Food is a big part of traveling when looking for a fun eating experience. Ice cream is the most universally beloved dessert out there. It is the perfect treat to add to a good day or save a bad day. Basically, finding good ice cream is an underrated fun way to add to your trip. Most people tend to go for the typical flavors of vanilla, chocolate, cookies and cream, rocky road or one of the other easily accessible ones. However, there are quite a few surprising flavors that exist out there made for adventure takers looking to indulge in a new flavor.
Any food that is universally loved will get a lot of different recipes trying to create a new spin on it. This is especially true for ice cream since so many unique tastes can adapt to the dessert. We will look at some of the flavors currently being sold at restaurants or ice cream parlors. While they initially look odd, most of them have good reviews and a great track record that allows them to continue being made. Find out what is available to you with twenty unusual (but interesting) ice cream flavors you won’t believe exist.
20 Ghost Pepper - The Ice Cream Store, Delaware
There are many people out there that love spicy foods and sweet foods individually, but one unique recipe blends them together in a major way. The extremely spicy ghost pepper has become an ice cream flavor at the Ice Cream Store located in Delaware.
It visually doesn’t look too different from other red flavors like cherry or strawberry. Anyone buying this flavor should make sure it isn’t stored in a shared refrigerator or someone could be in for a huge surprise. Some folks do love the mixing of sweet and spicy tastes which makes the ghost pepper ice cream a top seller for the Ice Cream Store.
19 Coconut Curry - The Parlour, North Carolina
Coconut is a popular flavor for ice cream and many other sweet treats. The fruit blends well with most desserts which makes that aspect of the flavor here not too shocking. However, the curry is a huge surprise for anyone looking over the ice cream flavors at The Parlour in North Carolina.
Coconut curry ice cream is truly an experimental flavor. It seems to be working out fine for this ice cream parlour given it’s successful enough to continue serving regularly. A few other locations around the world have experimented with it, but this North Carolina shop seems to have a following of customers that enjoy it.
18 Horseradish - Max and Mina’s, New York
New York City is home to some of the most unique yet delicious cuisine in the United States. The city is a melting pot which allows residents to try foods from all over the world. One ice cream place decided to enter their name in the hat when it came to the most surprising food items someone can find in the New York area.
Horseradish is the flavor of choice this Queens ice cream shop went with. Max and Mina’s have quite a bit of flavors offered with many delicious traditional options available. However, the bold spice of horseradish exists for anyone looking to take the risk of trying something new.
17 Honeyjack and Coke - Big Deal Burgers and Custard, Wisconsin
Some people love the idea of mixing liquor and ice cream enough to create new flavors for those 21 + wanting a unique menu option. Big Deal Burgers and Custard is located in Wisconsin and clearly has a variety of food options on the menu based on the name alone.
One flavor for those wanting a bit of an edge with their sweet treat is the Honeyjack and Coke option. The honey-whiskey custard already has enough of a buzz for those looking to try such a dessert, but there’s even more with the addition of a drizzle of Jack Daniels honey.
16 Vietnamese Coffee with Frosted Almonds and Peanut Butter Curry - Humphry Slocombe, San Francisco
Another unique ice cream flavor incorporating curry can be found in San Francisco, California. There are quite a few interesting tastes all merged together for the Vietnamese Coffee with Frosted Almonds and Peanut Butter Curry ice cream option at Humphry Slocombe.
Vietnamese-styled coffee is the main thing you’ll taste in this ice cream flavor. However, there are also the tastes of peanut butter, hot curry and crushed almonds. Each of these things could be bold enough for their own ice cream flavor. Adding them all together makes it a fascinating flavor for any adventure seeker wanting a flavor they’ve never tried before.
15 Pineapple Cilantro Sorbet - Glace Artisan Ice Cream, Kansas
There are already countless debates on the internet regarding the subject of pineapple on pizza. The controversial fruit also has a presence in the ice cream world despite not being a very popular flavor. One ice cream shop in Kansas decided to not only add pineapple to the mix but combine it with another odd choice.
