Good Wednesday morning.
We are headed into a stretch of true summer weather – days when the mercury creeps toward 90 degrees and beyond. On these days, I tend to lose my appetite for anything but the simplest, coolest, and easiest foods. Things like salad, fruit, and, of course, ice cream.
Ice cream for dinner is a guilty pleasure I try not to indulge in too often, but it does happen from time to time. As we have discussed in this space in the past, I am a chocolate-over-vanilla sort of person, and I do like my (minimal) mix-ins actually mixed in and not sprinkled on top. I also like my ice cream on its own. I am not a shake, malted, or sundae fan – an ice cream purist, if you will.
(As an aside, I don’t like to top my pie, cake, or brownies with ice cream. It feels like gilding the lily).
This is probably why I was today years old when I learned that the original name for a root beer float was a black (or brown) cow.
Before we get to how that came to pass, we should probably start by probing the origins of root beer itself. It dates back centuries and traditionally was brewed from the bark of the sassafras tree. This drink was originally consumed hot and believed to have medicinal properties. It wasn’t combined with soda water until somewhere around the 1850s.
The first commercial version of root beer was created by a Philadelphia pharmacist named Charles Elmer Hires (yes, that Hires). He promoted his concoction as a morally appropriate “Temperance Drink” during prohibition. He started out marketing a powder from which people could mix up their own root beer at home, but later on switched to a syrup.
Hires had a competitor, New Orleans-born chemist Edwaard Barq Sr., who created a drink made from sarsaparilla instead of sassafras, giving it an extra “bite”. Called (what else?) Barq’s, it debuted in 1898 and also continues to be available to this day.
The aromatic oil found in sassafras roots and bark, which gave root beer its signature flavor, is called safrole. Unfortunately, it is a known carcinogen when consumed in large amounts, and so was banned by the FDA for use in commercially mass-produced food, teas, and supplements in 1960 – a move some people view as biased against Native people.
Safrole naturally occurs in other common spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and black pepper, but you really have to consume a LOT for it to have an adverse effect on your body. Most companies now use safrole-free extracts or a combination of other flavors like wintergreen and/or vanilla to produce that iconic root beer taste. (As an aside, safrole is now used in the illicit production of MDMA, AKA ecstasy).
I realize this post is wandering all over the place and hasn’t addressed the whole question of how a root beer float came to be known as a black or brown cow. And I’m probably wearing out my welcome, so I’ll get to the point quickly.
The short story: Frank J. Wisner, the owner of the Cripple Creek Cow Mountain Gold Mining Company, in Cripple Creek, Colorado, is credited with creating the iconic drink in 1893 while musing about how the full moon shining on the snow-capped Cow Mountain looked a lot like a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you really want to go deep on that, click here.
And Happy National Black Cow Day!
In the headlines…
Progressives rallied round the controversial Graham Platner after his primary victory in Maine, while President Donald Trump again exerted his grip on the Republican party, helping to defeat a politician who had pushed for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Platner made clear that his general election campaign against Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins will be bitterly negative as he looks to cut into the incumbent’s standing with independents and Democrats.
In South Carolina, Senator Lindsey Graham fended off a Republican challenger and avoided a runoff. Nevada and North Dakota also held primaries.
Rep. Nancy Mace conceded the South Carolina Republican gubernatorial primary race less than two hours after polls closed, as returns showed the firebrand congresswoman trailing Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette by double digits.
Steve Hilton, a Republican former Fox News host endorsed by Trump, has secured the second spot in the November general election for California governor. He will face Xavier Becerra, a Democrat who served in the Biden administration.
Randy Villegas, a political scientist and school board trustee backed by progressives, advanced in a high-profile primary in a battleground California Central Valley House district that Democrats view as crucial to their efforts to regain control of Congress.
The US military unleashed strikes against Iran in retaliation for its “unjustified” downing of an American military helicopter and its two pilots, US Central Command said.
President Trump ordered the “proportional” strikes after determining Iran on Monday shot down a US Apache attack helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving a two-month-old cease-fire hanging by a thread.
Trump appeared to defend his latest military strikes on Iran by posting a short clip from “The West Wing,” the popular NBC television drama about a fictional U.S. president, in which the show’s characters debate their own military action.
