Emerson Alum Opens ‘Scoopsies’ Gourmet Ice Cream

Chloe Jankowitz's Malden-based business specializing in eclectic scoops and sorbets, and a CSA-style subscription service.

scoopsies

Photo courtesy of Scoopsies

Ice cream has always been a big part of Chloe Jankowitz’s life, first as a high school part-timer at J.P. Lick’s in Newton, then at Newbury Street’s Emack & Bolios as an Emerson College student. She says her childhood dream was to open an ice cream parlor. And despite the fact that she’s lactose intolerant, an admittedly bizarre and cruel predicament for an ice cream lover, Jankowitz nonetheless turned toward her favorite frozen confection because of its innate ability to bring communities together.

Scoopsies began as a challenge: one girl, three hundred sixty-five days, and one hundred original flavors. Jankowitz purchased her first ice cream maker in 2012 and set to work in the kitchen of her cozy Allston apartment, churning out a range of flavors from Turkish Coffee with espresso powder and cardamom to “Fried Fried Dough,” a fried brown sugar and cinnamon ice cream with bits of fried dough.

“The flavors just kept getting weirder and weirder,” Jankowitz explains. “And people seemed to just love it.”

Throughout her journey, which she detailed in her blog, “100 Scoopsies,” she was constantly approached by people interested in getting their hands on her ice cream creations. And so, the idea for Scoopsies was born.

At its core, Scoopsies is still a simple one-girl ice cream operation, with a few unique twists. This summer marks the official launch of the Scoopsies “Scoopscription,” a CSA-style service that specializes in delivering Jankowitz’s small-batch artisanal ice cream to customers on a monthly basis. For $25 a month or $60 for a season, Chloe will personally drop off two of her boldest flavors—which are a surprise, and non-negotiable—in pint-sized mason jars at your front door. Plus, she’ll come at your convenience, so the ice cream doesn’t melt before you can enjoy it.

Jankowitz has already created over 250 artisanal ice cream flavors, the majority of which use only organic ingredients. These have included everything from simple fruit sorbets (blood orange, cantaloupe) and the “nostalgic” (cereal milk), to more esoteric flavor combinations like anise & orange zest, duck fat poached pear, and prosciutto melon. An increase in demand this June has already forced Jankowitz to relocate the bulk of her operation to Stock Pot, a commercial incubator kitchen in Malden, where she’s now collaborating with fellow tenets like Saigon Alley Food Truck (subscribers can expect to see a “Vietnamese Coffee & Donuts” ice cream in July).

Outside of a Scoopsies subscription, Jankowitz can be found selling her ice cream by the scoop, pint, or in ice cream sandwiches at farmers’ markets in Dewey Square, Lexington, and Kendall Square. She also makes appearances at private events and festivals, such as Somerville’s Hyper-Local Craft Brewfest, for which she created custom flavors like the Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale.

“Boston consumes more ice cream per capita than any other city in the U.S.,” Jankowitz explains, “And it’s a small enough city that I can really build relationships with customers, and keep it really personal.”

Though she doesn’t see a brick-and-mortar store happening anytime soon, Jankowitz has plenty of plans for the future of Scoopsies. Within the next few months, she hopes to be able to sell pints of her ice cream in stores such as Taza Chocolate and other local boutique markets. She’s working on creating her own line of homemade sprinkles in unique flavors like cardamom and lavender. And finally, she aims to upgrade her delivery service from “a single girl in a white Toyota Avalon” to a fleet of Scoopsies delivery cyclists.

It’s all part of advancing the unique personality of her business, something that Chloe believes sets it apart from the hundreds of other small ice cream shops in the area.

“We have a great character, an awesome story, and it’s super interactive and personal,” she says. “It’s a whole experience. That’s what I aim for.”

Follow Scoopsies on Twitter or order a Scoopscription online.