The Root Beer Float (Black Cow)
Two big scoops of vanilla ice cream in a frosted mug, very cold root beer poured slowly over the top until the foam rises.
The famous story says Frank J. Wisner invented the root beer float in Cripple Creek, Colorado, in 1893: looking at the snowy top of Cow Mountain by moonlight, he dropped a scoop of ice cream into his root beer and called it a Black Cow. The Gazette reported in 2025 that History Colorado's Rachael Storm found Wisner's mining claims on Cow Mountain but no proof he worked at any brewery or bottled soda, and calls the story "a myth"; historian Linda Wommack still believes it, and Colorado's governor has repeated it. Storm also points out that ice cream sodas came first: the Franklin Fountain says Robert M. Green's stand at the Franklin Institute's 1874 semi-centennial in Philadelphia popularized the ice cream soda. We tell the Wisner story as a story.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Two big scoops of vanilla ice cream in a frosted mug, very cold root beer poured slowly over the top until the foam rises.
🇮🇹 The original
Italian gelato is churned slowly from milk with less cream and less air than American ice cream, so it is denser and served a little warmer. See the Fior di Latte Gelato (Italian Milk Gelato) recipe.
Why it works the kitchen science
Very cold everything
Cold soda holds its carbonation longer and frozen mugs keep the ice cream from melting into the soda too fast, so the float stays fizzy with a thick cap of foam.
Slow pour in two stages
Pouring down the side and pausing lets the foam settle instead of overflowing.
Step by step
- Step 1
Run 2 glass mugs under cold water, shake them out and freeze until frosted, about 30 minutes. Chill the root beer in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, or 20 minutes in the freezer.
- Step 2
Put 2 scoops of ice cream in each frosted mug.
- Step 3
Tilt the mug and pour about half a bottle of root beer slowly down the side. Wait 30 seconds for the foam to settle.
- Step 4
Pour in the rest slowly, stopping whenever the foam reaches the rim.
- Step 5
Add a straw and a long spoon and serve at once.
The Root Beer Float (Black Cow)
Serves 2 · 2 floats · 5 min total
Floats
- 4 large scoops (1/2 cup each) vanilla ice cream (our Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream recipe or 10, or store-bought)
- 2 (12-ounce) bottles root beer, very cold
Method
- Run 2 glass mugs under cold water, shake them out and freeze until frosted, about 30 minutes. Chill the root beer in the refrigerator at least 2 hours, or 20 minutes in the freezer.
- Put 2 scoops of ice cream in each frosted mug.
- Tilt the mug and pour about half a bottle of root beer slowly down the side. Wait 30 seconds for the foam to settle.
- Pour in the rest slowly, stopping whenever the foam reaches the rim.
- Add a straw and a long spoon and serve at once.
Adapted from Ree Drummond's "Root Beer Float" on Food Network: (run a glass mug under cold water and freeze until frosted; 2 large scoops vanilla ice cream; 1 bottle very cold root beer; straw and spoon; 35 minutes including freezer time). Ree Drummond's recipe makes one; we make two and use 12-ounce bottles. The slow two-stage pour is ours. Food Network. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- Use a root beer you like drinking on its own; the float only tastes as good as the soda.
- Swap in cola for a "brown cow" or orange soda for a creamsicle-style float.
- Vanilla custard (our Classic Vanilla Custard Ice Cream recipe) makes a richer float; Philadelphia-style (our Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream recipe) a cleaner, foamier one.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Frank Wisner invented the root beer float in Cripple Creek in 1893. Disputed: Linda Wommack and Colorado's governor repeat it; History Colorado's Rachael Storm found no proof and calls it a myth (The Gazette, 2025).
- It is called a Black Cow after Cow Mountain. Folklore: part of the same unproven Wisner story.
- Ice cream sodas came before root beer floats. Documented in the sense that Robert M. Green's 1874 Philadelphia stand popularized the ice cream soda (Franklin Fountain), about 20 years before the Wisner date. Who first used root beer is unknown.
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