Photo of the Day: Root Beer Float
Amy at VeryCulinary.com has this great shot of a summer root beer float. While I confess I've never been a fan—that weirdly stable soda-milk foam just creeps me out—my little brother used to go crazy over these things. Barq's root beer and Dreyer's vanilla bean ice cream were his standbys, but I bet there are better ones out there. Serious Eaters, any root beer float lovers out there? What are your ingredients of choice?
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36 Comments:
Damn I ain't had me a fine root beer float since small times. Goin' on the list.
sailordave at 5:51PM on 07/07/09
I like to make mine using craft made root beer from the local brewpub and artisan ice cream from the local independent ice cream shop.
beersnob at 5:57PM on 07/07/09
Had an awesome root beer float a few days ago -- IBC root beer with Graeter's vanilla ice cream. I usually partake in a root beer float at least once a month, if not more. One of the few flavors that I crave.
Cassaendra at 6:04PM on 07/07/09
Since I was a kid, I've preferred mine made with chocolate ice cream. My mother calls them Brown Cows.
grampart at 6:17PM on 07/07/09
I had one yesterday: Really cold A&W root beer over Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla. Heaven and nostalgia all at once!
ocarol at 6:19PM on 07/07/09
Any root beer will do but have to make it with Vanilla Bean Haagen Daz!
yijiaeja at 6:24PM on 07/07/09
Haagen Dazs Five Vanilla Bean
Henry Weinhard's Root Beer
Believe it or not, Wendy's Frosty Float is pretty darned fantastic. Lunch is one of those and 5 nuggets.
lysine at 6:29PM on 07/07/09
St. Arnolds Root Beer (made in Houston) or Maine Root Beer (made in Austin). Both with pure cane sugar and use Blue Bell Ice Cream (made in Brenham).
chascates at 6:38PM on 07/07/09
Hmm. Wasn't a big fan of wendy's frosty float. I like the root beer floats at A&W. My favorite root beer is Sprecher's. One of our family friends used to live right by the brewery and would bring some every time they visited. That with some vanilla frozen custard... oh man.
misterhee at 6:43PM on 07/07/09
I had a really awful root beer float at Tabla Bread Bar recently - they tried to make it fancy with kulfi and served in a bowl (like I was going to pick the bowl up and drink the root beer in a restaurant - also odd to sip root beer with a soup spoon in a restaurant).
Anyways, it really got my palate geared up for a good float, and this picture looks sooooo good.
nithya at hungrydesi at 6:43PM on 07/07/09
There's a restaurant/ wine bar in downtown LA that serves a port float... I LOVED it. The place is called The Must.... Here's how they describe it on their website:
Port Float ~ Ruby Port, with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream than topped with cream soda
mangabanga at 6:55PM on 07/07/09
Toft's Vanilla ice cream from Sandusky, OH and ice cold Faygo Root Beer from Detroit. A match made in culinary heaven.
daddyg at 6:59PM on 07/07/09
Best rootbeer float was made at the local A&W when I was in high school. Served by a carhop whose last name was Parbst. All the guys said: "Parbst makes it perfect."
mmatsunaga at 7:01PM on 07/07/09
Am I the only one who thinks floats of any sort are just plain disgusting? I love root beer and I love ice cream, I'd even like root beer-flavored iced cream but when you mix them together you just end up with a big foamy gross mess. Yuck!
DCMarkie at 7:03PM on 07/07/09
Coca-cola or green river and vanilla ice cream....
nitsuj at 7:57PM on 07/07/09
The absolutely best root beer float I have had has been (your choice of) root beer and coffee ice cream...yes coffee ice cream. The best lip smacking good float ever!
oneemu at 8:28PM on 07/07/09
Sprecher Root Beer and Kopps' vanilla custard or Haagen Daz in a pinch. Yes, I'm a Wisconsinite calling Brooklyn home these days.
mzkwooz at 8:51PM on 07/07/09
i LOVE root beer floats. my husband won me over when he remembered that i loved them and surprised me by ordering one for me while on a date at a bar. i thought that was one of the most romantic gestures ever :)
fatthy at 8:53PM on 07/07/09
Either A&W or IBC rootbeer along with a good french vanilla ice cream....yum
mandoopandoo at 9:20PM on 07/07/09
We just had these this weekend. We did half with traditional root beer and Julie's Organic Vanilla and then we did the other half with orange creme soda and vanilla, for that orangesicle flavor. It was yummy.
