorable man, the barkeep paid for his mysterious benefactor's funeral, feeling it was the least he could do to repay him. Eventually, he moved to the big city and founded the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company, soon opening a bottling plant in the west side of Las Vegas.

Before the Great War, a competitor attempted to negotiate a deal to buy out the Sunset Sarsaparilla company, but the offer was declined. On the other end of the deal was no more than John-Caleb Bradberton, founder, CEO and president of the rival Nuka-Cola Corporation. In response to this failed deal, he commissioned the development and release of a root-beer flavored variant of his signature drink. A regional exclusive to the area surrounding the famed Nuka-World theme park, the end result was Nuka-Cola Wild, an attempt by Bradberton to push the competing company out of the market.

Post-War
The history of the star cap is largely a promotional story which may have only a hint of truth. False rumors about a 'contest' involving specific Sunset Sarsaparilla bottle caps began to circulate around the bottling headquarters in Las Vegas, which in turn led to the announcement of the running "Legend of the Star" collection campaign. Stories of the contest became very distorted following the Great War, and the actual simple prize (which consisted of a retelling of the fictitious story by the company spokes bot and a small metal Sunset Sarsaparilla deputy badge) became a bloated tale of pre-War technology, weapons caches, and all sorts of other amazing loot.

Characteristics
Sunset Sarsaparilla is a root-beer-type carbonated beverage found around New Vegas. With its easy availability and low cost, it is an excellent consumable that provides a high health regeneration effect, while also lacking the radiation present in other drinks. Thanks to these factors, it supplements the somewhat-scarce stimpaks as a primary healing item in the Mojave. Company spokesbot Festus provides a comical list of potential side effects, but only while playing in Hardcore mode does drinking Sunset Sarsaparilla have the negative effect of mildly dehydrating the Courier.

Crafting
With the Honest Hearts add-on installed, the Courier can obtain a recipe and make a home-brewed version of the drink. This is identical to the standard variety.

Creation requirements

Variants

 * Irradiated Sunset Sarsaparilla

Locations

 * Goodsprings - sold by Trudy in the Prospector Saloon and found in multiple Sunset Sarsaparilla crates surrounding the Goodsprings General Store and the saloon. Most of these will lower one's Karma if taken. Out in front of the gas station in Goodsprings, there is a vending machine (with 3 to 4 Sunset Sarsaparillas inside. Taking these will not affect karma.
 * Sunset Sarsaparilla Headquarters - found in numerous vending machines and Sunset Sarsaparilla crates throughout the entire building.
 * Boulder City - sold by Ike in the Big Horn Saloon. Also, found in Sunset Sarsaparilla crates and on shelves near and behind the bar.

Behind the scenes

 * Sarsaparilla is a type of bitter root found in Central America which was originally used for medicinal purposes; owing to the root's bitterness, it was combined with sweetened water to make dosing more palatable. In America, the bark and oil of the sassafras tree was added to the formula; this root beer eventually became a popular drink in the late-19th-century Old West. The similarity of the two roots' names led to the informal nickname of "Sasparilly."
 * The health effects of Sarsaparilla may be a reference to safrole, the aromatic oil found in sassafras roots and bark that gave traditional root beer its distinctive flavor, was banned for commercially mass-produced foods and drugs by the FDA in 1960. Laboratory animals that were given oral doses of sassafras tea or sassafras oil that contained large doses of safrole developed permanent liver damage or various types of cancer.