An ice cream with all the great flavor of a stout without the alcohol – genius! That’s what you’ll enjoy if you head to Bluebird Homemade Ice Cream in Cross River for the shop’s newest flavor. The scoop, called Captain Lawrence Espresso Stout, is a collaboration between Bluebird and the Elmsford brewery, which recently released its Double Pull, an imperial stout made with espresso from Pleasantville’s Black Cow Coffee.
“I’m always thinking of new flavors,” says Bluebird owner Barbara Kessler. She was familiar with mixing ice cream and beer through her son, who owns the original Bluebird location in Seattle as well as a brewery. (He had created an Elysian stout ice cream, which Kessler offered in limited quantities over the summer.)
Captain Lawrence founder Scott Vaccaro and his family are customers at Bluebird, and Kessler approached him with the idea of collaborating. “Scott told me he’d be releasing an espresso stout and I jumped at the opportunity to create an ice cream with that beer,” she says.
Both Kessler and Vaccaro stress the importance of collaborating locally. “I do love making these connections,” he says, noting that this is the brewery’s most local collaboration yet. “Collaboration is part of being in the craft beer industry.” Kessler says she’s worked with Harvest Moon Orchards and Wild Hive Farms in the past. “I’ve always felt that local businesses should support and promote one another,” Kessler says.
So how is it? I first tried the Double Pull beer, which has a creamy, chocolatey taste. Those notes come through in Bluebird’s ice cream, which is more intensely espresso than coffee. It was delicious on its own and would definitely taste great with hot fudge.
If you want to try it, you’ll have to get there soon. Kessler made two batches of the ice cream — that’s 10 gallons — and when it’s gone, it won’t be coming back this season.
Bluebird Ice Cream
19 N Salem Rd
Cross River
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