Ice Cream Soda Day – Yummy

By Diane Forrest

My cousin's son recently celebrated his 17th birthday.  Part of his celebration was to go out for brunch on a beautiful Friday morning.  The restaurant they went to served him a wonderful ice cream soda, along with a fluffy Belgian waffle.  I wouldn't have been able to eat for the rest of the day after a meal like that, but he is a growing young man, and was ready to eat again a few hours later!  He is pictured above with his chocolate soda.

Ice cream sodas, or floats, are a product of accident.  In 1874 while celebrating the sesquicentennial (150 year) celebration in Philadelphia, PA, Mr. Robert Green ran out of ice for the sodas he was selling.  So to keep his drinks cold, he used ice cream from a neighboring vendor.  He used a selection of 16 different flavors of syrup, soda water and vanilla ice cream, and the new tasty treat was an immediate sensation.  Teens loved them, however many adults hated them, and some towns even banned them on holy days because soda was marketed as a "miracle cure" much like alcohol or other controlled substances that could not be sold on Sunday.  This action spawned the invention of the Sundae, a soda less ice cream treat.

My grandfather lived in Gulfport, Mississippi.  After WWII he returned home and began working for Mr. Barq, one of the originators of Barq's root beer.  Growing up, every time we went to visit there was always rows of bottled root beer in the fridge, and wooden crates full of bottles out in the shed.  My grandfather must have still believed in the evils of soda, because I was always "too young" to drink one.  To make matters worse my grandfather and father would sit on the back porch and have black cows.... right in front of me and my brother!

A black cow is another name for root beer float.  It was sheer torture watching them slurp down those delicious treats on those hot summer nights.  Later I remember going out to Dairy Queen with my dad one afternoon.  We went in and he ordered a strawberry soda.  Since I was feeling grown up, I ordered one too.  That was the prettiest drink I ever saw.  It was in a tall clear plastic glass, large around the top and smaller at the bottom.  It was filled with a creamy pink liquid, topped with whipped cream and a bright red cherry on the top.  It was incredible!

Now that I'm all grown up, all I drink is Barq’s root beer, and a black cow is the only kind of soda I will get because it was forbidden for so long.  Some people like a foamy head on their soda, I don't like digging through all that foam to get to the good stuff, so I make mine by pouring the root beer in the glass first.  Next add 1 or 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream.  (If you add chocolate ice cream it is called a brown cow)  However if you like the foam, just add the ice cream to the glass first, and then fill with cold root beer.  Or you can go down to your local Dairy Queen and try any number of flavors and invent your own favorite soda. Then grab a spoon and a straw and enjoy one today on National Ice Cream Soda Day!

Root Beer Float Day

Today we celebrate National Root Beer Float Day.  This is a special day for me as it brings back many fond memories of my childhood.  Root beer is a carbonated drink made from the root of the sassafras plant.    While all countries have some form of root beer drink, the name root beer is rarely used outside of the United States and Philippians.

There are hundreds of manufactures of root beer, however my favorite is Barqs. (pronounced barks)  The Barq’s company originated in New Orleans, Louisianna.  It was started by two brothers, Edward and Gaston.  Later, Edward moved to Biloxi, Mississippi and started his own branch, and it was there that my grandfather started working for the company.  Growing up I remember going to my grandparents home on the coast and seeing wooden flats full of barqs rootbeer in bottles stacked in the garage.  They didn't have canned drinks back then.  On warm summer nights my grandfather would ask my father if he wanted a black cow.  Black cow is another name for a root beer float.   My brother and I would just stand there and drool.  We weren't allowed to have root beer as it was a "grown up" drink.  I would watch as my grandfather dipped vanilla ice cream in a tall glass then pour the root beer over it the foam rising to the top nearly spilling over the edge.  My brother and I would sit there like puppies begging for table scraps just hoping they would cave in and give us a little taste.  But as we heard the metal clink on the bottom of the glass, we knew once again the taste of the magical drink was not to be had.

Now that I’m a "grown up” Barq’s root beer is all I drink, and the taste of a root beer float is just as magical and delicious as I always imagined it would be.

Making a root beer float is very easy.  The first thing you have to decide is foam content.  Some folks like alot of foam, while I on the other hand like minimum foam.  To achieve this small amount of foam, I simply pour cold root beer in the glass first, them plop a scoop of vanilla ice cream in.  If you like lots of foam, simply scoop in the ice cream first, and then pour the root beer over it. 

Whatever brand of root beer you like, grab some vanilla ice cream, a can of root beer, a tall glass or mug, and enjoy a ice cold float on this hot summer day.