Beer with ice cream? It’s the dream duo you never knew you needed.
About the cocktail
If you’re familiar with the concept of the float, you’ve probably figured this one out already. A float (also known as a spider around these parts) is a dead simple combo that traditionally adds soft drink to a scoop of ice cream and serves it all in glass. With our Stout Float, though, we’re substituting stout – that gloriously dark beer style – for soft drink to make this a treat just for grown-ups. The result is a little dessert-like but not as cloying as the soft-drink original, with sweet and creamy ice cream playing off the bitter, roasty notes of pitch-black stout. We’ve gone for the silky smoothness and coffee-like flavours of Guinness, but there’s plenty of room to move with your choice of dark brew – we have more on that in our tips below. The beauty of a cocktail like this one is that it fills so many gaps that regular cocktails don’t always fit. Just finished with a big dinner party spread? A Stout Float is a dessert-ish treat that’ll impress your guests while being very low effort. Feeling like both a sweet snack and dry drink? Stout Float will do the job. Need a fun cocktail to complement that pudding or pie for dessert? Well, you get the idea.
Ingredients
1 scoop ice cream or sorbet (see tips) ½ can of Guinness Glass: pot glass Garnish: cocoa powder
Method
Take one scoop of ice cream and place it in the glass Gently pour the stout over, tilting the glass to minimise agitation Allow it to settle briefly Add a bar spoon or long spoon, and stir briefly Garnish with a dusting of cocoa powder on top
Dan’s top tips
There may only be two ingredients in our Stout Float, but there are so many variations to be had. First up, there’s the ice cream. But a quick tip first: good quality ice cream makes a real difference. When testing this recipe, our cocktail gurus went for the one-two of salted caramel ice cream. It’s a great place to start, but feel free to experiment. The simple creaminess of a quality vanilla ice cream is a classic, and you could also easily play up the roastiness of a stout with a coffee or chocolate flavours. On the other hand, if you want to steer away from intense richness, a bright and juicy raspberry sorbet is also a winner. Follow your heart. Stout-wise, the choice is similarly broad. Guinness is relatively light as far as stouts go, but you could definitely go heavier. Stouts that sit around the 5 to 7% ABV mark will tend to be richer and carry more of those intense coffee and chocolate notes, if that’s your speed. Just keep in mind that those beers will boost the overall alcohol content of your cocktail. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is the order of ingredients – add your ice cream first and then the stout or things might get a little messy.
What is a Stout Float?
A Stout Float is a cocktail made by adding stout to ice cream and serving in a glass. That’s it.
What is the best stout to use in a Stout Float?
We opted for the smooth, lightly roasty Guinness in our Stout Float, but feel free to use your favourite stout here.
- What does a Stout Float taste like?
Stout Floats are creamy, a little sweet from the ice cream, and mildly bitter from the stout.
