FoCo Joe: Creamy Root Beer Float
Winter term has begun, and my post-workout shower has already left my hair vulnerable to the freezing air between the pool and FoCo. But it’s not worth spending my time and energy discussing these frigid temperatures, mostly because I have so little of both this winter. Instead, this week’s column will be about my adventures tackling a classic dessert that leaves a lot of room for special additions and interpretations — the root beer float. Incidentally, this is the way I’d like to think that my own column will be remembered one day — as a favorite classic that left room for its own special touches.
I’m kidding, but there’s no joke when I say that I made my root beer float with chocolate ice cream yesterday, and it was still delicious! Let me give you a quick play-by-play. I sauntered over to the ice creams ready to prepare the usual delicacy when I noticed that my dear vanilla was missing from the collection. “Oh no,” I thought to myself. “What other basic ice cream flavor might still taste good with root beer?”
In this moment of darkness, I stumbled upon the idea of chocolate. And with that stroke of genius, I also stumbled upon a recipe for a creamy (yes, creamy!) root beer float. Unlike my previous dessert creations, this drink serves only one.
Step 1: Place a generous scoop (or a recommended scoop-and-a-half) of chocolate ice cream into a clear plastic cup. There should be enough ice cream so that the cup is half-full — just like my heart in thinking about my fate this cold winter!
Step 2: Find Barq’s Famous Olde Tyme Root Beer at one of the FoCo soda machines. For those having trouble finding the root beer, I know that the soda machine closest to the dark side has the drink. It should be two or three options in from the left side. Trust me on this
Step 3: In order to maximize creaminess, fill the cup with root beer so that the drink seeps into the nooks and crannies of the ice cream, climbing no higher than the highest point of the top scoop. The amount of bubbles ensuing from this culinary choice should be entertaining.
Step 4: Stir to one’s delight and enjoy! Stirring the ice cream into the root beer is the first thing I do in most scenarios, but I learned yesterday that not all people choose to do this with their root beer floats. To those who are less inclined to create a uniform drink — you do you! The dessert is bound to please nonetheless.
Happy start to the term! Until next week.