Then one Saturday afternoon in The Hague, sweet tooth calling, I found myself with a scoop of vegan vanilla ice cream in the freezer and the cold remains of a moka pot from breakfast — not quite enough coffee to do it properly. So I added some Oatly Barista Vanilla. And then, because there is no such thing as too sweet, a teaspoon of organic maple syrup.
That was it. That was the moment.
What came out of that glass eventually found its way to a hidden corner of the Anna Paulownaplein — just a small QR code on the window of a barbershop. You scan it. Ninety seconds later, a cold, creamy float appears through that same window in a sturdy glass mason jar, and it's yours to enjoy...No haircut required!
If you know, you know.
it started, as most good things do, in childhood.
Growing up, one of my favorite treats was a Coke float — a scoop of vanilla ice cream dropped into a glass of Coca-Cola, the cold and the fizz hitting each other all at once, the whole thing somewhere between a drink and a dessert. Nobody ever explained it to you. You just knew it was exactly right.
Years later, living in Spain, I discovered blanco y negro — the Spanish answer to the same impulse. A hot double shot of espresso poured directly over a scoop of vanilla ice cream. No fizz this time, just heat and cold colliding, the espresso melting the edges of the ice cream into something silky and slightly bitter and completely irresistible. A summer staple. Elegant in its simplicity. Perfect.