Ice cream float

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Ice cream float
Soda jerk NYWTS.jpg
Soda jerk from the 1930s passing ice cream soda between two soda fountains
Alternative namesIce cream soda, Coke float, root beer float, spider
Type Dessert
Place of origin United States
Region or state Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Created byRobert McCay Green
Main ingredients Ice cream, syrup and soft drink or carbonated water

An ice cream float or ice cream soda, also known as a spider in Australia and New Zealand, [1] is a chilled beverage that consists of ice cream in either a soft drink or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water.

Contents

When root beer and vanilla ice cream are used together to make the beverage, it is typically referred to as a root beer float (United States [2] and Canada). A close variation is the coke float, using cola instead of root beer.

History

The ice cream float was invented by Robert M. Green in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 during the Franklin Institute's semicentennial celebration. The traditional story is that, on a particularly hot day, Green ran out of ice for the flavored drinks he was selling and instead used vanilla ice cream from a neighboring vendor, inventing a new drink. [3]

His own account, published in Soda Fountain magazine in 1910, states that while operating a soda fountain at the celebration, he wanted to create a new treat to attract customers away from another vendor who had a larger, fancier soda fountain. After some experimentation, he decided to combine ice cream and flavored soda. During the celebration, he sold vanilla ice cream with soda and a choice of 16 flavored syrups. The new treat was a sensation and soon other soda fountains began selling ice cream floats. Green's will instructed that "Originator of the Ice Cream Soda" was to be engraved on his tombstone. [4]

There are at least three other claimants for the invention of the root beer float: Fred Sanders, [5] Philip Mohr, [5] [6] and George Guy, one of Robert Green's own employees. [7] Guy claimed to have absentmindedly mixed ice cream and soda in 1872, much to his customers' delight. [8]

Regional names

A lime spider Lime spider.jpg
A lime spider

In Australia and New Zealand, an ice cream float is known as a "spider" because once the carbonation hits the ice cream it forms a spider web-like reaction. It is traditionally made using either lime or pink cream soda. [9] [10] [11]

In the UK and Ireland, it is usually referred to as an "ice-cream float" or simply a "float", as "coke" is often used generically to refer to any cola in the United Kingdom, and "soda" is usually taken to mean soda water, sweetened carbonated drinks instead being collectively called "soft drinks", "(fizzy) pop" or "fizzy juice".

In Mexico, it is known as "helado flotante" ("floating ice cream") or "flotante". In El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Colombia, it is called "vaca negra" (black cow); in Brazil, "vaca preta"; and in Puerto Rico, a "black out".

In the United States, an "ice cream soda" typically refers to the drink containing soda water, syrup, and ice cream, whereas a "float" is generally ice cream in a soft drink (usually root beer).

Variations

Variations of ice cream floats are as countless as the varieties of drinks and the flavors of ice cream, but some have become more prominent than others. Some of the most popular are described below:

Chocolate ice cream soda

This ice cream soda starts with approximately 1 oz of chocolate syrup, then several scoops of chocolate ice cream in a tall glass. Unflavored carbonated water is added until the glass is filled and the resulting foam rises above the top of the glass. The final touch is a topping of whipped cream and usually, a maraschino cherry. This variation of ice cream soda was available at local soda fountains and nationally, at Dairy Queen stores for many years.

A similar soda made with chocolate syrup but vanilla ice cream is sometimes called a "black and white" ice cream soda.

Strawberry ice cream soda

This drink is prepared similarly to a chocolate ice cream soda, but with strawberry syrup and strawberry (or vanilla) ice cream used instead.

Root beer float

A root beer float Root Beer Float.jpg
A root beer float

Also known as a "black cow" [12] [13] or "brown cow", [14] the root beer float is traditionally made with vanilla ice cream and root beer, but it can also be made with other ice cream flavors. Frank J. Wisner, owner of Colorado's Cripple Creek Brewing, is credited with creating the first root beer float on August 19, 1893. The similarly flavored soft drink birch beer may also be used instead of root beer.

In the United States and Canada, the chain A&W Restaurants are well known for their root beer floats. The definition of a black cow varies by region. For instance, in some localities, a "root beer float" has strictly vanilla ice cream; a float made with root beer and chocolate ice cream is a "chocolate cow" or a "brown cow". In some places a "black cow" or a "brown cow" was made with cola instead of root beer.

In 2008, the Dr Pepper Snapple Group introduced its Float beverage line. This includes A&W Root Beer, A&W Cream Soda and Sunkist flavors which attempt to simulate the taste of their respective ice cream float flavors in a creamy, bottled drink.

Boston cooler

A Boston cooler with Vernors ginger ale Boston Cooler.jpg
A Boston cooler with Vernors ginger ale

Today, a Boston cooler is typically composed of Vernors ginger ale and vanilla ice cream. [15]

The first reference to a Boston cooler appears in the St. Louis Post Dispatch where a New York bartender claimed to have coined the phrase for a summer cocktail of sarsaparilla and ginger ale. In the 1910s, the term was applied in soda fountains and ice cream parlors to a scoop of ice cream served in a melon half. The name was also applied to a number of different ice-cream float combinations, including root beer, though ginger ale became the most common soft drink component. [16]

By the 1880s a version of the Boston cooler was being served in Detroit by Sanders Confectionery, made with Sanders' ice cream and Vernors. [15] Originally, a drink called a Vernors Cream was served as a shot or two of sweet cream poured into a glass of Vernors. Later, vanilla ice cream was substituted for the cream and blended like a milkshake. The local myth, that it was named after Detroit's Boston Boulevard, is belied by the fact that Boston Boulevard did not exist at the time. [17] [18] [19]

It remains a popular summer drink in the Detroit area. [15]

Purple cow

In the context of ice cream soda, a purple cow is vanilla ice cream in purple grape soda. The Purple Cow, [20] a restaurant chain in the southern United States, features this and similar beverages. In a more general context, a purple cow may refer to a non-carbonated grape juice and vanilla ice cream combination. Grapico, a brand of grape soda bottled in Birmingham, Alabama, is ubiquitously linked to ice cream floats in that state.

