ICE CREAM REVIEW: Tipsy Scoop

My search for the best ice cream in New York continues ….

There was a time when I was known as the “ice cream guy” among friends. And it’s not because I always ate ice cream, but rather because I would always make it. I became somewhat obsessed with trying to create every flavor as an ice cream.

And for a while, it was an ambition to have my own ice cream business. In my mind (and through conversations with friends) I dreamed up many different ice cream concepts. None of them came to pass but they were all fun ideas that I thought nobody had created yet.

One of my ideas was to turn alcoholic drinks into ice cream and create a line-up of booze-inspired ice cream. I had seen wine sorbets and a few rum raisins, but nobody to my knowledge had mastered things like “Gin and Tonic” sorbet or “Margarita” ice cream.

And then along came Tipsy Scoop. I first heard about them in 2017 when they debuted in NYC offering booze-inspired ice cream. It has always been a priority of mine to see how this concept worked out, but for some reason it took me almost two years to get my boozy ice cream on.

I was truly amazed how crowded this tiny ice cream shop was on a cold afternoon. I guess I didn’t realize how many people were dying to try boozy ice cream.

The design of Tipsy Scoop is pretty gimmicky looking like somewhere between a kids’ playground and a frat house. I really appreciate the opportunity to try a few flavors and to do a flight where you can have four different flavors for $11. If I wasn’t trying to stay slim (and sober), I might have gone for it.

I tasted my usual two samples and can’t say I would have liked more of either one. First off was a special that sounded interesting: PB & J Old Fashioned.

The other taste was Maple Bacon Bourbon. This made more sense to me but I actually was not a fan of the big cold chewy piece of bacon, believe it or not. I like bacon but not frozen and chewy. I passed on this one too.

When it came to ordering a full scoop of something, the menu honestly didn’t do much for me. None of the flavors sounded terribly interesting. Most of them were typical ice cream flavors (like Mint Chip or Salted Caramel) that were just spiked. I was hoping for more innovative classic cocktail combinations.

I ultimately settled on Spiked Hazelnut Coffee because that was what I thought I would enjoy the most. It was spiked with Frangelico and Patrón. It turned out to be my favorite flavor that I tried but there were still some major issues with it.

The most troubling (but expected) was the amount of ice crystals. Each spoonful was crunchy, which most would agree is not a pleasant texture when it comes to ice cream (operative word is cream), I completely understand why. Alcohol doesn’t freeze so it inhibits the cream from fully churning into creamy ice cream. It was one of the big hurdles I had with making boozy ice cream.

Flavorwise, it was ok, but truthfully I would have rather just had coffee ice cream.

The other issue for me was the random streak of blue food coloring. It must have accidentally came from one of their other flavors like Cake Batter or sprinkles or something. But it was a turn off and made me realize how they are marketing their ice cream.

It occurred to me that these flavors are mostly for a certain drinker. Red Velvet Martini, Whipped Cream Flavored Vodka, Mango Margarita. These are overly sweet drinks that are not about the alcohol flavor but rather the desire to imbibe without tasting the booze. The fastest way to hangover city.

I was really hoping to encounter some interesting ice cream concoctions with things like mezcal, fernet, or maybe absinthe. Call me a cocktail (or ice cream) snob, but I was disappointed.

Tipsy Scoop has succeeded. They have found a way to create ice cream (albeit icy ice cream) with an actual alcohol content. And I guess that is neat to try. But at the end of the day, is it good ice cream? I can’t say that it is.

If my boozy ice cream concept had ever come to pass, it too might have been icy, but you would have seen surprising flavors where booze and ice cream come together. It would have been very different than Tipsy Scoop. But the laugh might have been on me because maybe nobody (aside from me) would have wanted to eat it.

Is Tipsy Scoop the best ice cream in NY? They get points for making ice cream alcoholic but the flavors and texture are not to my (possibly snobby) tastes. I can’t give them more than a 6 out of 10 because even if you like whipped cream vodka, you would have to agree it is overly sweet and incredibly icy.