Ice cream float

Anice cream floatorice cream soda, also known as anice cream spiderin Australia and New Zealand,is a chilledbeveragemade by addingice creamto asoft drinkor to a mixture of flavoredsyrupandcarbonated water.
Whenroot beerandvanilla ice creamare used, the beverage is referred to as aroot beer float(United States). A close variation is thecoke float, which is made usingcola.
The ice cream float was invented by Robert M. Green inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 during theFranklin 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.
His own account, published inSoda Fountainmagazine in 1910, states that while operating asoda fountainat 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'swillinstructed that "Originator of the Ice Cream Soda" was to be engraved on his tombstone.
There are at least three other claimants for the invention of the root beer float: Fred Sanders,Philip Mohr,andGeorge Guy, one of Robert Green's own employees.Guy claimed to have absentmindedly mixed ice cream and soda in 1872, much to hiscustomers' delight.
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 pinkcream soda.
In the UK and Ireland, it is usually referred to as an "ice-cream float" or simply a "float," as "soda" is usually taken to meansoda water. Sweetened carbonated drinks are instead 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 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.
In 2014,The Wizarding World of Harry Potterthemed area at theUniversal Orlando Resortdebuted the drink composed of the ingredientsbrown sugarandbutter syrupmixed withcream sodaandwhipped creambased on theoriginally fictional drinkserved at Hogsmeade. In 2016,Starbucksdebuted theSmoked Butterbeer Frappuccino Latte.
A beer float is made of Guinness stout, chocolate ice cream, and espresso.Although the Shakin' Jesse versionis blended into more of a milkshake consistency, most restaurant bars can make the beer float version.
Today, a Boston cooler is typically composed ofVernorsginger ale and vanilla ice cream.
The first reference to a Boston cooler appears in theSt. Louis Post Dispatchwhere a New York bartender claimed to have coined the phrase for a summer cocktail ofsarsaparillaand 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, includingroot beer, though ginger ale became the most common soft drink component.
By the 1880s a version of the Boston cooler was being served in Detroit bySanders Confectionery, made with Sanders' ice cream and Vernors.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 amilkshake. 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.
It remains a popular summer drink in the Detroit area.
This ice cream soda starts with approximately 1 oz ofchocolate syrup, then several scoops of chocolate ice cream in a tall glass. Unflavoredcarbonated wateris added until the glass is filled and the resulting foam rises above the top of the glass. The final touch is a topping ofwhipped creamand usually, amaraschino cherry. This variation of ice cream soda was available at localsoda fountainsand nationally, atDairy Queenstores for many years.
A similar soda made with chocolate syrup but vanilla ice cream is sometimes called a "black and white" ice cream soda.
In Japan, an ice cream float known as a cream soda is made with vanilla ice cream andmelon soda, often topped with a singlemaraschino cherry.
In Mexico, popular versions are made from coca-cola with coconut andKahlúaice cream, from chocolate coca-cola with vanilla ice cream, and from red wine with lemon ice cream.
This variant is popular inNew Orleansand parts ofOhio, made with a syrup consisting of equal parts almond and vanilla syrups mixed with sweetenedcondensed milkand a touch of red food coloring to produce a pink, opalescent syrup base for the soda.
In the context of ice cream soda, a purple cow is vanilla ice cream in purple grape soda. The Purple Cow,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 inBirmingham, Alabama, is ubiquitously linked to ice cream floats in that state.
The soda is named afterGelett Burgess's 1895 nonsense poemPurple Cow.
Also known as a "black cow"or "brown cow",theroot beerfloat 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 drinkbirch beermay also be used instead of root beer.
In the United States and Canada, the chainA&W Restaurantsare 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 withcolainstead of root beer.
In 2008, theDr Pepper Snapple Groupintroduced itsFloatbeverage line. This includes A&W Root Beer, A&W Cream Soda andSunkistflavors which attempt to simulate the taste of their respective ice cream float flavors in a creamy, bottled drink.
This drink is prepared similarly to a chocolate ice cream soda, but withstrawberry syrupand strawberry (or vanilla) ice cream used instead.
In Brazil, avaca amarela(yellow cow) orvaca dourada(golden cow) is an ice cream soda combination of vanilla ice cream and orange orguaranásoda, respectively.
At least inBrazilandPortugal, a non-alcoholic ice cream soda made by combining vanilla or chocolate ice cream and Coca-Cola is known asvaca-preta("black cow").