Scoops Chinatown - Los Angeles

Sometimes I just want ice cream. But now that artisan ice cream is practically on par with craft beer, you can't always get just ice cream. Don't get me wrong, I love the novel nuances, the clever combos, and the crazy creativity, but sometimes I just want ice cream-flavored ice cream. 

When I just want my ice cream to taste like ice cream, I can always count on Scoops. They ride just the edge of that perfect line, right before ice cream starts to taste like entrees or cracker dip. There's a Blackberry Honey Tea, for example, a gentle flavor-fuse of juicy blackberries, straight off a summer bush seeping sugar and honey into a cup of creamy, cold-brewed tea. The other side is Apple Pie and Ricotta; fresh-out-of-the-oven crust and caramelized apple amplified by ricotta silk.

The Makgeolli is the funnest. The alcoholic edge of Korean unfiltered rice wine is gentle wake-up nudge, and the cream and sugar keep it smooth, like a moonshine mousse or a creme de moonshine. And best of all, it still tastes like ice cream...ice cream for vinos. The other side is cream of Thai Tea, that familiar, soothing favorite commonly used to put out Thai chili fires.

Scoops makes ice cream. Their always-changing flavors are novel, their combos are clever, and they are crazy-creative, but they stay true to their substance. Every flavor I tried was exciting and satisfying, and it was hard not to get them all.