What are the best quality gourmet ice cream brands in the world? Our correspondent Jillian Tangen has curated a list of the top 10 recommended mail-order artisanal ice cream brands, with the best quality and variety of flavors right now. Celebrate National Ice Cream (and gelato) Day this year with the best local brands to buy online, including Jeni’s and Sugar Hill Creamery. Spoons in the air, everybody!
the best gourmet ice cream brands in the world
Summer is officially here, and that means we have only one sweet treat on the brain: ice cream. Everyone’s favorite frozen delight hits the spot on these sweltering afternoons, and whether we’re living in the city, countryside or by the water’s edge, it’s the only dessert we’re craving.
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But even though we do really love a great pint of Ben & Jerry’s (Mint Chocolate Cookie is our go-to), sometimes we find ourselves wanting to try something new.
Celebrate National Ice Cream (and gelato) Day this year with the best local brands online.
Which got us to thinking: What are the best quality artisanal gourmet ice cream brands in the US? If you’re similarly inclined, we’ve done the research – and just in time to celebrate National Ice Cream Day this year on July 18 with the best brands available online right now.
All you need to do is taste a scoop (or two) from one of the ten best ice cream brands in the US. And fortunately for all of us, these gourmet purveyors ship their unbeatable goodies by direct mail, so you can easily enjoy the magic right at home.
Celebrate National Ice Cream (and gelato) Day this year with the best local brands online.
the best ice cream and gelato brands to buy online to celebrate national ice cream day this year
1. jeni’s splendid ice cream
If you ask an ice cream aficionado about the best mail-order artisanal ice cream brands, they’re definitely going to say Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. What started as a small, woman-owned Ohio-based chain is now in fourteen cities across the US, in select grocery stores, and available for mail-order delivery in all 50 states.
What makes Jeni’s so great? They’ve managed to perfect a roster of imaginative flavors, ensuring that every component of every recipe is absolutely first-rate. And with their buttercream base, the texture is smooth enough to melt on your tongue. There are lactose-free options, too.
If you’re ordering from afar, ship yourself The Jeni’s Essential Collection ($58), which includes pints of Brambleberry Crisp, Brown Butter Almond Brittle, Darkest Chocolate, Salted Peanut Butter with Chocolate Flecks and Salty Caramel – five amazing flavors, all heading straight to your freezer.
BUY NOW – $58
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2. serendipity
You don’t have to travel to New York City to get a taste of Serendipity’s extravagant desserts. The iconic NYC restaurant has begun packing its signature desserts (like their peanut butter pie) into pints. Humble Pie ($8) is a rich peanut butter ice cream, swirled with peanut butter and dotted with big chocolate chunks and graham cracker pieces.
Other ice creams in the line-up include collaboration flavors like a Friends Central Perk Coffee Almond Fudge ($8), The Goonies Sloth & Chunk Rocky Rooooaad? ($8) and a Selena Gomez x Black Pink Cookies & Cream Remix ($8). And, of course, they offer a Frrrozen Hot Chocolate ($8) flavor, too!
BUY NOW – $8
3. salt & straw
Portland’s iconic Salt & Straw is a destination spot, drawing ice cream lovers from all across the country. Even though they’ve expanded way beyond their first Oregon store, their products have stayed impeccable, using locally-sourced artisan ingredients to maximize taste.
Ordering from home? You can pick your own five pints for delivery. You’re definitely going to want to try the Wild-Foraged Berry Pie ($13), Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons ($13) and the Salted, Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ($13). And if you’re feeling extra adventurous, you could even try the Honey Lavender ($13) or the Pear & Blue Cheese ($13), which features crumbles of Rogue Creamery blue cheese.
BUY NOW – $65
4. ample hills creamery
Named after a quote from the Walt Whitman poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, New York City’s Ample Hills Creamery is known for their inventive and decadent flavors. They are storytellers as much as ice cream makers. They like to think about the tale told through each and every cone.
Build your own 4 or 6 pack of some of their most creative flavors (and flavor names!). We’re looking forward to taking a bite of Summer of Love which features tiny bits of tie-dye cupcakes from Baked by Melissa, Snap, Mallow, Pop! – a deconstructed Rice Krispie Treat and Nonna D’s Oatmeal Lace filled with chunks of oatmeal lace cookies.
BUY NOW – $44
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5. crank & boom craft ice cream
Husband-and-wife team Mike and Toa Green started making ice cream to serve for dessert at their Thai restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky but soon noticed customers coming in just for ice cream. The Greens took the hint and founded Crank & Boom in 2013.
