Flavor #31 - Root Beer Float

I have a confession to make. As a kid, I never liked Root Beer and I have never really enjoyed a Root Beer float, or any float for that matter. I know I am not alone on this. Root Beer does not even rank amongst the top 10 sodas in the US. When I worked at Haagen Dazs we rarely had anyone order a float of any kind.

So why?

First, I have developed my taste for Root Beer over the years. As much as I love soda, I rarely drink it. A nice cold coke in a 6oz bottle on a hot day, or a great microbrew soda on occasion. Mercury Soda is a personal favorite and they have a good Root Beer and it is made by the folks who brew Ipswich Ale. JP Lick's now have added this as a summer specialty flavor and I am sure they have their own way of making this. To make this recipe the way I wanted, I needed a Root Beer made with pure cane sugar. Luckily, there are quite a few good ones out there. As I was shopping for this flavor, there was no Mercury Soda around, so I grabbed some Capt'n Eli's Root Beer. Capt'n Eli's is brewed by Shipyard up in Maine and fit the bill perfectly.

1 Quart of Vanilla Ice Cream

1 Bottle of Root Beer

Simple to make but messy. Much lighter in flavor and texture as the carbonation fluffs up the ice cream! Take the quart of ice cream and place it in a large mixing bowl. Let the ice cream soften but not melt. Slowly add the root beer and fold into the ice cream. You will need a really big bowl as this will fluff up a lot at first. Once things settle down, put the mix back into a container and let it re-freeze for a few hours. I have found that eating it fresh will give you a lighter and creamier texture and that after a day or two, the mix gets a little icier because of the water content of the soda.

This may be a better as a popsicle and now that I have a machine I will try that out. The original recipe I used was modified from a popsicle recipe, but I like the way this came out and I have found myself getting cravings for the flavor and consistency now.

Enjoy!