ophelea at 9:31PM on 07/07/09
maybe it's just a canadian thing, but anyone ever try a 'slush float'? pretty much any flavour of slurpee with any ice cream will do, but our favourite as kids was bright orange 'tiger tiger' ice cream with lime green slush. mind-numbingly sweet, but anything that garishly coloured is bound to be a hit with kids!
jojojo at 9:33PM on 07/07/09
My father made root beer. And when it was ready, we made floats. Oh, delicious. And, occasionally, a bottle would explode in the garage where they were stored - summer heat in Sacramento. Simple times, happy times.
islandexile at 10:07PM on 07/07/09
My boyfriend brought me a root beer float when I got off of work once. I got home at midnight and he was waiting at the door with it clutched in his hand. I got it, a kiss, and then he had to go. But I had my float. :)
Maine Root Beer is good, but I like the bright spicy zing of the Sarsparilla soda instead. (I asked the guy selling at the farmer's market what the difference was, because I thought that root beer was ALSO made with sarsparilla - he said that that was true, but that root beer also has cloves in it. I guess sarsparilla soda doesn't.)
Christina at 10:17PM on 07/07/09
That looks refreshing!
goldenagecheese at 1:56AM on 07/08/09
Not so big on the root beer...but IBC Black Cherry Soda and vanilla ice cream is another story. The foam is my favorite part, I add the soda to the ice cream a little bit at a time to get more foam...yum!
marciev at 8:02AM on 07/08/09
im from louisiana, and as far as we're concerned there is only one go to root beer...barqs...preferrably in a glass bottle. Yum!
southeasterneater at 8:52AM on 07/08/09
I'm a big fan of root beer floats. After much experimentation, I've settled on Vanilla Häagen Dazs as the ice cream of choice. Abita root beer is great in a float but hard to find, so IBC is my go-to.
Lawen at 9:26AM on 07/08/09
Second Ocarol's comment. I miss Blue Bell ice cream a whole hecuva lot.
And it's perfect with a hotdog.. *Sigh*
dbdtron at 9:38AM on 07/08/09
I'm all abou the Coke Float with a bit of chocolate syrup. Although a good old egg cream is something good to have during a hot summer day as well.
dozertx at 9:58AM on 07/08/09
Growing up, my bus stop was ridiculously far from my house- I may as well have just walked to school by the time I got there (and yes, it was uphill, at least on the way home. I kid you not). On really hot and humid days, my mom would freeze one of my dad's giant beer mugs. Then just before I got home, she'd fill it 3/4 with Coca Cola (Classic) and then add Breyer's Vanilla Ice Cream. It was simple, but after schlepping my then tiny body up hill with my huge book bag, it was like seeing an oasis in the middle of the dessert. If that is not love, I don't know what is. My mom was, and still is, the best!
fdr1952 at 11:26AM on 07/08/09
Putting my hand in this one:
For rootbeer floats, nothing will do but Fitz's rot beer with any high-quality vanilla ice cream (pref. Haagen Daaz)... for a change, orange soda (also from Fitz's) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
On brown cows: I always thought that a brown cow was a Coke float. Kosher-for-passover Coca Cola makes the best ever.
honeybee413 at 12:09PM on 07/08/09
My favorite float is made with Breyer's Peach ice cream and Red Rock ginger ale. This is a very spicy ginger ale, and the sharpness of of it contrasts really well against the creaminess and sweetness of the ice cream. I've found that the creamier ginger ales lack the personailty to provide that contrast. That said, in my opinion Schweppe's is the best of the readily available ginger ales (over, say, Canada Dry and Vernor's) for this purpose. Some of the ginger beers on the market can also make for a nice pairing.
MMCHJL at 12:58PM on 07/08/09
French Broad Chocolate Lounge in Asheville, NC makes a great beer float using local Pisgah Stout and local vanilla ice cream. It's amazing. They also make floats with house sodas.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/keribeth/3201563567/
dirtygreek at 1:42PM on 07/08/09
The local "vintage burger diner" serves up Dad's root beer with a solid cap of soft-serve vanilla ice cream, and FIRM instructions as they hand it over "Do NOT push the ice cream down. Just eat it." Of course, hubby didn't hear that part as he took the order- our own personal carbonated geyser!
myrnie_twin at 4:10PM on 07/08/09
This reminds me of one of my very first blog posts, I will always love root beer floats! Check out the one in my link from RAM, it's huge!
Chew on That at 4:46PM on 07/10/09
I made a rbf for my student from Ghana--his response-- "This is why I love America!!"
kpope at 4:43PM on 07/22/09