Daniel L.
Yelp
Earlier in the afternoon I had walked three miles in a suit in the heat without water, so by the time I got back to my car and was able to go somewhere to get something cold this was my choice, since it was conveniently located down the road from the gala I was headed to next. I had previously purchased one tub of Leeuwen brand ice cream from the supermarché delivery, and it came with a long strand of hair (clearly not mine) embedded across the top of the ice cream once the foil seal had been lifted, so that got immediately binned before it touched mein lips. My experience here in this store was far superior so I actually got try the Leeuwen this time around.
Ice cream would occupy a significant portion of the pie chart of things that I eat. Of those ice creams, one of my favourite flavours is Earl Grey. But, it is pumpkin time so I usually try to get everything pumpkin flavoured I can - from Kit Kats to candles this year. So it was a real dilemma when I walked in and saw that the seasonal flavour was pumpkin cheesecake. But like a sophisticated gentlesir I recognized that you could get samples and then decide. So I asked the friendly teen boy at the counter for samples of the Earl Grey and the pumpkin cheesecake. He worked his way from the register toward the wall so I got the Earl Grey first. It was divine. I was pretty sure I was going to get that one. But he had the other ready so I might as well. It was less pumpkin and more cheesecake. So, Earl Grey for me.
The service was friendly, personable, and efficient. They have good help in this store.
The Earl Grey was divine, partly because it has so few ingredients: cream, milk, cane sugar, egg yolks, earl grey tea (organic black tea leaves, organic bergamot oil), and salt. There is nothing more you could ask for. But, the sugar cone was just as good that it was firm without being concrete, and did not become jagged edges as some cones do as they aspire to be blades in the Game of Thrones-verse more than living their truth as an ice cream cone you are trying to eat.
Despite the abysmal first impression of the brand from the supermarché delivery, they fixed their face enough to lure me in for something cold and quickly available in my immediate vicinity. The ice cream was $6.50 and I tipped the teen boy since he took care of the sample scoops without any issue unlike some places.
The one negative about the ice cream is that it melted super fast. I didn't sit under a heat lamp for 20 minutes. I snapped a quick photo before I jumped in on it and walked out to my car, and by the time I was outside of the shop (20 seconds later, if even) my cone was dripping like a horse in church. I had to speed eat at that point, otherwise I was going to have Earl Grey soup. I eat a lot of ice cream. I have never seen anything melt that fast. So, don't expect to nurse your ice cream from here. You are going to have to go in on it, so don't be shy, get to know it.