10 odd ice cream flavors you’ll love / hate

Try these 10 polarizing frozen treats.

Step aside, vanilla. There’s a new crop of ice cream flavors in town, and you’ll either love them or hate them. As boutique parlors across the US experiment with some pretty unbelievable flavor twists, nothing—not even Goldfish crackers and lobster—seems to be off limits. Here are fewof our favorites from around the country.

Ben & Bill’s in Maine

Lobster: Bar Harbor, ME
Ben & Bill’s Lobster ice cream is made in-house from local lobster cooked in ample amounts of butter. Available in (where else?) the coastal town of Bar Harbor, Maine, there are also stores in Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Northampton, MA. Ben & Bill’soffer 64 varieties of ice cream, but lobster is by far their most popular flavor.

Max and Mina’s in Queens

Pizza: Queens, NY
Brothers Bruce and Mark Becker named their ice cream parlor after their Grandpa Max, an organic chemist, whose favorite hobby included creating wild and wacky flavors for their Grandma Mina. Today, Max and Mina’s savory and sweet pizzaice cream is a hit. Manager Cindy Veiss says they’ve been producing the flavor for over eight years. Starting with a sweet cream base, they add tomato, garlic, and a final mix-in of cookie dough to mimic the crust.

Toscanini’s in Queens

Khulfee: Boston, MA
Bostonians flock to Toscanini’s in Cambridge for a myriad of experimental flavors, not the least of which is Indian-inspired Khulfee.Hindi for “frozen dessert,” the flavor was first offered “for an Indian student at MIT who missed the Khulfee his mother made,” founder Gus Rancatore says. Made with cardamom, it has a bright taste that blends well with the sweetness of the ice cream.

Lick Ice Cream in Austin

Beet & Mint: Austin, TX
Travel to the Texan capital for a refreshing taste of Lick Ice Cream’s everyday flavor, Roasted Beets & Fresh Mint. Made with fresh-from-the-garden beets and mint leaves, this beet ice cream is not your typical cone. Lick sources all their milk from local dairy farmers and their produce comes straight from local farms. Owner Anthony Sobotik adds, “It’s been surprisingly popular with children. They love the intense fuchsia color and their parents love that they’re eating beets!”

Fountain on Locust in St. Louis

Banana Bourbon: St. Louis, MO
With offerings like the world’s smallest ice cream cone, Fountain on Locust knows how to do ice cream, and their almost-too-good-to-be-true adult ice creams and frozen cocktails do not disappoint. Their banana bourbon ice cream in particular is a standout. It’s made with a sizzling pan of buttered brown sugar, a dose of bourbon, and caramelized bananas, all poured over vanilla ice cream. Shall we say “cheers”?

Jeni’s Ice Cream in Columbus

Riesling Poached Pear: Columbus, OH
A staple flavor since the first store opened, Jeni’s concocts an impressive Riesling Poached Pear Sorbet. Most of their sweet treats are made with grass-grazed milk, but the pear flavor is a dairy-free option. Not surprisingly, the Riesling for their poached pear flavor is sourced from a local winery called Firelands, which owner Jeni discovered at the North Market Food & Ohio Wine Festival.

Cheddar Goldfish: Denver, CO
A newcomer in Denver, Ice Cream Riot is a haven for confectionery experiments. They always have cereal flavors, such as Fruity Pebbles and Crunch Berries, in the rotation (which owner Jim McNutt affectionately refer to as the “Cereal Killers”). The most unique flavor on the menu, however, is Cheddar Goldfish. Yes, those goldfish. The salty-sweet taste of the famous preschool snack mixed into a sweet cream base is a hit among Denverites. Why has this not been invented before?

Sweet Lucie’s in Los Angeles

Black Sesame: Los Angeles, CA
When Geri Czako was pregnant and craved organic ice cream, she didn’t have many options to choose from. So she decided to make her own. Today, she and her husband Mike operate Sweet Lucie’s out of a restored vintage ice cream truck. Their black sesame flavor is, as Geri describes, “the perfect flavor balance. The deep nutty, subtly sweet flavor of the black sesame adds depth and complexity to the freshsweet ice cream.”

Earl Grey: Seattle, WA
Molly Moon’s is a crowd favorite in a city that doesn’t get much sunshine. Project Manager Emilia Arnold says they’ve experimented with different combinations like tomato basil and spring garlic, but “they weren’t super popular.” In 2011, they started serving a lovely cup of Earl Grey ice cream, with fair trade tea from Mountain Rose Herbs steeped overnight and mixed into their signature sweet cream base.

Cool Moon Ice Cream in Portland, OR

Horchata Cookie: Portland, OR
Located in the hip Pearl District, Cool Moon Ice Cream offers a wide range of unique flavors to satisfy a foodie-forward crowd. Owner Eva Bernhard explains, “We take great care…in developing our flavors, which are all made from real things as opposed to flavorings.” One of their mostpopular flavors is horchata cookie ice cream, based on the traditional Mexican beverage made of rice, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.

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