What is an ice cream float?

It is a chilled beverage commonly made with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and root beer poured over. But it doesn’t have to contain root beer to be considered a float, it can be made with any flavor of soda or a mixture of flavored syrup and carbonated water. One of the most popular varieties of the beverage is a root beer float.

The ice cream float was invented by a soda shop operator, Robert McCay Green in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1874 during the Franklins Institute’s 25-year celebration. On a particularly hot day, Green ran out of ice for the flavored drinks. Instead, he used vanilla ice cream from a neighboring vendor. Thus, inventing a new drink. During the celebration, he sold vanilla ice cream with soda and a choice of 16 flavored syrups.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is usually referred to as an "ice-cream float" or simply a "float", as "coke" is often used generically to refer to any cola in the United Kingdom, and "soda" is usually taken to mean soda water, sweetened carbonated drinks instead being collectively called "soft drinks", "(fizzy) pop" or "fizzy juice".

The carbonated drink reacts with the ice cream and releases bubbles full of carbon dioxide that rise up to create a frothy foamy at the very top of the glass. The ice cream is cold in the centre but melty at the edges, the foam light in texture and the pop bubbly on the tongue.
What is an ice cream float?