The Pineapple Cilantro Sorbet dessert is a top menu option at Glace Artisan Ice Cream. Both unique tastes of pineapple and cilantro are added to the sorbet for a blend meant to appeal to all the taste buds. Good luck trying it as it seems to be a very polarizing flavor.
14 Goat Cheese Beet Swirl - Sweet Action Ice Cream, Denver
Denver, Colorado is the next place we visit on this journey of odd ice cream flavors. Many of us grew up disliking beets as one of the healthy foods parents try to convince their kids to eat, despite the taste not usually being met with excitement. Sweet Action Ice Cream is trying to change that by incorporating it into one of their flavors.
Roasted beets are part of the flavor which would be unique enough on its own. Another shocking twist sees goat cheese become the second half of the flavor as both combine for a bizarre ice cream concoction. Reviews indicate folks enjoy the treat, but it is a seasonal flavor that is not always available to try.
13 Pear with Blue Cheese - Salt and Straw, Portland
Salt and Straw is a very popular ice cream shop in the Portland area. They create quite a few new ice cream flavors that are frequently successes with customers enjoying them. Most of the flavors are just new twists on things we already love, but one of the stranger ones is Pear with Blue Cheese.
Pears are among the rarer fruits you’ll find in dessert themes. They are usually offered, but most people would rank them towards the bottom of the pecking order. Blue cheese would feel the same fate when ranking cheeses. Salt and Straw decided to combine both overlooked items for a very interesting ice cream flavor for adventurous foodies.
12 Buttermilk - Loblolly Creamery, Arkansas
Most people dislike the idea of trying straight up buttermilk, but it does have a unique taste that stands out on its own. One ice cream shop in Little Rock, Arkansas decided to take a big risk by creating an ice cream flavor specifically dedicated to it as the main ingredient.
Loblolly Creamery is the name of the place that serves buttermilk ice cream. It has become a hit for them as many customers have fallen in love with it. Reviews indicate that the buttermilk ice cream tastes a lot like cheesecake. This Arkansas ice cream shop deserves some credit for finding an odd successful flavor.
11 Sweet Corn - Sweet Republic, Arizona
Cornbread is a popular snack that is sweet in taste. That likely convinced Sweet Republic in Arizona to create an ice cream flavor using corn. Their shocking creation sees the flavor of sweet corn ice cream served regularly as a common option available.
Small pieces of corn are legitimately mixed in the ice cream which may scare some folks away from trying it. However, it does seem like a great idea to create an ice cream based on another tasty food that happens to be sweet. Arizona residents enjoy the sweet corn flavor enough for it to be a regular on the menu after originally starting as an experiment.
10 Sriracha - Mason’s Creamery, Cleveland
The condiment of Sriracha has become extremely popular in the United States in recent years. It is the most popular kind of hot sauce offered today with most grocery stores stocking it up for those borderline addicted to the spicy topping sauce.
Most foods have been experimented with Sriracha following the popularity. It only made sense that ice cream would enter the mix when Mason’s Creamery in Cleveland started making it. Sriracha ice cream is one of the flavors offered for anyone that believes they love the sauce enough to taste it in the form of an ice cream meal.
9 Old Bay Caramel - The Charmery, Maryland
Old Bay seasoning is extremely popular in Maryland and is most known for being used as a pre-boiling season for crabs. It is a bit shocking that a restaurant decided to try incorporating it into an ice cream flavor, but the fact that it’s in Maryland makes more sense.
The Charmery is the name of the place that created the Old Bay Caramel ice cream flavor. A combination of the unique seasoning and sweet caramel lead to this becoming a common flavor offered on the menu. It’s hard to imagine someone enjoying this one unless they are a huge fan of the Old Bay seasoning.
8 Tomato Sorbet - Mallard Ice Cream, Washington
Washington is the next location to offer a unique treat on a menu in the area. Tomatoes are not a food most would associate or even consider mixing with their desserts. They are great in salads, pasta sauces, pizza, sandwich toppings and just about everything else.
Mallard Ice Cream believed it was time to add tomatoes into the ice cream industry by creating a tomato sorbet dish. While it may not sound appealing to the average person, the visual of it is quite tempting. This is probably what gets Bellingham, Washington residents to try tomato sorbet for the first time.
