Ready for a Scoop? One of the Top 40 Ice Cream Shops in the US is in Maine

Ice cream might be the biggest staple of summer.

I'm serious. The ocean is always there (although cold), the sun is always out (just not as warm), but ice cream stands...those things are seasonal.

So, without a doubt, I think ice cream is the summer staple. I mean, think about your ice cream habits. You probably have ice cream a few times from November - April, but from May - October, while the ice cream stands are open, you likely have it once a week, minimum. So, it's critical to know the best places to go.

I would say any ice cream stand or store that is nationally ranked is probably a solid choice, right? What about one that was labeled "Best Ice Cream Shop in America" by Men's Journal?

Definitely a good choice.

Well, that ice cream shop is in Maine, and year after year they're recognized for being one of the best not only in Maine, but all of America.

I am talking about Mount Desert Island Ice Cream in Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine.

This is not your typical ice cream. This is CRAFT ice cream.

According to the website and owner Linda Parker:

At the time I had never heard  the word “artisanal” applied to food as it wasn’t quite a movement yet.  I wanted to make ice cream with real ingredients in small batches. Not out of nobility really, but because I didn’t know any other way. Over a decade later, and we still make it the same way, 5 gallons at a time.

Bizzare and well-crafted flavors like chocolate wasabi can be found here.

But what is really impressive is how they're made: all by hand and in small batches.

When we make our Madagascar Vanilla Bean ice cream, we hand cut the individual vanilla pods and scrape the beans out so we can use real vanilla specks. We bake our ice cream inclusions from scratch in our kitchen. We squeeze every lemon fresh, we deseed all our blueberries by hand, we chop every clump of fragrant herbs. All of this is done right here in-house.

So, you try for yourself. It was listed as the top 25 ice cream shops in America by Food and Wine, according to the website, and as a top 40 in the nation by a Thrillist article.