The duo churns their ice cream like gelato so it’s extra dense. Try The Flavors of Kentucky Collection ($99) featuring 6 different flavors made from some of the couple’s favorite local Kentucky products: Bourbon & Honey, Blackberry & Buttermilk, Fresh Strawberry, Blueberry Lime Cheesecake, Coffee Stout, and Bourbon Ball.
The best quality ice cream brands: Crane & Boom. Courtesy Photo.,
BUY NOW – $99
6. mcconnell’s fine ice cream
McConnell’s Fine Ice Cream has been in the business for more than 70 years. And their namesake product is definitely better than just fine. Made sustainably with high-quality ingredients from scratch, their great-tasting flavors ship safely in a freezer container to wherever you may live.
Choose from classics like Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate ($12), Turkish Coffee ($12) or Sprinkle Cake ($12), as well as unique combos, like Eureka Lemon & Marionberries ($12) or the limited edition Peanut Butter & Jelly Sando ($12).
BUY NOW – $12
7. sugar hill creamery
Recently ranked the fifth best ice cream in the nation according to Today, the family owned Sugar Hill Creamery was founded by wife-and-husband pair Petrushka Bazin Larsen and Nick Larsen. Drawing on its Harlem neighborhood for inspiration, the shop focuses on seasonal, raw ingredients to create its unique flavors. They produce everything in-house and use a number of locally made ingredients like Ida Preserves for its jam filled flavors and Essie Spice for the tamarind and guava flavors.
With more than a dozen flavors to choose from, we suggest trying the Collection of Sugar Hill’s Best Sellers ($79). It contains Chairperson of the Board (Blueberry Cream Cheese), Harlem Sweeties (Salted Caramel), Nunu’s Peach Cobbler and Andy Griffith (Vanilla). Yum!
Celebrate National Ice Cream (and gelato) Day this year with the best local brands to buy online.
BUY NOW – $79
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8. humphry slocombe
With four locations in the Bay Area, Humphry Slocombe is one of San Francisco’s favorite ice cream shops. Named after two lead characters from the 1970’s British sitcom “Are You Being Served?”, founders Jake Godby and Sean Vahey make artisanal ice cream in innovative flavors using California’s bounty of beautiful produce.
Must-try flavors include Secret Breakfast, a bourbon-infused ice cream with ground corn flakes and Strawberry Blondie, a raw blackberry honey ice cream strewn with housemade graham crackers. The hardest part will be deciding which of the other dozen available flavors should round out your Set of 6 Pints ($89).
BUY NOW – $89
9. coolhaus
With a scoop shop in Culver City, California, and trucks based in multiple cities around the United States, Coolhaus is one of the best mail-order artisanal ice cream brands out there right now.
They use only cage free eggs, organic cane sugar, and cold-pressed vanilla beans – since we all know great ingredients make all the difference. Try a pint of their Take the Cannoli ($12), their Street Cart Churro Dough ($12), or any of their other fanciful flavors. And don’t sleep on trying one of their Ice Cream Sammies ($10) either.
BUY NOW -$12)
10. clementine’s creamery
Known for her “naughty” and “nice” ice cream flavors, Tamara Keefe first started making ice cream as a kid with her family using a hand-crank ice cream maker her mother purchased at a garage sale. Fast-forward to today and now she’s making ice cream at any one of her four Clementine’s Creamery locations across St. Louis.
Boozy “naughty” flavors like Pink Champagne ($15), Maple Bourbon with Pecans ($15) and Manhattan ($16) receive rave reviews while kid-friendly “nice” flavors like Italian Butter Cookie ($12), Carrot Cake ($12) and Honey Lavender ($12) are just as yummy thanks to the 16-18% butterfat content churned with milk and cream from local dairy farmers.
Celebrate National Ice Cream (and gelato) Day this year with the best local brands to buy online.
BUY NOW – $12
the best ice cream and gelato brands to buy online to celebrate national ice cream day this year
That’s our take on how to celebrate National Ice Cream (and gelato) Day this year with the best local brands online. The only problem we see is choosing which one to order first! No matter which brand or flavors you decide on, your taste buds will definitely thank you.
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This article contains affiliate links to products independently selected by our editors. As an Amazon Associate, Dandelion Chandelier receives a commission for qualifying purchases made through these links.
Jillian Tangen is the Head of Research at Dandelion Chandelier and a former Senior Research Analyst at McKinsey & Co and Analyst at Shearman & Sterling. She is an avid fan of Nordic design, having owned an independent lifestyle store and sales agency focused on emerging Scandinavian design. Jillian lives in New York and is married with three young children. She loves cross-country skiing, the New York Rangers, reading, travel and discovering new brands.
