A root beer float is one of the most popular drinks in America and is so simple to make yet so incredibly tasty. It is also a lot more versatile than most people think.

Now that American root beers are available to buy in the UK there is no excuse not to at least try one and begin loving them! Here’s how to go about making the perfect root beer float.

What You’ll Need

A large, cold glass – a beer mug or the type used for tall ice cream sundaes are ideal and put it in the fridge or freezer for an hour so before you start making your float
An ice cream scoop or large spoon
A couple of straws
Root Beer (A&W Root Beer is a popular one, but there are others)
Good quality ice cream (usually vanilla)

How To Make It

Take your glass from the fridge or freezer – the colder it is the better for making a good root beer float – and pour in the root beer until the glass is about half to three quarters full.

Take a scoop of ice cream and gently ‘float’ it on top of the root beer in the glass. If you have room add a second scoop. Always do this gently. The perfect float should have the ice cream resting as much as possible on top of the root beer, not sinking too far into it.

Now top up the glass with more root beer. This will cause a lot of foam, which is what you want but be careful not to make a huge mess by adding the root beer too quickly and too much. You can try tilting the glass to minimise the foaming effect, but don’t let your ice cream sink.

Slip in your straws and your root beer float is ready! You can eat the ice cream with a spoon before drinking up the root beer with the straws or you can start by slurping up the drink and finishing with the ice cream, it’s up to you!

There are several variations on this that you can try too. For a much foamier float, add the ice cream first and pour the root beer over the top. This will foam up a LOT, so be careful in doing this.

You could also try different flavours of ice cream than vanilla though you may want to test the mix first, not all flavours work well with root beer. Chocolate probably would…pistachio a lot less likely!

Watching your weight? No problem. You can get diet root beer and use low fat ice cream. If you’re lactose intolerant use an ice cream made from skimmed milk. This isn’t the ideal way to make a root beer float but there’s no reason you should miss out on the great taste.

As you can see, a root beer float is a simple to make, versatile and delicious sounding drink that you could be enjoying right now. The ice cream can be bought easily, of course, and to get hold of the A&W root beer (or other brands – try a few and see which you prefer) there are several online retailers now supplying it into the UK from the States.

Author Bio: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of American Soda, online retailers of root beer and other American drinks.

Category: Food and Drinks
Keywords: root beer, ice cream, root beer float, american drinks