Weird ice cream

 The current flight includes, from left, olive oil and cacao, Bloody Mary, sauvignon blanc and peanut sriracha. (Adam Drapcho/Laconia Daily Sun)

Jordan’s finds large audience for flavors like Bloody Mary, chicken and waffles

By ADAM DRAPCHO, LACONIA DAILY SUN

BELMONT — At Jordan's Ice Creamery, there are two lists of flavors. The first list greets patrons as they approach the window, and it announces the flavors available, including the conventional and the unusual, such as "raspberry cheesecake," "key lime pie" and "an uncomfortable amount of chocolate." The other list, viewed by far fewer people, in a series of Post-it notes taped to a freezer door, and the flavors seem completely antithetical to an ice cream business: "Peking duck," "chicken and waffles" and "sweet potato and marshmallow."

"There's only so many times you can make vanilla ice cream before until you want to do something creative and fun," explained Craig Jordan, the second generation of his family to operate the business. Two summers ago, as a means to entertain and challenge himself, Jordan introduced a new product: specialty ice cream flights. He wanted to flex his creativity and produce four flavors of ice cream each month to tempt people like him, people who were interested in trying new food items and who were no longer excited by the usual offerings.

To serve the specialty ice cream, he planned to sell wooden paddles for $11, which would come with one scoop of each of the four flavors in the current flight. Customers could keep their paddles and bring them back, subsequent flights would cost them $4.

Jordan had a hunch that there would be a few customers interested in trying strange ice cream flavors. What he didn't know was how many of them there would be. The first weekend he offered the flights, he sold 150 paddles. To date, he has about 2,000 people who have purchased a paddle for his specialty flights.

The flavors he chooses for his flights are inspired by non-frozen foods, typically when he and his wife are enjoying a meal together.

"I'll think, hmm, I wonder if I can make this into ice cream," said Jordan. "Some have worked, some not so much."

The first flight he offered, in the summer of 2015, featured malbec, peanut sriracha, garlic with red raspberry and honey, and feta with honey and crumbled pie pieces.

Some of Jordan's favorite flight flavors so far have been Guinness with Lucky Charms, and olive oil with rosemary. Not so successful was a flavor he was trying to develop that included goat cheese – he couldn't figure out a way to keep the goat cheese from going rock-hard once frozen. 

"I think it's fun challenging myself to see if I can make (the flavors) ... It's fun to do something new and different."

On the 15th of each month during the ice cream season, Jordan unveils his new flight. The current flight is sauvignon blanc, olive oil and cacao, peanut sriracha, and Bloody Mary. Next week, he'll unveil a new flight, and he's keeping mum about what the new flavors will be. He's finding that the anticipation and surprise is part of what is keeping his customers interested.

"It's been received really well, better than I was expecting, because these aren't for everyone, they're for someone looking for something more adventurous."

"We're trying to see how far you can go with something and have people still enjoy it."

Jordan's Ice Creamery's original location is in Belmont village, and recently opened a second storefront in The Weirs, next to Funspot. Flights are available at either location.

Craig Jordan, of Jordan's Ice Creamery, concocts a flight of unusual ice cream flavors for his more adventurous clientele. (Adam Drapcho/Laconia Daily Sun)