Steve's Ice Cream was an ice cream brand which began as an ice-cream parlor chain owned by Steve Herrell. He opened his first establishment at 191 Elm Street in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1973. Known as the Original Steve's Ice Cream, the business introduced the concept of super-premium ice cream and customized ice cream desserts using the mix-in.
Where To Buy Steve's Ice Cream
Herrell graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1967 with a degree in sociology.[1] In 1973, he mechanically altered a small-batch commercial freezer to produce an extraordinarily rich, creamy, low-air ice cream, and he founded Steve's Ice Cream to sell the new ice cream at his store.[2] Herrell was introduced to the Heath Bar candy bar by a friend in the late 1960s, and felt it would make an excellent addition to his ice cream. Instead of having pre-mixed flavors like chocolate chip at his store, he had his staff mix freshly made ice cream with candy or other confections based upon customer requests. These candy additions were called "smoosh-ins," and the custom-blended flavors proved to be a success with customers.[2][3][4]
Steve's trademarked the term "smoosh-in," which forced competitors to call it the mix-in. The smoosh-in consisted of candies or other ingredients blended into the ice cream to order. The popularity of the Heath Bar smoosh-in, created by Steve's and later used at other chains, prompted the Heath company to expand its operation to include a commercial foods division.[3] Later chains took the concept of the smoosh-in and applied it to their operations, creating a whole new industry around it.[6]
The business concept at Steve's inspired other chains, such as Cold Stone Creamery and Amy's Ice Creams, and products like the Dairy Queen Blizzard and Wendy's Twisted Frosty product lines.[9] MSNBC travel/leisure journalist Tom Austin credits Herrell for this innovative milestone in the ice cream industry: "Modern gourmet ice cream is widely considered to have been born at the original Steve's in Boston."[10]
Steve has been credited with inspiring the founders of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, whose original store, which opened in 1978, also included -- like Steve's -- a freezer to churn the ice cream, and a player piano.[11][5] A photo of Steve, Ben and Jerry hangs on the wall of Herrell's Northampton, Massachusetts store.[12]
The new ice cream flavors, made with grass-grazed milk, include Spearmint Chocolate Brownie, Sicilian Chocolate Cannoli and Cold-Brewed Cinnamon Coffee; and dairy-free flavors, made with organic coconut cream, include Moroccan Mash Up, Passion Carnivale, Cold-Brewed Cinnamon Coffee, and Chocolate Cherry Blossom.
I was tempted to delete this last comment, but instead I will say: try elaborating and adding some evidence rather than general ranting with typos. Are you referring to the fact that he is at least one of the five different people laying claim to creating cookies & cream? He also claims to have invented dipped waffle cones. Also, he jumped on the idea of dairy-free "ice cream" very early on, apparently too early in fact as it appears DF Mavens has completely shut down. Oh well, the "godfather of ice cream" is probably retired and sitting on a beach somewhere now.
Hi, just a note to say that Bourbon vanilla does not contain alcohol - the Bourbon name refers to the earlier name for Reunion Island, and is just another name for Madagascan vanilla (see ) so you can eat it with no worries - although from your comments about the above I don't think you would wish to anyway! I've been reading your blog for a few months now, and I really enjoy it, although as I'm based in the UK I don't get to try many of the ice creams mentioned - I'm just saving up ideas for my next visit to the US! Maybe you could visit Great Britain and try some of our ice creams - I could give you some recommendations!
OMG! DF Mavens shut down?! I did not know that! They shut down without any announcements. I checked the social media pages and it vanished. I remember DF Mavens at the Green Festival Expo and when they were in NYC. They literally gave out free pints of ice cream! They really abruptly left and shuttered.
@Anne: in this case, it really is BOURBON vanilla, as in both vanilla and bourbon whiskey are in the ingredients. I would have pressed on if it was just semantics, but it's actual whiskey (in whatever final form it takes). That said, I would totally love to get back to the UK and check out the ice cream scene. I was there for work many years ago but didn't get to eat or see much. Anything cool in the freezer aisle right now? (a few years ago I actually received photos of two different freezer aisles in Germany, it was pretty interesting)
@Aleksandr: yeah, I probably wasted half an hour trying to find some sign that they weren't toast. There store says it's returning but you don't delete all of your social media if you are coming back. They were tied to "desserts that matter" but they are gone to. I really feel like the the guy retired even though we are seeing more non-dairy options.
