The Snowy Origins Of The Classic Root Beer Float

There are a lot of classic American desserts: Apple pie, New York cheesecake, banana splits — it's a long list because America is a country that loves its sweets. There's one classic that maybe isn't as common now as it used to be but will forever hold a niche in the hearts of those who love them: The root beer float. At its most basic, a root beer float is just root beer topped with ice cream, though you can certainly add things to it, like vodka, that turn it into an adult beverage.

But where did the root beer float come from to begin with? Unlike a lot of cuisines, food historians have settled on a definitive answer for this one: Frank J. Wisner of Cripple Creek, Colorado. As to why it is the way it is, its location holds the key: The root beer float is based on the Rocky Mountains of Colorado near where it originated — and the livestock kept around Cripple Creek.

Frank J. Wisner was not the first to come up with the idea of putting ice cream and soda together; Robert McCay Green of Pennsylvania is typically credited with creating ice cream floats in 1874. The origin story here varies, though both involve an exhibition; one claims Green ran out of sweet cream and substituted ice cream, while another says he was just looking for a way to differentiate his product from others.

Wisner's invention came along nearly 20 years later, in 1893. It's unclear whether Green's version inspired him or he came up with it independently, though its origin story certainly implies the latter. Cripple Creek sits right near the base of Pike's Peak, so the Rocky Mountains are an omnipresent local feature. Wisner was the owner of Cripple Creek Brewing, and supposedly, he looked up at those mountains one night and was inspired to create a drink that looked like them. Thus, the root beer float was born — a drink with a dark base and a white top, resembling the snow-capped Rockies.

The funny part is that Frank J. Wisner didn't even call it a root beer float once it was created. Though that's how it eventually became known (probably because it's a name that's both descriptive and catchy), Wisner himself called his concoction a black cow. This is where the origin story gets a little fuzzy; he called it this because it looked like the black and white cows around Cripple Creek — yet it was also supposed to be based on the mountains themselves. It could have been both, though; the mountains inspired Wisner, but he came up with the name because "Rocky Mountain Dessert Beverage" wasn't likely to catch on.

Whatever you call it, though, we owe a debt of fizzy, sweet gratitude to Wisner for coming up with a classic American concoction. Well, Wisner and also the Rocky Mountains themselves.