Smoosh Ins

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that "smoosh in" Ice cream will supplant the last ice cream craze that revolutionized ice cream consumption, premium ice cream such as Ben & Jerry's which in turn had previously supplanted airy Neapolitan ice creams from a carton. The article credits Boston for "smoosh in" ice cream phenomenon, Steve's and Herrell's both "smoosh in" toppings into ice creams on ice cold marble counters using heavy duty ice cream spades.

While Steve's and Herrell's remain independent ice cream stores, Cold Stone Creamery was cited as one of the companies poised to become the Starbucks of "smoosh ins" aiming for 1000 stores in the next year or two. [These ambitious plans remind me of Starbuck's whole 2000 by year 2000 campaign.] One of their stores opened up in the town I lived while I was in college, right on Main Street as part of the city's effort to gentrify the downtown business district. I always make a point of stopping by each time I'm home because the ice cream was premium and really fresh.

I've always wanted to try the places where you choose the ice cream and the toppings and it all gets thrown into a machine that cranks the mixed up ice cream treat like a soft serve cone. You can infuse fruit, nuts, candy, just about anything into your ice cream. There's one near my house and murmurings of other places scattered around the city. I suppose in the end, all these are perhaps highbrow variations on the trusty old Dairy Queen Blizzard, the Friendly's Cyclone and the McDonald's McFlurry, all of which I also enjoy.