Add One Ingredient To Root Beer Floats For A Budget (And Adult) Friendly Twist

Root beer floats are fun, two-ingredient drinkable desserts that are bursting with sweet and herbal flavors and a creamy yet fizzy texture. But, if you're willing to add one more ingredient, you can turn one into an adult-friendly boozy ice cream float. Vodka can add a boozy twist with minimal effect on the float's beloved flavor, and for relatively little increased cost.

Vodka is arguably the most neutral spirit, blending seamlessly with all kinds of mixers. Even if you're imbibing in a vodka martini, it'll still go down smoothly and camouflage itself behind the stronger flavors of olive juice and vermouth. While plain vodka will blend well, vodka also comes in various flavors that you can use to play up the signature notes in a root beer float. For example, vanilla vodka would work well to support the flavors of vanilla ice cream. Smirnoff, the world's best-selling vodka brand, even makes a root-beer-float flavored vodka that will intensify all the flavors of a float. 

To make a dirty root beer float, simply take a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream, add your vodka of choice, and then top it off with a generous pour of root beer. Chilling the glass beforehand is a surprising trick to make it taste even better. Garnish your creation with whipped cream, maraschino cherries, sprinkles, or a drizzle of salted caramel sauce.

Flavored vodka is an easy add to put an adult-friendly twist on a root beer float, but if this isn't enough of a boost, you can swap it for butterscotch schnapps as the alcohol base. Butterscotch will certainly enhance root beer's caramel notes as well as the taste of vanilla ice cream. Root beer liqueur is another ingredient to utilize alongside vodka to enhance the herbal flavors of the soda. While there are several  great root beer brands to choose from, you could swap these out for an alcoholic root beer for that extra kick.

Of course, a great tip to change up a root beer float is to experiment with ice cream flavors. Coming from the opposite angle, you can tailor the ice cream you add to enhance the flavors of your chosen liquor. If you'd rather limit this to just vodka, try swapping vanilla ice cream for butterscotch or butter pecan to bring out the caramel notes in root beer. If root beer isn't your favorite, swap it for a different soda. A vodka-spiked orange soda float with vanilla ice cream is a refreshing and fun take on the classic Creamsicle ice cream bar. Or, spike Sprite with vodka and pour over fruity sorbets like lemon or raspberry, and you could even add a shot of limoncello for good measure.