Forget chocolate & vanilla—these Milwaukee ice cream shops offer funky flavors
From “Beer and Pretzels” to “Fat Elvis,” these five Milwaukee ice cream shops serve up scoops of unexpected flavor combinations.
It may be National Ice Cream Month, that time of year when there’s a spotlight on this delicious milk-based frozen dessert, but many Milwaukee-area ice cream makers and scoop shops are already ahead of the curve with off-beat flavor combinations. You might be surprised, given that Wisconsin’s largest city is an epicenter for the state’s most well-known treat: frozen custard.
Here are some of the best and most unique ice cream flavors in Milwaukee to enjoy this month. Just don’t be disappointed if a flavor you’re seeking is out or temporarily unavailable (in other words: other ice-cream lovers got there first!). This only means you’ll have to come back later in the month. Many of these flavors are whipped up in small batches, relying upon Wisconsin milk, of course.
Purple Door Ice Cream
205 S 2nd St. Milwaukee, WI 53204 & 6300 W Mequon Rd. Mequon, WI 53092
Tucked into Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, this producer’s most unique flavors (clocking in at around 200) include those weaving in beer or alcoholic spirits. For example, patrons can choose from Beer and Pretzels, Brandy Old Fashioned, East Side Dark (featuring Lakefront Brewery’s beer of the same name), Chocolate Whiskey, Cinnamon Whiskey, and Whiskey. Yet there are also some savory flavors you’re not going to find anywhere else, like Basil, Earl Grey with Biscuit Bits, and Butternut Squash. If you really want to bite into proof this is the Dairy State, order Blackberry Quark, which folds in quark cheese (a soft cheese rarely made in the U.S.) by Wisconsin’s Clockshadow Creamery.
Joy Ice Cream Social
8334 W North Ave. Wauwatosa, WI 53213
This Wauwatosa scoop shop opened last summer, serving up Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream that’s made in Madison. Many of the flavors are named in such a way that they are wacky—and might need some explaining. That includes Exhausted Parent (espresso ice cream spiked with bourbon and featuring chocolate chunks) and This $&@! Just Got Serious® (salted caramel with salted cashews and sea-salt fudge).
Scratch Ice Cream
2205 N Calhoun Road Suite 6 Brookfield, WI 53005; 2238 N. Farwell Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53202; 636 S 6th Street Milwaukee, WI 53204; & 6918 W Becher St. West Allis, WI 53219
With scoop shops in Milwaukee, West Allis, and Brookfield, this ice cream maker—with a production facility in Brookfield—caters to those following a plant-based diet with 21 dairy-free flavors. Those include the obvious (chocolate and vanilla) but also Cotton Candy, Peanut Butter, and Dirt Cake. The most unique of the dairy flavors are Sponge Toffee; Cotton Candy; Carrot Cake; Cold Brew & Toffee, folding in organic coffee from Wonderstate Coffee in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region; Cereal Milk n Charms; and Ube, purple yam popular in the Philippines.
Babe’s Ice Cream
La Michoacana Plus
3142 S 13th St. Milwaukee, WI 53215
Located on Milwaukee’s South Side, this Mexican-inspired ice cream shop offers unique flavors such as Pink Bubble Gum, Goat Milk Caramel, Pina Colada, Granola, and Egg Nog. Order anywhere one, two, three, or six scoops in a cone or cup, offering a chance to try many flavors in one bite.
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