I’m on a mad tear to live August to its fullest, so when I was in Crema Café—the south Minneapolis home of Sonny’s ice cream—and saw that they were offering a Guinness ice cream float, I had to have it. And I’m so glad I did! Holy cow, was it delicious—the mellow bitterness of the beer perfectly offsetting the oh-so-creamy lushness of the best vanilla ice cream in the state (say I.) This will go down as one of the highlights of my summer of 2010. I also hasten to point out that this would be easily done at your cabin or home by getting a scoop of Sonny’s ice cream in a glass of Guinness. Yum. I also got to wondering what it would be like to pair one of Sonny’s briefly available specialty flavors, like their excellently tart fresh-blackcurrant sorbet, with prosecco? Hmm. As good as this Guinness float was however, it got me thinking: What about other great hard ice cream drinks in town? Because brother, we’ve got a ton. So mark your dance cards and consider the awesomeness of:
Alcoholic Blizzards!
Blizzards, of course, are Dairy Queen’s trademarked method of dumping candy and/or cookies into a milkshake. But would anyone ever dare to make alcoholic blizzards? Burger Jones would! (Word on the street is that there will soon be more joining the Calhoun Village location.) Try the Southern Belle (Jim Beam, Peach Schnapps, Nilla Wafers, peaches); then try the Revenge of the Nerds (Cruzan Raspberry Rum, strawberry, vanilla, and Nerds—yes, those Nerds.) Then run in circles on playground structures until your mom threatens to never take you out for drinks again.
Almost Serious Foodie Ice Cream Drinks
The Town Talk Diner is the home of almost-serious ice cream drinks–like the English float, made with Young’s Double Chocolate Stout and chocolate ice cream. Though I remain partial to the absurdly decadent Monkey business (with chocolate ice cream, banana liqueur, peanut butter, and bourbon). It’s like eating the inside of a million peanut-butter-balls! In a good way…
Classics
If you’re a fan of classic ice cream drinks like the Pink Squirrel, the Brandy Alexander, and the Grasshopper, than it’s not news to you that they’re available just about anywhere in the Twin Cities that has alcohol and ice cream on hand–like Jax Café, the Lexington, and so on. But if you’re new to classic ice cream drinks, think about getting one some happy hour at Ike’s in downtown Minneapolis; you’ll be surprised at how light and strong and delicious they can be.
