Sweet Science Ice Cream Available at Verdant Tea

DUSTIN BLACK

The Twin Cities has a new ice cream stop to add to your list this summer. Sweet Science, a small ice cream company with big flavors, has landed a fulltime retail location.

Ashlee Olds started making ice cream for friends five years ago. After working at Black Sheep Coffee Café and Rogue Chocolatier, she was inspired to make a line of small batch ice cream called Sweet Science, with a logo in the shape of a vanilla molecule.

With a Business Management and Entrepreneurship feather under her cap from Metro State, Olds works in her community commercial kitchen space in St. Paul where she uses local products like Castle Rock organic milk and other certified organic ingredients, “with names you can pronounce.” Her notably smooth salted caramel is their mainstay flavor, but Olds also is whipping up nontraditional flavors like blood orange (pictured here) stracciatella (inspired by La Marianna’s Italian gelato), rhubarb cinnamon almond, and strawberry buttermilk.

Previously, Sweet Science ice cream was somewhat tricky to track down, with monthly tasting events at the kitchen space, and scoops for sale at food trucks or events. But this week, Olds announced that in early July pints of Sweet Science ice cream will become available at Verdant Tea’s new location in the former Seward Coop space in South Minneapolis.

Olds and Verdant Tea met at North Coast Nosh. There, they sampled each other’s products, and as they learned more about their individual business philosophies, the more they fell in love with the idea of working together. Once they get their bearings in the new space, they hope to combine their products to offer tea and ice cream flight pairings, and even chai and matcha milkshakes.

“Starting in early July, you'll be able to stop by Verdant Tea's new shop and buy pints and cups of Sweet Science—all day any day,” said Olds. “Their hours will be 8 a.m.-8 p.m., which means our customers can stop by and get Sweet Science ice cream almost anytime.”

With ice cream labels that cleverly nod to the periodic table of elements, you can’t miss Sweet Science pints. I’m fond of the blood orange flavor, a riff on the classic Dreamsicle, but if you’d rather sample before you buy, swing by the next Sweet Science tasting event this Friday, June 14, 2013, 5-8 p.m. at the Sweet Science commercial space on Pierce Butler Road.

Cross posted from Sweet Science Ice Cream Available at Verdant Tea Retail Space - Twin Cities Taste - June 2013 - Minneapolis, St. Paul, Minnesota

[where: Sustainable Food, St. Paul, Minneapolis, Twin Cities, Minnesota]