Blackish Ice Cream – Know What You’re Licking

 New ice cream concepts continue to pop up:

In major cities across the US and Canada, a new concept has been popping up, intriguing people to eat and even make Black Ice Cream, also termed Goth inspired and Activated Charcoal treats and in many cases the last is actually the ingredient. I visited a couple of shops that served a black soft serve product in a black waffle style cone. Soft serve to me typically suggests the product to be ice milk which is less than 10% milk fat, so incorrectly announced by my server as ice cream, which needs to be over 10% butter fat to qualify. Nevertheless, anxious patrons were lined out the door and down the sidewalk, willing to pay $5 and up for a 5 oz serving.

Black is the new ice cream:

What’s all the excitement and interest in the new fad frozen dessert? Is it the flavor, saying it includes charcoal or simply the black color? My guess, based on past experience, the color so black is in and for a period of time, in the form of a stylish black twisty soft serve. For decades there has been a continued interest to introduce new concepts in the dairy and non-dairy industry, which for the consumer can tend to be somewhat boring. So interject life back into the ice cream, non-dairy industry by offering new ways to market products. In the past five years we have seen a rise in new concepts such as Liquid Nitrogen, Snow Cream and Ice Pan shops to make the same product in a different fashion and real time. Customer intrigue in the concepts come from the ability to add color and flavor on the fly, at the  counter, right in front of the customer. With a rainbow of colors to choose from, the “cream-rista” (just made that up) has the ability to put on a show and create mind blowing visual aide desserts like red vanilla bean or black peppermint. The customer is both empowered and ecstatic that they just created a custom concoction. The dynamic of customizing a single serving becomes a win – win for everyone. The customer is excited and the shop can charge more for the creativity and entertainment. Did you notice that I’ve mentioned the marketing aspect of the business and not quality being the draw. In my opinion, customers are attracted by the show and if the service and product is as amazing, they will return.

Color and flavor combination aren’t so new:

In 1988 I made Smurf ice cream, a combination of blue color and strawberry flavor, a kid pleaser for sure, making Mom crazy due to the visual remnants of light blue around the kid’s mouth. Why were kids tugging at Mom for the flavor, because they had never seen strawberry in light blue, but Darryl’s Homemade Ice Cream Factory in Toledo was doing it. Another popular flavor for the adult crowd, was white mint chocolate chip, what you say, where’s the green? Actually peppermint extract is clear anyway, so what’s the point of adding color, again a win win for all.     

Back to black, at least for a while:

So now the concept of Black Ice Cream appears to be the rage, showing up around the US in cool looking shops, but guess what, it’s a product that’s been popular in Japan for quite some time. Although it could be made with black food color and any flavor, the original concept from Japan, is using food grade activated charcoal to create black soft serve products including the cone. It’s called activated charcoal due to its negative charge, which means it supposedly has the capacity to bind positively charged ions (such as chemicals) together, removing them from the body, according to Dr. Jeffrey Morrison, a family practice physician and certified nutritional specialist. This property has prompted charcoal to be touted as the latest detox ingredient—in fact, it’s long been used in emergency rooms to stop certain cases of acute poisonings or overdoses.

Health concerns:

There are numerous articles on the consumption of food grade activated charcoal, so I pass on the voice of caution to clients interested in entering the business of black desserts. I also remind them this is a niche product that typically features a couple of colors and flavors and probably a fad that may mist away within five years. Articles suggest that consuming activated charcoal on a semi regular basis can lead to  numerous health concerns and side effects read on…. publications can lead to side effects and possibly cancer. From my perspective on black product is not due to the interest in consuming food grade activated charcoal, but simply the stealthy interest in the shade of black. Check out black ice cream photos on my Pinterest page, they’re fun, sexy and exciting making you want to find a shop and sample for yourself.

Activated charcoal alternative can produce the same visual results:

If you really have a desire to enter into the business of black ice cream, but want to keep the business sustainable, then there are a number of options to make the same shade. Food grade colors are readily available and offered in natural, artificial and organic. The same goes for flavor extracts, so with a little creativity, you can make just about any combination of flavors and shades, in either scoop-able or soft serve. You have the ability to make a dairy and nondairy frozen product as exciting as you desire and support by using good quality natural ingredients. The savvy customer can tell the difference in basic or super premium quality product, so give them the best , they won’t complain about paying more.

Get started in black ice cream:

So leave activated charcoal for grilling and detoxifying and learn how to make creative frozen treats like black ice cream. Call Darryl, he has 30 years experience in the industry and can help you operate a successful business in a short period of time.