Quick storytime.
Japan is home to many weird treats that, unless you grow up eating, likely taste gross to you.
Things like shrimp chips.
Well, it turns out, most of the world doesn’t drink root beer.
It’s a very American thing.
And much of the world thinks it’s gross (examples: here and here). So root beer is a little like our shrimp chips.
Lucky for us.
Here in Connecticut there are a number of local soda makers.
Some of these soda makers also make root beer.
And occasionally, a CT restaurant gets it into their heads to make a root beer float using a locally made root beer.
Here they are, ranked.
#5: Scoops and Sprinkles, Rocky Hill; Using Avery’s Root Beer
Avery’s Soda is a soda company that has been in New Britain since 1904.
Scoops and Sprinkles, in Rocky Hill, will gladly make you a root beer float using Avery’s Root Beer.
The root beer is very thin without a lot of body to it. That makes it easier to drink on its own, as there is no overpowering flavor.
The ice cream is also very thin, being overly whipped with air and somewhat grainy.
Paired together, the whole thing is fairly bland.
The Rating: Root Beer Float with Avery’s root beer at Scoops and Sprinkles
5/10
Address: 2229 Silas Deane Hwy, Rocky Hill, CT 06067
#4: Chatham Creamery, East Hampton; Using Hosmer Mountain Root Beer
Hosmer Mountain Soda is a soda company out of Manchester.
Chatham Creamery, in East Hampton, uses Gifford’s ice Cream, out of Maine.
The root beer is very weak. Far too weak to stand up to ice cream.
The flavor is extremely light, even simple vanilla ice cream overpowers it.
The ice cream is good, but numerous ice crystals start to coalesce on the bottom.
It’s fine, but loses it’s momentum by the time you get to the end.
The Rating: Root Beer Float with Hosmer Mountain root beer at Chatham Creamery
6/10
Address: 11 N Main St, East Hampton, CT 06424
#3: Capotorto’s Apizza Center, East Haven; Using Foxon Park Root Beer
Foxon Park Beverages is a soda company in East Haven, just up the road, established in 1922.
One mile away is a pizza and ice cream shop that makes Root Beer Floats using Foxon Park Root Beer.
The problem with the root beer floats using Avery’s or Hosmer Mountain is that the root beer is too weak for the ice cream.
Here, the ice cream is too weak for the root beer.
It’s not that Foxon Park’s root beer has a particularly strong bite or anything.
It’s good root beer.
But the vanilla ice cream at Capotorto’s is icy and very weak on flavor.
That means the root beer float you are left with is just a slightly creamy root beer.
No complaints here.
The Rating: Root Beer Float with Foxon Park root beer at Capotorto’s Apizza Center
6/10
Address: 688 Foxon Rd, East Haven, CT 06513
#2: Sycamore Drive-In, Bethel; Using Homemade Root Beer
This classic drive-in has a wacky-yet-weirdly addictive burger, and also brews their own root beer.
The root beer itself is mild, yet sweeter than other root beers.
The lack of harsh bite and sweetness means it pairs well with the ice cream.
This is pretty good.
The root beer could use a bolder flavor, but otherwise, it’s just fine.
The Rating: Root Beer Float with homemade root beer at Sycamore Drive-In
6.5/10
Address: 282 Greenwood Ave, Bethel, CT 06801
#1: Brewport Brewing Company, Bridgeport; Using Homemade Root Beer
This Bridgeport brewery brews beer, briskly.
Alliteration aside, the root beer is brewed in-house.
It has a good bite to it, with almost a chocolate and (black) licorice flavor to it.
The ice cream is more like frozen yogurt than scoops of hard ice cream.
This means the ice cream melts very quickly into the root beer.
This is probably one of the best root beer floats in Connecticut.
There is a bit too much whipped cream, so try it without to get the full flavor.
The Rating: Root Beer Float with homemade root beer at Brewport Brewing Company
8/10
Address: 225 South Frontage Road, Bridgeport, CT 06604