The soda is named after Gelett Burgess's 1895 nonsense poem Purple Cow.

Vaca-preta

At least in Brazil and Portugal, a non-alcoholic ice cream soda made by combining vanilla or chocolate ice cream and Coca-Cola is known as vaca-preta ("black cow"). [21]

Vaca amarela or vaca dourada

In Brazil, a vaca amarela (yellow cow) or vaca dourada (golden cow) is an ice cream soda combination of vanilla ice cream and orange or guaraná soda, respectively.

Helado flotante

In Mexico, the most popular version is made with cola and lemon sorbet.

Beer float

A beer float Beer float.jpg
A beer float

A beer float is made of Guinness stout, chocolate ice cream, and espresso. [22] Although the Shakin' Jesse version [23] is blended into more of a milkshake consistency, most restaurant bars can make the beer float version. When making at home, the beer and espresso should be very cold so as to not melt the ice cream.

Nectar soda

This variant is popular in New Orleans and parts of Ohio, made with a syrup consisting of equal parts almond and vanilla syrups mixed with sweetened condensed milk and a touch of red food coloring to produce a pink, opalescent syrup base for the soda. [24] [25]

A Japanese style cream soda in Ueshima coffee shop Creamsoda Ueshima1.jpg
A Japanese style cream soda in Ueshima coffee shop

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Root beer</span> North American carbonated beverage

Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree Sassafras albidum or the vine of Smilax ornata as the primary flavor. Root beer is typically, but not exclusively, non-alcoholic, caffeine-free, sweet, and carbonated. Like cola, it usually has a thick and foamy head. A common use is to add vanilla ice cream to make a root beer float.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ginger ale</span> Soft drink flavoured with ginger

Ginger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavoured with ginger. It is consumed on its own or used as a mixer, often with spirit-based drinks. There are two main types of ginger ale. The golden style is credited to the Irish doctor Thomas Joseph Cantrell. The dry style, a paler drink with a much milder ginger flavour, was created by Canadian John McLaughlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milkshake</span> Cold dairy beverage

A milkshake is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, or fruit syrup into a thick, sweet, cold mixture. It may also be made using a base made from non-dairy products, including plant milks such as almond milk, coconut milk, or soy milk. Dry ingredients such as whole fruit, nuts, seeds, candy, or cookies may be incorporated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cream soda</span> Soft drink

Cream soda is a sweet soft drink. Generally flavored with vanilla and based on the taste of an ice cream float, a wide range of variations can be found worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barq's</span> Root beer manufactured by The Coca-Cola Company

Barq's is an American brand of root beer created by Edward Barq and bottled since the beginning of the 20th century. It is owned by the Coca-Cola Company. It was known as "Barq's Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer" until 2012. Some of its formulations contain caffeine.

Jones Soda Co. is a beverage company based in Seattle, Washington, United States. It bottles and distributes soft drinks, non-carbonated beverages, energy drinks, and candy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vernors</span> American ginger ale / soda brand

Vernors is an American brand of ginger ale owned by Keurig Dr Pepper that was first served in 1866 by James Vernor, a pharmacist from Detroit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soda fountain</span> Device dispensing carbonated soft drinks

A soda fountain is a device that dispenses carbonated soft drinks, called fountain drinks. They can be found in restaurants, concession stands and other locations such as convenience stores. The artifact combines flavored syrup or syrup concentrate and carbon dioxide with chilled and purified water to make soft drinks, either manually, or in a vending machine which is essentially an automated soda fountain that is operated using a soda gun. Today, the syrup often is pumped from a special container called a bag-in-box (BiB).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birch beer</span> Carbonated soft drink

Birch beer is a beverage, commonly found as a carbonated soft drink made from herbal extracts and birch bark. There are dozens of brands of birch beer available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian soda</span> Soft drink

An Italian soda is a soft drink made from carbonated water and flavored syrup. Flavors can be fruit or modeled after the flavors of desserts, spices, or other beverages. Some vendors add cream to the drink as well, which is often then known as a French soda or an Italian cream soda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polar Beverages</span> Soft drink company

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slushy</span> Flavored frozen drink

A slushy is a type of beverage made of flavored ice and a drink, similar to granitas but with a more liquid composition. It is also commonly called a slush, slurpee, frozen beverage, or frozen drink. A slushie can either be carbonated or non-carbonated; the carbonated version is sometimes called a frozen carbonated drink or frozen carbonated beverage.

The A-Treat Bottling Company was a beverage company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that manufactured and bottled the A-Treat brand of carbonated soft drinks. A-Treat stopped production on January 23, 2015, but the brand was purchased by Jaindl Companies and production resumed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Sky Beverage Company</span> Beverage company

Blue Sky Beverage Company was a beverage company that produced soft drinks and energy drinks. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Monster Beverage Corporation. The company was established in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 1980, where it remained until it was purchased by Monster in 2000. Coca-Cola North America took ownership of Blue Sky Sodas, Hansen’s Juice Products, Hansen’s Natural Sodas, Hubert’s Lemonade, Peace Tea and other non-energy drink brands as part of Coke’s partnership with Monster Beverage Corp on Jun 12, 2015. Blue Sky Beverage Company now operates out of Corona, California. The southwestern look and feel of the artwork on the soda cans is reminiscent of the company's roots in New Mexico.

References

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  20. The Purple Cow
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Sources