As you may have heard, I love real ice cream. Charlotte has tried to trick us with her gelato huts, colorful froyo shops and locally made popsicles. But we all know that these are not the treat we desire most: real, scooped, homemade ice cream.
But this is all about to change. No longer will we be forced to quench our ice cream cravings with imposturous frozen treats. A scoopable savior is coming to South End, and it’s called Golden Cow Creamery.
Yes, I know Jason reported on this last week. And yes, I know he did a good job delivering the facts. But he missed one very important detail in his article that I couldn’t ignore: my unbridled, uncontainable excitement.
Photo courtesy of Alex Hannah
Alex and Liz Hannah are opening Golden Cow Creamery this spring. They used to live in Denver, CO next door to Little Man Ice Cream. When they moved back to North Carolina, they noticed that Charlotte was severely lacking in the homemade ice cream department. They knew Charlotte deserved better.
@littlemanicecream via Instagram
I want to take a minute to talk about Alex and Liz. They are freaking adorable. They met in middle school in Cary, NC, dated through college and have been married for five years. Ok, back to the ice cream.
The adorable couple started making ice cream in their kitchen to get their recipe down pat. They experimented with all different concoctions, and as Alex described it: “Some were really good, and others… terrible.”
Photo via the Golden Cow Creamery website
Apparently their foray into sriracha ice cream was not a success, but their pineapple habanero tastes amazing. They created a flavor using chocolate porters, which came out great. But a similar imperial stout flavor was as Alex put it “just bad.” (I imagine it tasted similar to gelato.)
Photo via the Elizabeth Creamery Facebook page
All of Golden Cow’s ice cream will be made from scratch with milk, cream, eggs and sugar. They’re not going to use food coloring, preservatives or artificial flavors. They promised me that even though they are going to experiment with flavors, they will always have a chocolate, vanilla and strawberry-type offering.
Photo courtesy of Alex Hannah
Golden Cow is opening in District Flats at 1449 South Church Street. Alex and Liz chose South End because it’s where they live and they wanted their shop to be in the same area where they hang out.
They probably also chose South End because it’s where I work and I am .2 MILES AWAY FROM THEIR LOCATION. It will literally take me no more than three minutes to leave my office and have a double scoop of chocolate brownie fudgie dream shoved into my mouth.
Photo via Google Maps
Here are few important things that you need to know about Golden Cow Creamery:
Will they be open all year?
Yes. And they want to stay open until 11 p.m., which is amazing for late-night cravings.
How many flavors will they have?
There will be 8-10 flavors per day, which will be switched out daily. They’ll always have vegan options, which I don’t care about at all.
What will the shop look like?
Alex described the décor as looking like “a nice Dilworth kitchen.”
Will there be toppings?
Golden Cow will have minimal toppings since their ice cream is going to be really rich. But they will have dark chocolate chips, nuts, sprinkles, hot caramel and hot fudge for those who are jonesing for a sundae.
And, most importantly, what kind of cones will we be working with?
Word is they’ll have waffle cones, sugar cones, cake cones and boring old bowls.
Image via Golden Cow Creamery
I learned a lot talking to Alex. I learned that he and Liz are opening their shop simply because they love ice cream and they want to make Charlotte a better place. I learned that ice cream has eggs in it. And finally, I learned that if you really want something, all you have to do is complain about it on Axios Charlotte and all your wishes will come true.
Connect with Golden Cow Creamery for updates on their opening date
Cover image via Golden Cow Creamery
