Love a Root Beer Float? Try Adding Booze. (2024)

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Ingredients Steps FAQs

Root Beer Floats are the nostalgic drinks of pool parties and summer sleepovers. But, while you may have enjoyed this sweet and creamy classic as a kid, you’ll be happy to learn that the adult version is even better.

The Boozy Root Beer Float takes everything you love about the original—namely the ice cream and root beer—and upgrades it with a pour of rum. The result is a perfect antidote to a hot summer day.

Fortunately, the recipe couldn’t be easier. Just scoop some vanilla ice cream into a glass, then add a little rum. Pour chilled root beer over the whole thing, stir briefly and enjoy.

When choosing your rum, opt for an aged variety, rather than a white rum. Aged rums will feature some barrel-induced accents like caramel, vanilla and spice, which merge seamlessly with the root beer and ice cream. Other spirits, particularly bourbon, also do an admirable job fortifying this co*cktail, but when in doubt, rum is the answer.

Serve the Boozy Root Beer Float at backyard barbecues, summer parties and other gatherings where ice-cold beverages are in order. Then note the smiles that wash over your friends’ faces with each sip of this nostalgic drink.

Ingredients

  • 1 ounce rum

  • 1 scoop vanilla ice cream

  • Root beer (such as A&W or Dad’s Root Beer), chilled, to top

Steps

  1. Add the rum and ice cream into a tall glass.

  2. Slowly pour the root beer into the glass until it’s full, then stir gently and briefly to combine.

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Love a Root Beer Float? Try Adding Booze. (2024)

FAQs

What is the slang for root beer float? ›

Also known as a "black cow" or "brown cow", 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.

What is the meaning of root beer float? ›

/rut bɪə fləʊt/ IPA guide. Definitions of root beer float. noun. an ice-cream soda made with ice cream floating in root beer.

Is a root beer float alcoholic? ›

The Boozy Root Beer Float takes everything you love about the original—namely the ice cream and root beer—and upgrades it with a pour of rum. The result is a perfect antidote to a hot summer day. Fortunately, the recipe couldn't be easier. Just scoop some vanilla ice cream into a glass, then add a little rum.

What is the nickname for a root beer float? ›

The root beer float, also known as a "black cow" or "brown cow," is a classic American dessert that has been enjoyed for over a century.

What do Americans call root beer? ›

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 (known as sarsaparilla; also used to make a soft drink called sarsaparilla) as the primary flavor.

What is whiskey and root beer called? ›

A classic rickey is just liquor, lime juice and carbonated water, but reach for rye whiskey and trade the soda water for root beer, and you get the root beer rickey, a drink bartender Jim Meehan created for Cicoria, a pizzeria in Portland, Ore.

What is fireball and root beer called? ›

A Fireball Root Beer Float is an adult version of a childhood favorite. Chilled mugs filled with vanilla ice cream is topped with fireball whiskey and hard root beer. Yields 2 mugs but can be halved or doubled.

What is beer and vodka called? ›

A combination of beer and vodka is commonly referred to as a "Boilermaker." A Boilermaker typically consists of a shot of vodka served alongside a glass of beer.

Is a root beer float a black cow? ›

Wisner, owner of Colorado's Cripple Creek Brewing, created the drink after realizing that the snowy peaks on Colorado's Cow Mountain reminded him of ice cream floating in soda. He combined root beer and vanilla ice cream, and called it the “Black Cow”, or more popularly known today as a root beer float.

Are you supposed to eat or drink a root beer float? ›

Root beer floats are actually quite drinkable with or without a straw once the ice cream and root beer melt together. But drinks really do taste better when sipped through a straw! If your root beer float turns out like more of a shake than a drink, it's perfectly acceptable to eat it with a spoon.

Is a co*ke float called a black cow? ›

A Black Cow is simple, really. Just soda (we used Coca-Cola) with vanilla ice cream. You might call it a root beer float or an ice cream soda. In New Zealand and Australia, they call it a Spider, and in the UK, it's known as a co*ke float.

What alcohol mixes best with root beer? ›

The dark rum and root beer are the perfect match because they're both sweet with notes of vanilla and have slightly spicy undertones. They both have a smooth, velvety taste. And the splash of heavy cream and rumchata add the creaminess you'd get from the scoop of vanilla ice cream, plus a hint of cinnamon flavor.

Can you put Baileys in a root beer float? ›

Adding Baileys to a root beer float totally changes it. The root beer becomes so much more creamy, and of course you get that hazelnutty yum-ness and also a little booze.

What is the foam in a root beer float? ›

The root beer helps to free air bubbles trapped in the ice cream. The fat in the ice cream coats the bubbles, protecting them and allowing them to expand to create the foam you see on root beer floats.”

What is another name for root beer? ›

While Root Beer and Sarsaparilla might be alternate names for the same Bundaberg brew, traditionally speaking, they are two different drinks that have a separate and distinct history. So, we decided to have a look back through the history books…

What is a ginger ale root beer float called? ›

A Boston Cooler, also known as a Vernors float, is an ice cream soda variant typically composed of Vernors Ginger Ale and vanilla ice cream blended together similar to a milkshake, although in other parts of the country, different combinations of ingredients are also known as a Boston Cooler.

What is a blended root beer float called? ›

If you Google “Black Cow Drink” you'll find a variety of recipes. Some say it's a root beer float with a chocolate syrup drizzle, while others consider it simply being a blended root beer float.

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