Soda Water Is Key To A Delicious Espresso Float

From iced Americanos to nitro coffee, there are a myriad of ways to enjoy your morning coffee at a refreshing temperature rather than a warming one. Whether you pour 8 ounces of drip coffee straight over ice or opt to make a stronger, more time-intensive cold brew, there's a good chance you already have a go-to way to quaff coffee on a hot summer's day. And that's before you even enter the realm of iced lattes, Dalgona coffee and other more complicated beverages.

But let's say you're craving something extra special. If you have an espresso maker at home (be it a simple Moka pot, Nespresso or something fancy-pants like the Ninja Luxe Café), you're a third of the way to a sweet and fizzy espresso float. All you need, beyond 2 shots of fresh espresso, is club soda and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. (Or go all-out and power it up with some coffee-flavored ice cream – you'll get an additional caffeine boost, but not so much that you'll necessarily regret it later.)

Your espresso float can be customized with a variety of ice cream flavors, and the same is true of the club soda element. Club soda, while somewhat similar to seltzer water and tonic water, is different in key aspects: It's stronger in flavor than seltzer water, yet unsweetened, unlike tonic water, which has a distinct sweet-yet-bitter flavor. So if you want a straightforward soda-like beverage, stick with club soda. On the other hand, the espresso tonichas grown popular in recent years, and it's just espresso over iced tonic water, garnished with a twist of orange or lemon. It seems likely that a scoop of vanilla ice cream would make a nice addition here, too, for an espresso tonic float.

Furthermore, there's an intriguing drink called the Americola, which involves pouring espresso over a glass of iced Coca-Cola. Since floats are most commonly made with a soda such as root beer, rather than plain club soda anyway, you could absolutely turn this into an Americola float!

If you look into your freezer only to discover that you have no ice cream on hand, don't worry. You can still make a cool espresso soda using simple syrup to sweeten the drink instead of ice cream. And if you have some flavored syrups at the ready — possibly left over from a fun Italian soda bar – that's yet another way to customize this drink to your liking. Finally, feel free to add a splash of milk or cream if you're really missing that dairy element.