Sunset Sarsaparilla Company

The Sunset Sarsaparilla Company was a pre-War softdrink manufacturer, well known around Las Vegas for its eponymous Sunset Sarsaparilla drink.

Pre-War
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 payed 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 capitalize on the success of the Sunset Sarsaparilla brand.

Post-War
The history of the star cap is largely a promotional story with 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.

Known facilities
Sunset Sarsaparilla headquarters in New Vegas

Known employees

 * Kenneth Aguilar - president
 * Clark Weathers - VP of operations
 * Marcus Brody - VP of technology
 * Nathan Stanley - director of PR
 * Miss Paige - secretary

Sunset Sarsaparilla


Sunset Sarsaparilla, although not very popular anywhere else, found a niche market in and around Las Vegas, but before the Great War, a rumor was sprouted up stating that if a person collected 50 special blue starred caps they would be rewarded with a prize. This shot up sales in every commonwealth in the United States and Canada, except for the Columbia Commonwealth and Eastern Commonwealth. After the war, Sunset Sarsaparilla was the most popular in the Southwest Commonwealth, and can be easily found anywhere in New Vegas.

Some specially marked bottles of Sunset Sarsaparilla have a 'special blue starred cap'.

Appearances
The products of the Sunset Sarsaparilla Company appear in Fallout: New Vegas and are mentioned in Fallout 4's add-on Nuka-World.