(Update: Lee’s Cream Liqueur closed its retail operation in Scottsdale in January 2013. I’ll post updates if I hear of their opening a replacement location, but none is currently planned)
Wandering about Scottsdale, we noticed a little shop on Stetson Drive called “Lee’s Cream Liqueurs” which featured a variety of ice cream flavors, many of which were made with real liqueurs. While all sorts of little ice cream stores seem to be popping up everywhere, and some of them (like Humphrey Slocombe in San Francisco, whose cornflake and bourbon ice cream I reviewed last May) have the occasional liqueur-infused flavor on the menu, most places don’t feature it outright.
There’s actually a good reason for that, in that the much lower melting point of alcohol makes it hard to make a good ice cream without sacrificing a little bit of firmness. That said, Lee of Lee’s Cream Liqueur seems to have figured it out, since about half of her flavors are either outright liqueur-flavored, or have liqueur-flavored swirls in them. But Lee’s Cream Liqueur looked to be relatively popular, and the ice cream looked enticing, so we decided to give it a try.
The exact selection varies, but on this visit, the featured flavors included “Arthur Christmas Tequila”, “Carrot Cake Irish Whiskey”, “Chocolate Swirl Jack Daniels”, and “Mango Margarita Tequila”.
I opted for a mix of Arthur Christmas Tequila (on the bottom, so it’s barely visible here) and Chocolate Swirl Jack Daniels on the top. Here’s where I ended up rather impressed with Lee’s: unlike a lot of ice creams I’ve had with novelty flavors (again, I’m looking at you, Humphrey Slocombe!), these were actually quite good; the added swirls complemented the ice cream without overpowering it, and the ice cream itself was nicely done (nicely textured, not greasy).
Add in a nice wafer for a bit of texture, and this was a thoroughly enjoyable (and not terribly alcoholic, to be honest) little treat, and I’m hoping her business will continue to be successful.
