Alcohol has long been used as a flavoring in ice cream, but eating a quart of rum raisin never got anyone buzzed.
Until now.
Enter the ice cream “barlour” — an ice cream shop that serves spiked scoops.
From an operator’s perspective, the boozy ice-cream trend is attractive for several reasons. One, the check sizes — $12 to $15 for some popular chains, according to Nation’s Restaurant News. Two, it offers multiple streams of revenue: catering weddings and company parties, selling pints to go, and online ordering/delivery, where local laws allow. Three, alcoholic ice cream melds well with other concepts, such as coffee, milkshakes and dessert cafés.
The first question people ask: “Will this ice cream get me drunk?” The answer is typically no, although a four-ounce serving of 5% ABV ice cream may produce a modest buzz.
Innovators in the Alcoholic Ice Cream Space
Tipsy Scoop has a unique origin story: owner Melissa Tavss’ great-great-great-grandfather, Achille, introduced ice cream to Scotland in the 1800s when he moved from Italy to Glasgow in the 1800s. Building on this family legacy, Tipsy Scoop (in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Myrtle Beach) serves liquor-infused ice cream based on classic and modern cocktails, with flavors like raspberry limoncello and red velvet martini.
Cincinnati-based franchise Buzzed Bull Creamery makes ice cream and milkshakes to order, using liquid nitrogen. Alcohol is optional; the menu includes “suggested buzz” liquors, such as cinnamon whiskey for the Bonfire (marshmallow, graham cracker, chocolate chips). Alcohol serving sizes range from one shot for a small ice cream to two shots per milkshake.
Prohibition Creamery in Austin serves decidedly adult, on-trend flavors of alcoholic ice cream, such as The Green Fairy (absinthe and cacao nib crumble) and Black Magic (activated charcoal with El Silencio mezcal). Sundaes up the ante with bourbon whipped cream or a Bouvery CV chocolate vodka pour-over.
With an ABV of 7-12%, the boozy ice cream packs a punch at Beans and Barlour in St. Petersburg, Florida. You can add a liqueur pour-over, as well. Winner of the best-named boozy sundae: “Thanksgiving With The In-Laws,” made with cinnamon whiskey-infused pumpkin ice cream, Irish cream whipped cream and graham cracker crumbles.
Secrets of Making Liquor-Infused Ice Cream
Making ice cream gets trickier when you add liquor, because alcohol has a much lower freezing point than water. Serious Eats writer Max Falkowitz explains the science: “Dissolved sugar and emulsified fat and protein create a soup of super-concentrated syrup surrounding millions of tiny ice crystals and air bubbles. By adding alcohol to ice cream, you increase that proportion of liquid syrup to solid fat and ice, which makes for a softer scoop.” Add too much, however, and your ice cream will be too soft and lose stability in storage, forming ice crystals. Five tablespoons of hard liquor per quart (75 ml per liter) is the maximum Falkowitz recommends.
But that’s not enough to really give boozy ice cream a kick. One secret to high-ABV ice cream, suggested by the authors of Ice Cream Happy Hour, is to combine liquor with gelatin before adding it to a custard base.
Custards can be temperamental, of course. They require a chef’s full attention, which may be impossible in a busy kitchen. Here’s an innovative solution: sealing the custard mixture with a PrimaVac™ In-Chamber Vacuum Sealer, then heating in a water bath. This gentle cooking process tempers the egg mixture without curdling or burning. A chamber vacuum sealer can also be used to make rapid infusions with liquors or simple syrups, which add fresh flavor to ice cream.
Another possibility is using a high-performance blender to make a smooth and creamy base. Cheesecake-based ice creams “mix up easily in a blender, and there’s no risk of yucky egg curdling,” blogger Meagan Burke tells Liquor.com. Her method involves heating heavy cream with flavorings, such as ginger or espresso, straining, and then blending the infused cream with cream cheese, milk, sugar and other ingredients.
Many boozy ice cream barlours have patented their own techniques for making high-proof alcoholic ice cream. Why not experiment and come up with your own? And if you don't want to do that, you could always improvise with your own variations on boozy milkshakes instead.
See all of Hamilton Beach Commercial’s innovative products for ice cream and yogurt shops.