7 Grape Pineapple - Austin’s Homemade Ice Cream, West Virginia
Many fruit combinations have become popular ice cream flavors through the years. It typically involves items like berries or cherries, but one West Virginia ice cream shop felt like going with two less popular ice cream fruit flavors.
The combination of grape pineapple ice cream is served at Austin’s Homemade Ice Cream. If folks don’t typically like trying grape ice cream or pineapple ice cream, the odd blending of them together could be interesting enough to provide temptation. A middle ground of sweet and juicy fruits led to this ice cream being created. It seems like one must try grape pineapple ice cream before making a judgement either way.
6 Honey Avocado - Ivanna Cone, Nebraska
Avocados are among the most popular foods in the United States (especially in the past few years). Most people are tempted to pay extra for guacamole at various restaurants offering it as an extra boost to the meals. However, those meals don’t typically involve ice cream.
Ivanna Cone in Nebraska decided to add avocados to the ice cream world with the honey avocado flavor. Wildflower honey is added to the mix with the avocado to provide an odd combination of ice cream tastes. It does look visually appealing and avocados seem to be great with everything else, so maybe Ivanna Cone is ahead of the curve.
5 Catching Fire - The Ice Cream Store, Delaware
The Ice Cream Store in Delaware is back with its second unique flavor on the list. Catching Fire ice cream was inspired by the popularity of the Hunger Games franchise. The flavor of the actual ice cream is not that shocking with orange, mango and strawberry swirls all becoming common.
It gets unique when you realize the ice cream is topped with a scorpion. Yes, the scorpion is indeed a legitimate scorpion. Considering some places in the world sell chocolate covered scorpions, it may have been more accepted if the scorpion was at least coated with the chocolate. Most people will likely eat around the scorpion here.
4 White Chocolate Habanero - Jordan’s Ice Cream, West Virginia
The ice cream flavor here looks visually beautiful and would likely entice the average person before looking at the flavor. While most pink flavors usually represent sweet flavors like strawberry or peppermint, this one is a bit spicier.
White chocolate habanero ice cream is the flavor served at Jordan’s Ice Cream in West Virginia. It has white chocolate chips which are often a great addition to any ice cream flavor. The odd thing here is the use of habanero peppers. One can only speculate how any person can come up with such a unique flavor, but Jordan’s was the first place to make white chocolate habanero ice cream a real thing.
3 Kimchi and Rice - Salt and Straw, Portland
Portland’s Salt and Straw is back with another item from their unique menu. Anyone with a passion for Korean cuisine can take it to the next level by trying this shocking ice cream flavor. They have created the Koi Fusion's Kimchi and Rice ice cream for those wanting something completely out of the typical genre.
The Korean horchata ice cream is topped with jasmine rice for an odd ice cream eating experience when trying for the first time. Chunks of bulgogi-kimchi truffles are also part of the dish adding even more to the equation. This is likely an ice cream dish you’ll either love or hate with no middle ground.
2 Cheetos - Big Gay Shop, New York
Many people would agree that ice cream and Cheetos are among the two most delicious snacks to have on a night when craving a quick treat. However, almost no one would ever think of the idea to combine them both. One New York ice cream shop did think of it and started making Cheetos ice cream.
Big Gay Shop is the name of the place to sell the Cheetos ice cream as a menu regular. The ice cream itself is a vanilla and cheese flavor that is dipped in the Cheetos dust. It visually does look more appealing than one would expect and has become a hit for the ice cream shop.
1 Lobster - Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium, Maine
Maine is known for having the best lobster dishes available. A place that is passionate about lobster dishes have experimented with adding it in almost every food option out there. Ice cream entering the fray means Maine residents are willing to try it with anything.
Ben and Bill's Chocolate Emporium is the location in Maine to start selling lobster ice cream as part of their menu. The meal is meant to be a combination of dinner and dessert with the chunks of lobster topping the butter-infused ice cream. Many folks already feel paranoid about trying seafood in restaurants. Add ice cream to the mix and it will be a memorable eating experience one way or the other.
References: Delish, Mental Floss