First lady Melania Trump will join President Trump at the UFC fight on the South Lawn Sunday night, as will several of his adult children and 5,000 special guests, including press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Trump reportedly plans to skip Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden after getting roundly booed by Knicks fans before Monday night’s deflating Game 3 loss.
The president has “scheduling conflicts and obligations” that will prevent him from attending the game tonight as the Knicks seek to extend their 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven game series against the San Antonio Spurs.
Trump accused New York Gov. Kathy Hochul of reneging on a pipelines-for-wind deal reportedly reached last year so that work on an offshore wind project could resume.
Hochul endorsed Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli over Mo Brown in the Democratic primary election for the 129th Assembly District in Central New York.
Hochul says Micron’s planned semiconductor manufacturing campus in the Town of Clay is now four months ahead of schedule, marking another milestone for what is expected to become one of the largest private investments in New York state history.
A newly passed bill could give New Yorkers another way to sign up as organ donors and help grow the state registry.
Amid federal attacks on transgender people and their access to gender-related healthcare, LGBTQ+ advocates were left shocked that the state budget did not include a new trans healthcare fund.
ICE New York City blasted the “reckless” policies of Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani yesterday, as the agency released the identities of some of the criminal illegal migrants it had taken off Empire State streets, including murderers and child sex offenders.
Mamdani’s administration plans to canvass neighborhoods across New York City in a roughly $130,000-campaign to inform workers and immigrants of their rights in tandem with the upcoming World Cup, according to City Hall.
The new owner of more than 5,000 mostly rent-stabilized apartments says it has agreed to waive millions of dollars in unpaid rent that tenants owed in the years before a high-profile bankruptcy sale targeted by Mamdani.
Mamdani and actor, director and die-hard Knicks fan Ben Stiller are among those speaking out against violence against San Antonio Spurs fans during the NBA Finals.
Mamdani’s administration hasn’t bothered to study his city-run grocery store plan’s potential effect on local small businesses, his budget chief admitted.
The chancellor of the New York City Public Schools is under investigation over a no-bid, $180,000 contract for foreign language instructors that was awarded during his previous role in the school system.
New York City taxpayers may have to pay up to $21 million in bonuses to thousands of teachers as part of a deal easing restrictions on public school class sizes, according to a new analysis by the NYC IBO.
MSG officials slammed “party poopers” Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch for keeping security restrictions around the Knicks’ arena – as it was revealed Game 4’s outdoor watch party will be downsized.
The Port Authority plans to flood the city’s airports with police officers ahead of the World Cup to flush out unlicensed taxi scammers who notoriously overcharge tourists for illegal cab rides.
A majority of the City Council thinks New York City public schools need to slow down the rollout of artificial intelligence in the classroom.
The demand from 29 members comes as the Department of Education is updating its guidance for how teachers should use the technology in their work and classrooms.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing yet another lawsuit, this one filed by a former child star who claimed he was abused by the disgraced music mogul when he was just a minor.
The NYPD chief who vaulted over a barricade to chase down ISIS-inspired wannabe bombers outside Gracie Mansion earlier this year was awarded the department’s distinguished Medal for Valor.
A son of the prominent author Michael Chabon pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor choking charge under an agreement that will clear the crime from his record if he adheres to its terms, officials said.
A carriage horse died in Central Park on Tuesday evening, apparently after experiencing a medical episode and collapsing, the Police Department said.
The Troy Democratic City Council is trying to rein in Republican Mayor Carmella Mantello’s authority to declare public emergencies two months after she used that power to keep Flock Safety’s contract funded.
A man with Albany ties who operated a foot fetish website was indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple counts of sex trafficking for allegations that he lured women to New York City hotel rooms with promises of modeling before sexually assaulting them.
Raymond Wright Jr., 18, will go to trial for second-degree murder of Samantha Humphrey on Oct. 19, Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney confirmed.
The Albany County Legislature has delayed action on a plan to build a new bus station in the city’s South End until after a second community meeting is held to discuss unpopular the proposal to build a depot on former McDonald’s land.
City of Cohoes administrators are pushing to get drinking water operations in compliance with disinfection standards in response to a new violation notice.
Reminder: The New York primary election is Tuesday, June 23, with early voting June 13-21.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
