This post was made in partnership with The House of Angostura. Recipe and ideas are my own.
I live in an old house. I’m in Southern California, so not that old like New England, or like, Rome. Ok, actually it’s only 50 years old so by those standards it’s pretty new. But anyways, when the house was bought it included things like appliances, and central air; these too were all old. 1980’s kinda old. And since they all did their jobs without much complaint not many were replaced. As the decade wore on they slowly started to die and everything now except the air conditioning unit, which is over 30 years old, has been replaced. This beast makes me tremble when the summer electric bill statement appears. I know the bill will be high. It’s always high this time of year. However, this thing just WILL.NOT.DIE. Every summer, usually when we hit peak highs and the thing is running 24/7, it breaks down. Home insurance gets called, 3 to 5 days later the machine is up and running again. Repeat the next summer.
I keep waiting for the repair man to finally come over and tell us, Sorry, this unit is done for and the home insurance to cough up the money to replace it. Because really, we’re not spending 10k+ ourselves on a whole new unit anytime soon. So when it gets this hot out, I simultaneously hope that it won’t blow out on us and cause the internal temperature of the house to go over 90 (that has happened to us a few times now) and also sorta want it to just DIE ALREADY so we can get a new, energy efficient model. The joys of home ownership…oy!
Well, I don’t know whether to chalk these scorching summer days up to climate change or just admit that Los Angeles is the desert and this is part of the package you get when you move here. Sure, you get warm, sunny days in January, but then you have to take those 100+° days in the summer (and early Fall). To help ease these heat-aches, I partnered with The House of Angostura for a chilly, boozy treat this week (and yes, just in time for #NationalIceCreamDay on 7/15).
Did you grow up eating/drinking ice cream floats? We didn’t get them all too often, but I do recall stopping by an A&W when I was a kid and having a root beer float. In retrospect, whichever family member took me and my sister there and gave two small children ice cream floats in the car to eat was a rather brave soul. Today we’re not only refining that childhood treat with some black cherry soda and super premium vanilla ice cream, we’re also adding in RUM. And bitters. And Luxardo cherries! All the good adult stuff but with enough kid stuff to still have a whiff of nostalgia.
The Angostura 7 Year Rum has lots of cinnamon and vanilla flavors that make it a great match for this boozy adult treat. I’ve added in the Angostura Bitters and their Orange Bitters to punch up the spice of the cherry soda and to cut through some of the sweetness. The orange aroma in the nose is an unexpected and pleasant surprise when you take your first sip. For something so fun like an adult ice cream float, I found this combination to be much more complex with lots of subtle flavors. It was also a great way to forget about the heat for just a little bit too. Fingers crossed that air conditioner makes it through one more summer.
Ready to dive into your own float? Let’s make one!
Angostura Rum & Black Cherry Soda Float
2 ounces Angostura 7 Year Rum
3 dashes Angostura Bitters
2-3 scoops vanilla ice cream
4 ounces Black Cherry Soda, chilled
2 dashes Angostura Orange Bitters
Orange slice and Luxardo cherries for garnish
In a mixing glass filled with ice, pour in rum and bitters. Stir to chill 20 seconds and strain into a soda glass. Add ice cream to glass and top with black cherry soda. Dash orange bitters on top and garnish with orange slice and cherries.
If you’d like to learn more about Angostura and their products, please visit them at www.angostura.com
The summer months mean I switch from hot to iced tea, and now I include big squeezes of lemon, and maybe a little simple syrup. OK OK, I’m making green Arnold Palmers half the time and today I’m using that as the base for my new summer cocktail with 
You might not have heard of this brand before and that’s OK. They’re not only brand new on the market, but hard seltzer is a whole new category unto itself. The best part of adding them to cocktails is that they’re all natural and additive-free. You guys know I just can’t tolerate the taste of synthetic–yuck. To add some effervescence to my cocktail, and just a hint of sweet fruit juice, I chose their Black Cherry flavor (my husband’s favorite) to compliment the earthy green tea and tart lemon. The seltzer is only 5% alcohol so I paired it with some white rum to round out the cocktail.
I’m loving this cocktail right now as I’m sweating to death here in Southern California. It’s so refreshing and light which is what I’m looking for with my summer drinks. Who wants something heavy and sickly sweet? And even though the White Claw Hard Seltzer is delicious all on it’s own (they come in 12 ounce cans you can just throw in your fridge for a chilled low cal drink anytime), it’s a great addition to my summer drink line up.
1-1/2 ounces white rum