20 September 2026

Nannari Root: Taste, Traditional Drinks & Uses

Every nannari drink — the soda, the syrup, the sarbath served over ice — starts with the same thing: a root. Here is what nannari root is, how it tastes, and how it is used to make the drinks people buy today.

The nannari root

The flavour everyone knows as nannari comes from a root. The plant behind it is Hemidesmus indicus, commonly called Indian sarsaparilla — a climbing shrub — and it is the root that matters: the root is washed, cut or pounded, and then steeped in water to draw out its flavour. That preparation is the ancestor of every nannari drink made since.

The word “nannari” is used for both the root and the drinks made from it, which is why you will see it applied to a raw ingredient in one sentence and to a finished glass in the next. Both usages are correct. For the wider background on the ingredient and the plant, read our guide to nannari.

What nannari root tastes like

Nannari is earthy and woody, with a gentle sweetness underneath rather than on top. It is closer to a herbal or root flavour than to a fruit flavour, and that is the main thing to know before trying it for the first time.

This profile also explains how nannari is usually served. Chilled and diluted, the drink reads as light and clean. Served stronger or warmer, the root character becomes much more pronounced.

Where the drink comes from

Nannari is associated with the Indian subcontinent, and with the south in particular, where a glass of chilled nannari became a routine part of the day. Preparation at home was the norm for a long time, and the flavour was treated as a fixed point of reference — households had their own way of making it, but the character was always recognisably nannari.

How the root is used in traditional drinks

The same root flavour appears in several formats, and they differ mainly in carbonation and concentration:

• Nannari sarbath — the traditional chilled drink, made by thinning nannari with water, sweetening, and serving over ice with lime. See our nannari sarbath guide.
• Nannari soda — the carbonated, packaged version, ready to drink chilled. See Shiva Ganesh Nannari Soda.
• Nannari syrup — the concentrated format, diluted at home so you set the strength yourself. See Shiva Ganesh Nannari Syrup.

Our nannari drinks guide compares the three formats side by side, if you are deciding which one to start with.

A note on claims

Nannari is a well-known beverage ingredient with a long culinary history, and that is the claim we make here. We describe it as a traditional Indian beverage flavour, because that is what it is. We do not make health or medical claims about it on this website, and we would rather leave those out than print something we cannot stand behind.