HALL OF FAME FLAVORS

1. Sea Salt with Caramel Ribbons: Temptation, in cream form 

2. Almond Brittle with Salted Chocolate Ganache: Butter brickle meets chocolate blobs 

3. The Elvis: Malted banana ice cream, marionberry jam swirls, and chunks of burning love in the form of bacon–peanut butter cookie dough 

4. Coconut Milk with Cashew Brittle and Pandan: From the mind of Departure chef Gregory Gourdet, a vegan masterpiece deep in Thai caramel shimmies, spicy pineapple, and nutty crunch

THE BIGGEST BUST

Berries, Barbecue, and Baked Beans: Grills across the country shut their lids in protest 

HOT SEASONAL REQUEST

Lavender Honey: According to Tyler Malek, one customer stalks the cases and nabs up 30 pints at a time. “People who like it really like it,” he says, “like, addicting-level like it.” 

MOST POLARIZING MOVE

The Thanksgiving Flavor Series: It takes a thick hide to make a T-Day menu out of ice cream, from mincemeat to apple cranberry stuffing. Some carved up the Salted Caramel Turkey ice cream; others gobbled it: 

• “Wow, it really does taste like turkey.”—Country Living magazine 
• “Somehow the whole thing works—as long as you don’t get hung up on the fact that you’re eating turkey fat ice cream.”—Food Republic 
• “Everything was going fine at first. The caramel brittle is sweet and buttery, with a pleasant crunch, but once my taste buds registered the turkey, I panicked, spitting out the ice cream in the sink, directly on top of a pile of clean dishes.”—Serious Eats 
• “I didn’t spit it out.”—Tyler Malek