The Root Beer Float is the perfect drink/dessert that possibly has ever existed! I was raised on root beer floats we had them every summer as treats probably more than most kids because they were also a favorite of my Dads. We always had root beer on hand ice-cold in a cooler or kept in the extra refrigerator in the basement. We had special mugs that we enjoyed the floats from and they were always a cold refreshing treat.
As I got older I was able to debate the merits of the different root beers with my Dad. He was a Dads Old Fashioned Root Beer guy. A Root Beer that turned 75 years old in 2012. Originated from Chicago and still to this day has the essential ingredients of wintergreen,Licorice and Vanilla.
I was more an A&W gal in my early years. Probably because the memory and taste of going to the drive in was fresh and exciting to me and that thick sweet cold beverage from a frosty mug was what I preferred over the lighter Dads version. In 1971 They started selling A&W in Grocery stores. A trip to the drive in was special event on one of our Sunday toolies or a hot summers eve. The trip to the grocery store was a weekly occurrence which meant most days you could find both Dads root beer and A&W somewhere in the house!!
When my sister and I were kids and our family traveled the western United States we were lucky to try the Sassafras and Sarsaparilla drinks that were the origin of the modern-day Root Beers. Some of those drinks were great sweet and smooth and some were down right nasty like motor oil mixed with herbs but they all had the basis of root beer in common, different spices and roots used to form that frosty drink we love so much. Many of these ingredients are still used in root beer today from Allspice and cloves to cherry bark, dog grass and molasses. Carbonation is added to todays root beers and some of the mass-produced products use corn syrup as the sweetener. Most root beers are caffeine free but the Bite that Barqs talks about having that is the caffeine in their root beer.
The greatest thing about Root Beer today is it is like Craft Beer, there are a bunch of them to choose from coming from all parts of the country using the root ingredients of the area and many producing with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. There are so many variations and such a love for the product that there is a store in the small town my mom lives near that is just a root beer store. They sell root beer on tap to sip on while browsing a huge selection of craft root beers from all over the country. I always stop for 6 bottles of mixed and matched root beers when I am in town for a visit. I am always amazed at how many different styles of root beer there are to choose from.
The nuts and bolts of todays post is the Root Beer Float. Today August 6th is National Root Beer Float day. Now I thought about going non traditional and taking Not Your Fathers Root Beer and making an alcohol version of the old classic. I thought of twisting it up and using a different kind of ice cream and/or soda, but then that’s not really a root beer float now is it? I kept thinking about the root beer floats we had at Camp Sychar last week, each night for $1.25 we got a red solo cup with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and a can of root beer poured over the top. It was everything I loved about root beer floats as a kid. A Cold refreshing sweet drink on a hot summers eve as the sun set and the lightning bugs came out to play.
So with those happy memories in my mind today I took a glass put 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream in it and poured some A&W root beer over the top till it foamed and bubbled and produced the float of my childhood!! Cheers I hope you enjoy your own root beer float today!!
#Nationalrootbeerfloatday #A&Wrootbeer #summerfun