Cool and Unusual

Crafters of unique flavors celebrate standing out from the pack

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Spotty Dog Ice Cream Co. co-founder Hannah Sager fondly recalls childhood family trips to Vermont. At requisite stops at the original Ben & Jerry’s store, Sager would make a beeline for the freezer case full of “factory rejects”—pints of misfires with too many mix-ins or accidental ingredients. Still independently owned at the time, Ben & Jerry’s had established itself as a wacky, progressive brand, and Sager says sifting through the case full of mistakes left quite an impact.

“It was the coolest thing as a kid because it was a true surprise,” she says. “You didn’t know what you were going to get until you ate it.” That element of surprise sparked wonder in the budding ice cream enthusiast, giving Sager a sense of connection to the people behind the pints. Sager’s business partner, Alex Miller, explains that all of Spotty Dog’s flavors are inspired by a desire to appease their inner kids and satisfy their personal cravings, and that translates in their pints, such as the wasabi snack mix ice cream. Born from Sager’s cravings for salty-sweet combinations and balancing a little something for every taste bud, it features chocolate-covered honey sesame-stick clusters, wasabi peas and wasabi-soy-almond chunks dotting a matcha-dusted vanilla ice cream.  

Offering pints in flavors such as burnt sugar and banana bread, miso PB&J, and cheese and crackers (a buttery brie ice cream with a ribbon of blackberry jam), Spotty Dog is helping to cultivate a reputation for zany flavors. For its third birthday, which just happened to fall on the stoner-friendly holiday April 20, the Church Hill-based small-batch operation encouraged fans to suggest their favorite “munchie” snacks, the more savory, the better. The resulting ice cream? Chocolate milk and Cheez-Its — a chocolate ice cream with a buttery, cheesy, slightly sweet Cheez-It crumble swirled throughout, packing big Cheech and Chong vibes in every bite.  

In Shockoe Bottom, Sweet Spot Ice Cream Cafe's cones have customers doing a double take, presenting a rainbow of options from rosy red velvet to onyx midnight black vanilla. The Instagram-ready cones, which are made by The Konery, a certified vegan outfit in Brooklyn, include matcha, toasted coconut, and lavender flavors. For a quick trip to Mexico City, order the salted blue corn cone with a scoop of Mexican hot chocolate ice cream.

At DeLuca Gelato, one savory-inspired option stands out among the shop’s 36 rotating flavors. Initially suggested by customers, the olio d’oliva e sale gelato (olive oil and sea salt) plays up the fruity aspects of good olive oil with a salty finish from just a hint of Mediterranean sea salt. “It is certainly an intriguing flavor that initially scares some people off,” says co-owner Nick DeLuca, “Many can't imagine mixing those flavors with ice cream, but the adventurous are rewarded with a delicious sweet-and-salty treat.”   

Aboard Westray’s Finest Ice Cream, a mobile ice cream operation hailing from Washington, D.C., that’s relatively new to the area, owner Westray Paul says most of the company’s flavors are conceived from conversations among staff or cool collaborations, including a future mashup with AR’s Hot Southern Honey called hot honey’d cornbread, a riff on their current offering, Southern maple cornbread.  

When it comes to future drops, Spotty Dog’s Sager and Miller have a running list of inspirations, including a seasonal minty sweet pea recipe based on English mushy peas and Sager’s cherished holiday cinnamon rolls. And, the duo says they’re always up for a redo of an offering that fell somewhere short of their goal, like a s’mores flavor that’s seen multiple iterations: “We’re not afraid to change things up or do different iterations to make sure all the stuff we’re putting out is perfectly delicious.”