My little suburb has quickly become a southern California food destination where the latest and greatest in food innovations can be had in a couple of square miles.
Creamistry, a customizable made fresh with nitrogen ice cream shop, had a soft opening right around my son's first birthday. Naturally, his first bite of ice cream was going to come from this event.
Let's talk about how to order. Anyone who has ever been to Cold Stone creamery is likely familiar with the idea of making one's own ice cream flavor. First, pick a size. Second, pick a base. Then, pick the mix in and toppings. You can even make a float, ice cream sandwich, sake, whatever.
Now, many people might experience sticker shock when they see the prices on the cups. I have to bring this up because the comments on the price in the store were audible, despite the fact that it didn't stop anyone from actually ordering. I'd like to say that you get a lot of ice cream for the price. You don't. What you get is extremely fresh ice cream, made to your flavor specifications with high end ingredients. And a reminder that ice cream is a sometimes food.
At Creamistry, there's a choice of 4 different base types. Original or Signature Premium, as they like to call it (very creamy), organic (less creamy but non-GMO), fruit sorbet (real fruit, no dairy) and wait for it... Dole. Yes, as in the same Dole that tastes exactly what goes into a Dole Whip Float at Disneyland. It's like Disney food without an entertaining way to walk off the calories.
This is where the signage is a little confusing. The creamy and nutty flavors can only be had with the Signature Premium or Organic base. The fruit flavors can be had in Signature Premium, Organic or Sorbet base. These bases are only the flavor listed and do not include any mix-ins. For isntance, the Captain Crunch base only tastes like Captain Crunch cereal but does not actually have crunchies in it... yet.
Then, for $1 each mix in or topping more, the ice cream creations begin. You can have Captain Crunch in your Captain Crunch so that you can crunch while you captain your ice cream experience. If you're more of a skipper type, there are combinations that you can just order without having to make those pesky toppings decisions.
I should also note that this method of nitrogen freezing ice cream really keeps the mix-ins crunchy, unlike premade ice cream where the mix-ins have melded and softened. Like with Oreos, or the aforementioned cereal.
I took a video to share with ya'll because the dry ice smoke is what puts the -istry in Creamistry. There is glass between the "lab" and the customers but right by the nitrogen mixers, there are gaps between the counter and the glass so that every time a mixer gets opened, the fog drifts out of the bowl, past the glass and over the counter. It is a very cool visual effect.
It was so impressive that I felt for sure the ice cream would not be good because it looked like a huge gimmick. The ice cream, however, was surprisingly good. The vanilla was among the best I had ever had (and the best my son had ever had since he's never had any ice cream before), the Dole pinapple sorbet was as good if not better than the Dole whip found next to the Tiki Room and the coffee was just perfect.
This is definitely better than Cold Stone as the ice cream stayed extremely cold for a long period of time without being hard, while Cold Stone's ice cream is always instantaneously mushy because it's been pulverized while the mix-ins are added.
It is on par with homemade ice cream, in a fraction of the time, without having to buy all the ingredients. Even with the long lines and the long wait for the orders to be completed, it's still faster than making my own.
: Everyone is using a Clairsonic these days but I am terrible at charging things! I haven't made the leap so I'm staying analog with this fine bristled brush that does pretty well. $8.99 - Amazon.