@Anon: I just wish it had been worded better - for typos, grammar, and effectiveness :) I think I forgot to mention it, but you can pick these up on sale for like four bucks (and I want to say five bucks regular)
Yup! They are toast! Right now I'm seeing more non-dairy offering in the stores and low calorie ice creams. Maybe they couldn't handle the competition which is a shame. I had their raspberry ice cream which was amazing. They will not be missed that much.
Being honest, Steve's was a bit junk and every flavor of theirs I tried was extremely bad. Not helping was their clear distributor problems in the northeast where cartons would be freezerburn or iced over.
One of the things I have always liked about Steve's Ice Cream is that it doesn't have eggs in it. Eggs and I do not get along. I personally like the Bourbon Vanilla. I think it's a great twist on regular vanilla.
I found only some of the dairy free the other day and I got excited to see it back. I, too, was surprised that they changed the container to the paper one instead of the plastic one. I don't eat dairy all that often, this ice cream is the only one I never had a bad reaction to. Probably due to both the eggs not in it and the grass fed cow milk.
Ingredients: water, cane sugar, organic coconut cream, sunflower oil, caramel sauce (coconut cream, sugar, water, molasses, salt, vanilla extract, arrowroot powder, xanthan gum), pea protein, cocoa powder, locust bean gum, vanilla extract, guar gum. Contains: coconut. Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg and dairy based ingredients.*
Ingredients: water, cane sugar, organic coconut cream, sunflower oil, pea protein, corn syrup, vanilla extract, locust bean gum, guar gum. Contains: coconut. Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg and dairy based ingredients.*
Ingredients: water, cane sugar, organic coconut cream, sunflower oil, honey, dry roasted pistachios (pistachios, sea salt), pea protein, locust bean gum, cornstarch, molasses, salt, natural flavors, citric acid, guar gum. Contains: pistachio, coconut. Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg and dairy based ingredients.*
Ingredients: water, cane sugar, organic coconut cream, sunflower oil, pea protein, coffee extract, locust bean gum, guar gum, natural flavor, molasses, dark brown sugar. Contains: coconut. Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg and dairy based ingredients.*
Ingredients: water, cane sugar, organic coconut cream, sunflower oil, chocolate chunks (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, sunflower lecithin, salt), cherries, pea protein, cornstarch, natural flavors, fruit and vegetable juice (color), locust bean gum, guar gum. Contains: coconut. Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg and dairy based ingredients.*
Ingredients: water, cane sugar, organic coconut cream, sunflower oil, mango fruit (mango, sugar, cornstarch), vanilla caramel ribbon (sugar, water, cornstarch, natural flavors), passionfruit juice concentrate, lemon juice concentrate, pea protein, natural flavor, locust bean gum, guar gum. Contains: coconut. Manufactured in a facility that also processes peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, egg and dairy based ingredients.*
In 1973, a cab driver named Steve Herrell began churning his own ice cream inside a former dry cleaning shop outside of Boston. Steve's Ice Cream soon drew long lines of customers lured by Mr. Herrell's big innovation: custom-blended scoops with cookies, candy, fruit and nuts mixed in to order.
The final piece of the banana pudding puzzle are the vanilla wafer cookies, which are integrated very well all throughout the ice cream and have softened even more than their usual self with a texture that feels somewhere in between a cookie and a cake. The subtle vanilla flavor of the cookies is indistinguishable amongst the huge wash of banana, but the textural contrast is great and as well executed as I would expect from the company that started the mix in revolution. All of the components work harmoniously on the spoon and channel the indulgent Southern treat with success.
In the beginning, they had a hunch that people out there would line up in huge lines to get a taste of their artisanal ice creams. They started out as a small little brand wanting to show the world their expertise. And, grew to become a brand that people not only lined up for their ice cream, but outbraved themselves in the middle of snow storms to guarantee their scoop!
An at once an all-inclusive guide to the meaning of hundreds of technical terms and ideas needed for ice cream manufacturing, as well as a practical introduction to the ingredients, freezing methods, flavoring, and packaging of ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, gelato, frozen yogurts, novelties and many other kinds of frozen desserts.
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