Rittenhouse is already packed with good ice cream spots.
You’ve got 1-900–ICE CREAM for inventive soft-serve, Gran Caffe L’Aquila for premium gelato, Malai for Indian-inspired fare and Weckerly’s for classic fun. In the past five years, national chains like Van Leeuwen and Jeni’s have set up shop. So what possibly could a new kid on the block bring to the table?
The answer, it turns out, is booze.
Tipsy Scoop, the New York ice cream “barlour,” known for its alcohol-infused artisanal flavors is making its debut in Rittenhouse this Saturday, May 9. The chain, which began in 2014, has nine locations across the country and is currently expanding into four new cities including Philly.
You may think that alcohol would throw off the texture of ice cream. After all, hard liquor has a much, much lower freezing point than water. Still, Tipsy Scoop founder Melissa Tavss said the addition actually enhances her flavors and textures.
“Ice cream making runs in my family from back in the 1800s,” Tavss said. “I was always obsessed with perfecting my homemade ice cream recipe.”
Ice cream makers come up with inventive recipes all the time to make their ice cream creamier — using liquid nitrogen or forgoing eggs. Adding a bit of alcohol, Tavss found, was her secret weapon.
“I fell in love with the consistency,” she said, noting her ice cream became “softer” and “less icy.” Plus, the added booze didn’t hurt.
Unlike baking with say a rum cake, where the alcohol is burnt off, when you’re making boozy ice cream, the end product also contains alcohol. In other words, she found a way to make the already joyful dessert even more fun.
Overcoming Pa. liquor laws
Getting Tipsy Scoop to Philly was not easy.
“It’s been a lot of work getting to Philadelphia,” Tavss said. “There’s definitely a lot of different liquor laws here than we’re used to in New York. Also just being a non-beverage, food product is very different state by state.”
To satisfy the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and make sure everything is legal, Tipsy Scoop is partnering with BOTLD, the boutique bottle store from Andrew Auwerda, co-founder of Philadelphia Distilling. Tipsy Scoop is moving into BOTLD’s already established liquor shop — so when you check out with your ice cream, you can also buy an accompanying spirit.
The initial connection was serendipitous. Tavss happened to walk into BOTLD after scouting out a location across the street.
“She dropped in here and was checking things out,” said Roland Coggin, BOTLD’s general manager. “I struck up a conversation with her and put her in touch with Andrew, knowing that she would have some unique challenges with the way that that spirits business in Pennsylvania works.”
Unlike other Tipsy Scoop locations, the Philly operation has an ice cream machine in the back. The team is making everything on site using BOTLD’s Pa. approved spirits. What’s more, in addition to the ice cream, BOTLD is selling their own frozen cocktails to go.
“We’ve never done this with another store,” said Rachel Chitwood, VP of marketing at Tipsy Scoop. “Pennsylvania liquor laws are pretty crazy.”
The BOTLD team is hoping that the partnership will bring in new customers.
“She and Andrew found a very synergistic way to work that they are sourcing spirits with us,” Coggin said. “We’re going to be very much a unified, seamless thing where we sell boutique spirits and mixers and bitters. We sell frozen cocktails to go. Their whole addition to that is just going to spread our net for a wider range of offerings.”
You must be over 21 to order an alcoholic flavor, but kids can enjoy one of the “mocktail” or regular ice cream options as well.
“Since we very first opened in New York, we’ve always had requests to come to Philly,” Chitwood said. “So many people were commenting like, ‘now I won’t have to drive all the way to New York now, which is just great to hear. So we’re really super excited to be in Philly, and we’re just overwhelmed and grateful by the response we’ve had so far.”
Spiked cherry water ice anyone?
Tipsy Scoop flavors include spiked ice creams and sorbets like cake batter vodka martini, raspberry limoncello and mango margarita. A single scoop is around 5% alcohol, or as Chitwood noted “like having half of a light beer.”
The different samples that we tried left us with the same two thoughts: “that’s yummy” and “this could be trouble.” While you can certainly taste the alcohol, it would be easy to take down a whole pint. What’s more, the alcohol pairings definitely add to the flavor. Vanilla just makes sense with bourbon, as chocolate does with whiskey.
According to Chitwood, patrons can walk out “with any of our items,” so you can go down the street with a Tipsy Scoop sundae, or take a frozen cocktail down to Rittenhouse Square to enjoy.
To honor the new Philly location, the shop is even coming out with an Eagles-themed scoop called the “Birdz Blitz” and a special spiked cherry water ice flavor.
George Maddox, the Philly store’s general manager, has helped take on the challenge of creating Tipsy Scoop’s first-ever water ice.
“I think it gives that traditional taste a little bit,” he said “It is a recipe that we’re working on tweaking so we can have our own identity amongst the Philly water ice scene. As of right now, it is giving that Rita’s vibe, but we’re working on it. We’re gonna make it the Tipsy vibe.”
The flavor is cherry forward and has a soft melt-in-your mouth quality. While gelatis aren’t on menu, you can make a request.
Maddox grew up around Temple and has prior experience at the Franklin Fountain.
“Coming from somewhere where I specialize in making ice cream, this was a totally different concept,” Maddox said. “So this was refreshing. Philly doesn’t have a liquor-infused ice cream scene, so why not be the one that helps open it”
The Tipsy Scoop team is hoping for a “big opening weekend.” Maddox is excited for Philadelphians to get into the boozy ice cream experience.
“It’s liquor ice cream—you know, why not mix them both?” he said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”
