Independence Day Ice Cream Soda Bar

INDEPENDENCE DAY ICE CREAM SODA BAR — Celebrate America’s birthday with this fun and festive ice cream soda bar in patriotic colors. Your guests will love these cool and creamy ice cream treats!

Did you know that June 20 is National Ice Cream Soda Day?  Not that you needed an excuse to enjoy an ice cream soda.  To celebrate, I’ve got a fabulous idea for your upcoming Independence Day Celebration.  A patriotic, red-white-and-blue Independence Day Ice Cream Soda Bar!

Here a list of what you’ll need to create your own 4th of July ice cream soda bar.  The soda and ice cream aren’t really optional, and you’re going to need some cups and spoons, of course.

Everything else can be modified to suit your tastes.

Ice Cream Soda Bar Essentials

• Ice cream (vanilla works well with the red, white & blue theme)
• Red, white and blue soda
• Cups
• Spoons

You’re also going to want some kind of bucket or cooler that you can fill with ice so you’ll have a place to keep your soda and ice cream cold.

You won’t be able to leave your ice cream out for hours, but it will stay cool long enough for you to serve ice cream sodas to your guests.

Optional Toppings and Extras

• Whipped cream (the canned variety is perfect for an ice cream soda bar–and it’s fun!)
• Maraschino cherries (preferably with stems)
• Straws (not a must have, but they also add to the fun)
• Sprinkles, mini chocolate chips or M&M’s, Pop Rocks (Seriously! How fun would that be for the 4th of July?!!!)

Find a table or other flat surface where you can set up all of your ingredients.  That way, everyone can easily create their own ice cream soda.

It might be a good idea to have someone man the ice cream soda bar to help with ice cream scooping and soda pouring, especially if you’ll be entertaining young children.

I used Jones Soda’s Zero Calorie Vanilla Bean, Berry-Lemonade and Strawberry-Lime sodas.  The colors were perfect and the flavors were really fantastic!

My favorite was the Strawberry-Lime.  It paired perfectly with the vanilla ice cream and whipped topping.  I planned to have “just a taste” and ended up devouring the entire glass!

Of course, you could use any variety of red, white and blue soda.  In a pinch, you could even add some food coloring to clear soda.

Traditionally ice cream sodas are made with ice cream, flavored syrup and club soda.  But I find it’s easier to skip the flavored syrup and just use flavored soda.

Legend has it that ice cream sodas were invented by Robert Green in 1874 during Philadelphia’s sesquicentennial celebration.

But as a Coloradoan, I have to give some credence to the claim that Otto P. Baur, the German-born owner of a Denver candy establishment, was the true inventor of the ice cream soda.

In an interview published Aug. 12, 1902, in the Denver Times, Baur said, “The first ice cream soda was sold at my confectionery at 16th and Lawrence Streets where the Golden Eagle is now, and that was back in 1870.”  Just sayin’.

Be sure to save this Independence Day Ice Cream Soda Bar idea to your favorite Pinterest board for later.

We had so much fun creating our ice cream soda bar, we’re planning to invite friends over to enjoy it again on July 4th! Happy National Ice Cream Soda Day!