Graeter's Ice Cream

Uphill and down, they're all around town

Dexter Enjoys a Typical Graeter's Location

      I couldn't get enough of Graeter's when I first moved to Cincinnati.  There was a store within walking distance and I made it my goal to try all of the flavors I found appealing one week at a time.  It took me a while, but I finally settled on my favorite—Black Raspberry Chip. Through the years I came to
like Coconut Chip when it was a seasonal offering, but the good news is it's available year 'round at the Ft. Thomas location.  

The Mariemont Graeter's

      Cincinnati is fortunate to have two of the best ice cream companies in the country, the other being rival Aglamesis Brothers with only 2 locations.  Graeter's started expanding a few years ago, spreading their empire to Columbus, Dayton, Louisville and beyond.  While Aglamesis is still made in the Oakley store, Graeter's opted to move its production facility to Columbus, a fact we found a little disturbing since its history is so tied to Cincinnati.  The two use slightly different processes for creating their ice creams with Graeter's choosing the French pot method making them in 2 gallon batches that spin in a mixture of water, ice, and salt.  For the chips, actually known as "boulders", the molten dark chocolate is poured into the ice cream and broken up with wooden paddles as it hardens. 

      On a recent visit to the Mariemont location, I opted to try one of the bonus flavors that only debut for a limited run and announced May through July.

Bonus Flavor Sea Salt Caramel Truffle

This time out it was Sea Salt Caramel Truffle.  The sample had me sold, but it melted much faster than I could eat it so I'll have to stick with the black raspberry chip as my gold standard to replace.

Peach, the Flavor of the Month 

Eric had the seasonal Peach which seemed way too pink in color.  I knew he would say he preferred Aglamesis, and so he did.  

      Oprah named Graeter's as one of her favorite things back in the day, which proved to be a turning point for the company.  There's no denying it is one of the best.  Whenever there's a residue left on your spoon after taking a bite of any ice cream, you just know that there's lots of cream in that batch and it's probably doing the same to your arteries.  Anything that rich has to be good!

http://www.graeters.com