Nothing beats an old-fashioned ice cream soda. All you need is a straw, a glass, ice cream, soda and syrup, and you’ve got the makings of one of the great ice cream classics. Go with an old standby like the black cow (chocolate syrup, root beer and vanilla ice cream).

What is an Ice Cream Soda?

An ice cream float or ice cream soda, also known as a spider in Australia and New Zealand, is a chilled beverage that consists of ice cream in either a soft drink or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water. Ice Cream Soda is a sweet soft drink. Generally flavored with vanilla and based on the taste of an Ice cream float, a wide range of variations can be found worldwide.

When you pour soda over ice cream, the soda makes its bubbles. But these bubbles don’t pop they are held in place and stabilized by the thickening agents in the ice cream. You get a glass full of thick ice cream soda foam.

 

Why is it called ice cream soda?

Instead of adding ice to drinks, the ice was used to chill or freeze the ingredients, at least at the soda fountain—saloons were a little earthier. In the case of ice cream soda, they just used the ice to freeze the cream, and then put the frozen, uncontaminated cream into the drink.

 

History

The generally acknowledged creator of the ice cream soda is Robert M. Green, who fathered the ice cream soda in October 1874, at the semicentennial celebration of the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, where he was a concessionaire selling soda fountain drinks from a three-foot-square dispenser.

At the beginning of the exhibition he was serving a popular drink of the time which was a mixture of sweet cream, syrup and carbonated water. During one of the early days of the celebration, however, he ran out of cream and began substituting vanilla ice cream. The customers gave their hearty approval to the new drink as evidenced by the fact that Green, who had been averaging $6 a day with the first drink, was taking in over $600 a day for ice cream sodas by the end of the exhibition.

There’s just something about a super cold and fizzy Coca Cola mixed with creamy vanilla ice cream that really does the trick on a hot summer day. Coca-Cola with its first sale on May 8, 1886, was invented for medicinal purposes by US-based pharmacist John Pemberton, who marketed the drink as a “brain tonic” and “intellectual beverage.” Pemberton used cocaine from the coca leaf and caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut, giving the drink its name. It didn’t take long for soda jerks across America to start pouring “Coke Floats”, using Coke Syrup, vanilla and 2 scoops of ice cream.

 

Fun Facts about Ice Cream Soda

• Ice cream was invented in China.
• Hawaiian Punch originated as an ice cream topping.
• Scientists in 1940 thought that ice cream caused polio because there were more cases of polio in the summer.
• The record for the world’s largest soda float was one of 13,638 liters (3,000 gal) made by Coca-Cola at the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on 25 May 2007. The float comprised 12,956 liters (2,850 gal) of Vanilla Coke and 7,200 scoops of ice cream, which was pumped into a 15 ft tall glass.

 

Old-Fashioned Ice Cream Soda Recipe

Ingredients

3/4 cup chocolate syrup

1 cup milk

4 cups carbonated chilled water

8 scoops chocolate ice cream (about 2-2/3 cups), divided

Whipped cream in a can, optional

1 red cherry (optional topping)

 

Directions

Place 3 tablespoons chocolate syrup in each of four 16-oz. glasses. Add 1/4 cup milk and 1 cup carbonated water to each; stir until foamy. Add two scoops of ice cream to each glass. Top with whipped cream and a cherry if desired.

Enjoy