We all love the feeling on a Friday night of going to your local ice cream shop and getting your favorite treat. My personal favorite is vanilla with cookie dough, peanut butter sauce and whipped cream.

But, one popular item at ice cream shops around the country is Root Beer floats.

Root Beer floats have been consumed by millions of people since their creation in the late 19th century. But, why root beer? How come other sodas don't get to be included?

Being a little adventurous with ice cream myself, I experimented with different sodas and vanilla ice cream. While experimenting with various flavors, here is what I concluded.

1. Colas such as Pepsi, RC and even generic grocery store brand soda do the job fairly well.

These do a good job of making sure the balance is not too sweet but not tart either.

2. Flavored sodas such as Fanta and Sunkist become too sweet of a treat for me.

Plain vanilla ice cream itself is very sweet, and then adding a sweet drink like an orange Fanta or a grape Sunkist adds too much sweet for one sitting. Now, if you are a big fan of sweets, try this at your own risk. You will not eat sweets for a whole week.

3. One flavored soda I had in a separate category was Dr. Pepper.

Dr. Pepper is its own brand of cherry-flavored soda. This now was my second favorite flavor. The cherry taste compliments the vanilla ice cream very well and gives it a very homestyle vibe. You could also try cherry Coca-Cola or Pepsi and the taste would be the exact same

4. The lemon-lime drinks like Sprite and 7-UP were some of my least favorite.

Sprite and 7-UP tend to have a tangy flavor to it on occasion. The mix of sweet and a little sour didn't work for me. I do not recommend trying this idea out under b circumstances.

5. My personal favorite combos with the variety of sodas was the Mountain Dew float.

Mountain Dew is one of my favorite sodas to drink and I think the two flavors of the Mountain Dew and vanilla ice cream are a perfect match. The citrus is really highlighted and mixes surprising well is vanilla ice cream. If you only try one combination from this story, I urge you to try this one.

6. So why is a root beer float so popular. It comes down to taste.

Root beer itself is made from a vanilla-like substance and to add that to regular vanilla ice cream. Who wouldn't like it? Root beer floats are the o'reliable of ice cream like beverages. And they will stick around as long as ice cream sticks around.