State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Sipper Finalist
A root beer float is a kid’s drink. Soft serve, soda, a straw, done before the ice cream melts.
The Nevins family has been running fair concessions since before that childhood classic even had this kind of Fair-only competition. This year they put wine in it.
What This Thing Actually Is
Rich, creamy peach bellini soft serve gets infused with sparkling wine, delivering layers of sweet, creamy flavor with a bubbly kick.
It’s topped with sparkling sugar and grated frozen peach, then finished with a sugary golden topping.
A childhood float, aged up: same format, same nostalgia, now with an adult twist folded straight into the ice cream.
Josey and Tami Nevins Mayes built it.
The Part That’s Actually Funny
The Nevins family opened their first stand at the Fair in 1949. Their business predates McDonald’s as a company. It predates Barbie.
Tami Jo Nevins-Mayes, 59, is the third generation to run it, managing nine stands and working the Fair since she was five years old.
Her daughter Josey, 25, is the fourth generation. Josey was born during a run of the Fair itself and now handles the family’s Big Tex Choice Award entries specifically.
A woman who was born at the Fair grew up to be the one deciding what the family enters into its biggest food contest.
They’ve already won once: a fried charcuterie board took Best Taste, Savory in 2022. Their 2024 entry, an Oreo topped ice cream bar called the Nutty Bar-laska, made the finals but didn’t win.
This year’s float didn’t add a second trophy either. Tropical Coco Fresca took Best Taste, Sipper for 2026.
The family’s TV profile matches the resume. Tami Jo and Josey appear on A&E’s Deep Fried Dynasty, which follows their operation running nine State Fair booths.
Why Texas Keeps Doing This
Everything is bigger in Texas, including a family’s patience for entering a new idea every year regardless of whether last year’s won.
A regular soft serve stand could have coasted on 75 years of goodwill alone. This one keeps building new entries instead, because staying in the competition matters as much as any single win.
The Honest Version
The family history, generational roles, prior award, and TV appearance are all confirmed through direct reporting on the Nevins family and A&E’s own cast page.
Seventy-five years in, and the fourth generation is still finding new ways to get the family back in the judging room.
Sources:
- The State Fair of Texas Announces 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Finalists, State Fair of Texas
- Winners of the 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Announced, State Fair of Texas
- 75 Years of Hustle: The Nevins Share Their State Fair of Texas Routine, Dallas Observer
- Tami Jo Nevins-Mayes and Josie Mayes, Deep Fried Dynasty Cast, A&E