Wednesday, July 9, 2008
New product Wednesday, at Dallas-area stores: A&W Float
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A&W Float is for the root beer float fan who has neither the time nor patience to carve out a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
A&W Float came out a few months ago but according to the Web site was in development for "quite some time", which I want to say was maybe two years? A while. Creating soda has apparently become a scientific endeavor. Well, except A&W Float is not an ordinary soda. It's a high-calorie soda pretending to be a fountain drink.
Some key ways it is different:
- It comes out and says that a bottle represents one serving. (Sometimes these bottled products deceptively claim to hold two servings when you know people are going to drink the whole thing.) Good.
- It contains 230 calories (for the Root Beer variety) to 260 calories (for the Orange). Not so good.
- It uses sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup or artificial sweetener. Good.
- It has 63 grams of sugar per serving. Not so good.
Operating under the assumption that today's busy indulgence-seekers don't have time to pour a glass of soda and plop a scoop of vanilla ice cream into it, the Dr Pepper/Seven Up people created a float approximation by combining flavored soda with skim milk and cream.
Then in an effort to make it foamy, they put in a gassy additive -- nitrous oxide, aka laughing gas -- designed to produce a foamy head when you pour.
But no foam on the two bottles sampled. At best, a few bubbles collected at the top of the glass before fading away. In fact, both bottles sampled were on the flat side. This is not a fizzy soda. One on-line source recommended shaking the bottle before opening to increase foaminess, but that didn't work, either.
These drinks are a novel idea for sure, and novelty is fun. But they make the assumption that people like floats merely for flavor and not for texture. I would guess that most people who order floats like having the actual ice cream. So the premise seems flawed. On top of that, the flavor of the root beer option doesn't especially evoke the flavor of a float. It's probably the result of adding milk; it ends up tasting more like caramel and watery coconut than root beer.
The root beer version was definitely richer and creamier than a regular soda, and that felt indulgent. The glass bottle with its rounded edges felt good in the hand. But milky flavoring in a super-sweet soda does not a float make.
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Comments
Scott Doyle Verified
Ugh.
Not a float without ice cream floating in it, imo. Period.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
capteucalyptus Anonymous
Saw it in the store and it sounded intriguing on one hand and NASTAY on the other.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Donna Chen Verified
200+ calories? I think I'll just splurge on the Jones' Cream Soda treat.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
I'm with Doyle on this. It's cute that it's "float flavored", but this is just flagrant false advertising.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Teresa Gubbins Staff
the weird thing is that when i drank it out of the bottle, it seemed sortof good. but when i poured it into a glass, it seemed yuck. maybe it has a bad "bouquet".
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Chad Jones Verified
There's definitely a timetable. Both the root beer and the orange flavors taste pretty great after the first sip, and then it all goes down, downhill as your blood sugar skyrockets.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Stacey Callaway Verified
Nothing can beat getting a frosty mug RB float from A&W. Too bad the real restaurants don't exist down here.. a RB Float and one of their famous Mushroom Swiss burgers.. Oh heaven... Guess I'll have to settle for Twisted Root!
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
cornrefiner Anonymous
High fructose corn syrup, sugar, and several fruit juices all contain the same simple sugars.
New research continues to confirm that high fructose corn syrup is safe and no different from other common sweeteners like sugar and honey.
High fructose corn syrup has the same number of calories as sugar.
Consumers can see the latest research and learn more about high fructose corn syrup at www.HFCSfacts.com and www.sweetsurprise.com.
Audrae Erickson President Corn Refiners Association
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Clay213 Anonymous
Looks like Teresa might be on the brink of being sued by the HFCS lobby for disparaging remarks... better watch your words!
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
CornRefiner: I'm actually impressed that you acknowledged not being objective.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Clay213 Anonymous
sweetsurprise.com does not sound like a work safe website..
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Collin Gouldin Verified
uh huh ... and splenda is safe too ::rolls eyes::
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
David Gouldin Staff
Corn and all of its derivatives are evil evil. Michael Pollan told me so.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Robert Kelly Verified
I too am not happy with the cornification of the American diet.
But I like Cheetos too much to give it up totally. Everything in moderation.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Pavel Lishin Verified
Including moderation.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Jason Rice Verified
Real quick: Irony check
HFCS is defended on a thread about a fake rootbeer float that for some reason uses "real" sugar - but no ice cream.
I did read all that correctly, right?
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
Scott Miller Verified
Clever, but no match for Blue Bell's "instant float." A couple of spoonfuls and you just add root beer.
1 year, 4 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )
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