Scoops N Scoop Creamery - Irvine

If you're a new ice cream entrepreneur these days, it's likely that the the words "liquid nitrogen" are in your business plan. That or "donuts".

But so far the liquid nitrogen ice cream joints are outnumbering the ice-cream-stuffed-donut ones. Liquid nitrogen ice cream is the new frozen yogurt.

I've lost count on how many opened in the last few months alone. But if you've been to one, you'll notice, for the most part, they're all nearly the same. Heavy duty mixers are installed behind a see-through partition. Next to them are spigots connected to the LN tanks. When you order, you tell the cashier not just what flavor your want, but also what kind of milk.

Scoops N Scoops offers four choices of your base: premium milk, coconut milk, yogurt, or organic milk. Then comes one flavor, and if you're feeling spendy: toppings and extras that could also include cotton candy.



Whatever you order: you're in for a spectacle. The fog spills out from the mixing bowls and onto the floor as though a Rush concert just broke out in the middle of Irvine.

But it's not all for show (though most of it is). The liquid nitrogen is supposed to freeze the ice cream so fast, no aeration occurs nor do ice crystals form. This purportedly results in a denser, smoother texture of ice cream. It's like a shortcut to Häagen-Dazs without all the churning.

I tried a chocolate hazelnut on yogurt and it was indeed dense and smooth. A friend's strawberry ice cream with plain milk turned out best, tasting like super premium ice cream. And since they used actual fresh strawberries, it tasted like strawberry ice cream always should: perky.

Another friend's coconut ice cream in which they seem to have pumped in a few squirts of coconut syrup, did not fare as well. It was so sweet, it rotted out teeth on contact.

If you intend to try it: Be prepared to spend twice, if not three times, as much than you would for Thrifty's ice cream at Rite-Aid. But again, you're not coming just for dessert, you're there for dessert and a show.

Scoops N Scoop Creamery
14411 Culver Dr.
Irvine, CA 92606
(949)786-0170
http://www.scoopsnscoops.com

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