Back-to-school time is upon the kids in the Rock Hill area once again. Make the theme of this year’s end-of-summer bash floats. No, we’re not talking about rounding up a bunch of wacky pool floats (although that does sound fun, too). We mean ice cream floats. Read on to find out a little of the history of floats. Then look over the selection of delicious float combinations that you can make with several different Coca-Cola products.

A Float Is Born

On a sweltering day in 1874, Philadelphia drink vendor Robert McCay Green ran out of ice for his flavored drinks. A nearby vendor was selling ice cream, so Green used that instead, cooling the drinks with a scoop of vanilla. The float was born. At least, that’s the traditional tale.

Green himself tells the story a little differently, and with more purpose. He actively experimented with a few different combinations to make his soda fountain unique. His tinkering  eventually led him to flavored sodas and ice cream. Initially, he used vanilla ice cream, soda, and 16 different syrup flavors. The ice cream float was an immediate success and other soda fountains quickly followed suit.

Try These Combinations

Coke Float

A tried and true combination, Coca-Cola with vanilla ice cream always hits the spot. You can’t go wrong with this one.

Root Beer Float

Break out the Barq’s for this one. Vanilla is the usual ice cream flavor, but using chocolate will give you what is often called a “brown cow.”

Boston Cooler

Add some vanilla ice cream to Seagram’s ginger ale to make a Boston cooler.

Snow White

Using vanilla and Sprite will give you a Snow White.

Fanta Flavors

Using any of the Fanta flavors with vanilla ice cream will create a fruit cream float. Combining different sherbet flavors with different Fanta flavors opens up a wide variety of flavor combinations.

Staging the Bash

To make your ice cream float party a success, you will need a variety of Coca-Cola products (see the above suggestions). Vanilla ice cream is also a must, as it pairs well with any of the soda options. Have some fruit flavors and some sherbets on hand as well as some chocolate.

Round up several scoops so that you’re not mixing flavors. If you use shorter cups, the kids will have a better chance to experiment with flavor combinations. Float on!