cider floats;
Here’s a new one for the books! Who would have thought–cold cider floats! I sure wouldn’t have. You can thank Cornell’s Grad students for this doozy. I was up in Ithaca visiting a friend this past weekend for “galentines” day, and their “TGIF” (Read: thank grads it’s Friday) served cider floats!
Now I’ve only tried it specifically with McKenzie’s seasonal hard cider, and I will say that it would take some convincing to get me to try another. That’s for a couple reasons. Firstly, the winter seasonal (as I am assuming it is) definitely has some Christmas-spice notes that really make for a cider float. It’s basically cold, mildly mulled cider. And that makes the ice cream pairing sweet, but not cloyingly so. Secondly, I don’t think you’d have the same experience with say, a normal Strongbow or Angry Orchard. I’m sure you could find other winter seasonals that might work, the first coming to mind the “cinnful apple” Angry Orchard, which I find ridiculously sweet and not anywhere near my cup of tea after half of the first sip. But if that’s your jam, I bet it would work wonders too!
I enjoyed it enough that A and I got two each, and would have gotten at least one more if we hadn’t been trapped in a corner by the business of TGIF, and because we had to leave to grab tickets to a film festival about outdoor sports! But I did enjoy it enough to track down two six packs to take home with me! It took three stores, and considering at one point during the weekend it was -37 degrees with windchill (I’m actually not exaggerating), I think that says something. Anyway, if you decide to try out the recipe with another cider, let me know what you think? And also, as T asked, “how do you drink/eat a float?”
This recipe doesn’t even get a recipe card, at least right now. Two ingredients: 1 bottle of McKenzie’s Seasonal Reserve Cider, and 1 scoop vanilla ice cream. Suggested eating!: perfect combo is to plop the ice cream in and then let it melt just a bit until you get a nice white foam head. Then eat the remaining ice cream with a spoon, grabbing up some cider in the process, and drink the rest of the cider, “head” and all! Yum yum.
