Root beer is one of the most difficult soft drinks to use in cocktails; its high sweetness and assertive flavors make it tough to balance. Pamela Wiznitzer of Seamstress in New York rose to the challenge, combining some of her favorite ingredients for a “root beer float on crack,” as she puts it.
Root beer cocktails typically feature bourbon or rum, but here Wiznitzer relies on the crisp clarity of gin and the bitter herbaceousness of Cynar (an artichoke-based amaro) to balance the soda. Lemon adds a brightness, with a rich body supplied by both heavy cream and egg white (or aquafaba, if you prefer). Vanilla syrup works here, even though root beer is already sweet; it helps to bring out the flavors of the root beer and add a pleasant ice-cream-y quality.
