This is the Chương Dương Sá Xị. We picked this up by chance at Woolworths during Lunar New Year in 2023.
The beverage was an opaque brown-black hue with a distinct liquorice aroma. When consumed chilled, those same pronounced liquorice notes took the lead at the beginning of each sip, gradually yielding to a mellow sweetness towards the finish, leaving a clean aftertaste. Compared to most sarsaparilla drinks we’ve enjoyed, the liquorice flavour in this one was notably bolder, with Saxby’s Double Sarsaparilla being the closest in intensity. Remarkably, this sarsaparilla offered a departure from the usual excessive sweetness and heavy reliance on wintergreen that characterizes many sarsaparilla varieties in Western and Asian supermarkets. The liquorice’s sharpness and the restrained sweetness combined to create a more refreshing beverage, certainly deserving of a repurchase.
This Chương Dương Sá Xị contained 330 mL. It was produced in Vietnam and purchased in Sydney, Australia in 2023.