A & W Introduces a Float in a Bottle
Nancy is fond of saying “You wear your food well.” She’s been saying it since we started dating.
The place to be seen when we were dating was The Alamo aka the ‘Mo. It was American Graffiti-like, only real and small town tacky. Most of us were driving our parent’s cars, but we would pop the hubcaps off the wheels exposing the black painted rims (that was cool then) and cruise the ‘Mo.
On one of our early dates, we actually decided to stop and get root beer floats. It was there I did a classic early date move.
When the floats came (on a tray attached to the window by a car-hop.) She had hers, I had mine. After a couple pulls on the straw, I took the spoon and tried to get a mouthful of ice cream. What I did was prove a physics theory that demonstrated two things:
- a solid will displace a liquid of equal mass
- when a liquid is compressed into a small area, velocity of displacement increases proportionately.
That root beer shot out of the top of the straw by a foot.
Lucky for her, she had not made a move on me yet and was sitting on her side of the car, not right next to me. (I hate consoles for that reason.)
I was so embarrassed I couldn’t look to see if my action caused a similar reaction and root beer shot out her nose.
It wasn’t A & W Root Beer, but where did all the A & W’s go? Every once in a while, we will get a hankerin’ for an A & W in a frosted mug or a A & W Root Beer float.
A & W and Sunkist are introducing a float in a bottle. (edit: Link removed – www.floats.com will not be active until mid-January.)
(Aside: Sunkist float, yuck. Sunkist means orange flavor to me, and that just doesn’t sound good.) (Another aside: the link to floats.com wasn’t working when I posted this.)
The V.P. of Marketing – a breed known for understatement said:
“For years, beverage makers have tried to crack the code and develop an indulgent drink that tastes like a homemade float,” said Andrew Springate, vice president of marketing. “The A&W and Sunkist Floats are indulgent treats like nothing consumers have experienced before; one pour and your taste buds will be amazed – no work, no hassle.”
Of course, we will pay for this convenience. The bottles are 11.5 ounces and will probably sell for about $1.49.
Price does not include dry cleaning.
UPDATE: Because their website doesn’t launch until later this month:
There are A&Ws in Glasgow and Cave City (although they are cobranded with Long John Silvers.
@Chris: thanks – Road Trip.
My boys are all about root beer floats. Every time we take them out to eat, they order floats and ruin their appetites. Sam also eats the Dreyer’s Root Beer Float ice cream. I’m sure he’ll be all over these, too.
@Gretchen: Awright! Expert opinions. I expect a full report.
We have an A&W/KFC in town. This totally perplexes my eldest – she can’t understand why there are so many initials and no actual name on the billboard. She’s a thinker, that one.
I personally think floats are nasty. My Nana used to make us grandkids floats and I distinctly remember drinking the heck out of ’em, but it was like all of the sudden one day….they were gross. My mom likes Dr. Pepper floats and my husband likes Coke floats. I think they’re both very strange.
@Redneck Diva: Your eldest has a good point! I can understand your change in taste, at some point in a persons maturing they move on to more gourmet fare.
Like Bud.
Hey? Bud Float?
I am a employee for Seven-Up bottling we received our shipments of A&W and Sunkist Floats in a bottle. I personally love a float so I was excited to try it. I am no longer excited I tried the A&W one and it was a very fake tasting vanilla almost like vanilla extract it smelled strongly of vanilla in the bottle with little to no root beer taste my nephew said it was like bad candy. I hope maybe got a bad bottle or that Sunkist is different but seems like another failed attempt at creating a quick homemade float taste in a bottle. To me anyway.
Hi Kory, thanks for the first “review.” I hope it was a “bad batch” but I bet it wasn’t. It’s hard to fix such odd flavors and textures.
I thought of Jones Turkey Dinner soda, when I first heard this.
I actually just rried both the AW&W and the Sunkist. . .all I can say is NASTY. The A&W doesn’t have any rootbeer taste to it. . very mechanical tasting, while the sunkist taste like cough syrup. NOT GOOD. Both make your tummy hurt and give you bad breath. Boo!!
Hi Lori: thanks for review. Sounds like they have a dud on their hands. Bad breath too? yuck.
I just tried the A&W Float and the first thing I noticed was it was too syrupy and just too strong. Plus it tasted terrible. Nothing like root beer. $6 for 4, 11 ounce bottles was very pricey as well. This has dud written all over it in my opinion.
@Tom B: Thanks for the report. I had a real A & W root beer float, and just don’t see how putting all that in a blender would make it taste better.
I tried a pack from the local store here and I was very disappointed. I felt like I just wasted almost 6 bucks on a drink that tastes nothing like the real thing.
@ Michael: seems to be the consensus. Thanks for remembering to post your opinion.
a/w rootbeer float in a bottle is the most disguting flavor i have ever tasted . plain and sinmple how it got to the shelves is a surprise, and i love a/w root beer and floats but god it was horrible i dumped it out .
@Cheebo: Wow – dumped it? That’s pretty radical – I would say they have a dud. thanks for reporting!
i thought it was nasty. id rather drink cough syrup
I am currently studying for my finals, and i decided to take a break and go get something to drink at the 7-11 around the corner. i was intrigued by this new product labeled A&W Float. though my fascination was immediately crushed as i took a swig on the walk back. It tastes to me like a bunch of artificial Carmel and vanilla syrups were dumped into a container along with a few drips of root beer. I am sure that A&W can do better than this.
I thought your Sunkist A&W floats were the BOMB!!! I really enjoyed the concept of a float in a bottle. Keep up the good work!!!
When buying baby bottles, make sure that it is not made in China and also make sure that it is phtalate-free.`,`