Dog Days of Baltimore's Summer
There are many things associated with the dog days of Baltimorean summer: Orioles' games, fireflies, Moscow mules, and most universally of all--ice cream.
In the thick of the heat and humidity, there is nothing as rewarding and refreshing as a gigantic waffle cone filled with a your favorite frozen treat.
New Beginnings
Bmore Licks' menu is the new "land of pleasant living"
We were inspired to write this post by the opening of a new ice cream parlor in the Canton neighborhood of Baltimore, called Bmore Licks, right around the corner from where we live. They serve 30(!) flavors of hand dipped (aka hard) ice cream, and 100(!!!!!) flavors of soft serve ice cream. They achieve the flavors by mixing your favorite flavors into perfectly-smooth-just-the-right-consistency soft serve before pumping it out in a wonderfully coiffed confection. Their ice cream comes with always-free sprinkles of your choice.
Being the foodies we are, we at Bite of Baltimore have been in line every evening. We even brought our pup Chewy for a "doggie delight", a dish of soft serve garnished with dog biscuits!
The Charmery's waffle cone
More! More! More!
When we were in line at Bmore Licks for the umpteenth time this week, heated discussions arose between patrons regarding their favorite parlors around the city. This sparked the eureka moment for us to pack up our taste buds for a joy ride around town, and explore Baltimore's growing ice cream scene!
Stop #1: The Charmery
A favorite in the Hampden neighborhood of Baltimore, The Charmery was our first stop in our ice cream tour of the city. A play on Baltimore's nickname as "Charm City", the Charmery was established in 2013 in an old pharmacy on the corner of 36th and Chestnut. Owners David & Laura Alima create flavors that are distinctly Baltimore by mixing in local favorites such as Old Bay, Otterbein cookies of various flavors, locally roasted Zeke's coffee, and fudgey Berger cookies.
Stop #2: Jupiter
Next was Jupiter in Mount Washington, a local parlor that exclusively serves Taharka Bros. ice cream.
Taharka Bros. was founded by Sean Smeeten and Carroll Skipwith. Smeeten was an accountant-turned-community-volunteer who was a mentor and basketball coach to Skipwith, when the latter was in middle school. Smeeten was inspired by troubled youths like Skipwith, who was incarcerated but turned his life around by earning an associates during that time, then graduating with a bachelors in business administration. Taharka Bros. was named after Skipwith's basketball teammate. According to an interview with WYPR, Taharka McCoy was a "good kid" who was killed while attempting to stop a robbery. Taharka Bros. employs troubled youths, providing them with business experience, opportunity for growth, and a positive environment. A worthy cause has never been so delicious!
Stop #3: Pitango Gelato
Founded in 2006 by Noah Dan, a Potomac native and ex-technology executive who shifted gears abruptly to create gelato inspired by his boyhood summer trips to Triste, Italy. Dan searched far and wide for the freshest milk for his product, and embarked on his very own "milk tour"; he found his prize in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. According to Dan, the magnificent taste and texture of his gelato arises from pasteurizing the milk with its gelato ingredients. He sources the highest quality local ingredients. The result is a perfectly coiffed, incredibly refreshing gelato.
Stop #4: Bmore Licks, the tour comes full circle
Bmore Licks is founded by "second-generation ice cream maker", Barbara Maloni and her wife Kim Proctor. Maloni's family owns several ice cream parlors in New England, and brought her family recipe to Baltimore. Options galore and aforementioned, there are 30 flavors of hand dipped ice cream, 100 flavors available for soft serve, a ton of snowball flavorings (complete with marshmallow or ice cream accompaniments), shakes, coffee (served in a chocolate lined cone!), and much more.
I hope you enjoyed this short tour into Baltimore's most famous ice cream parlors. We hope we covered some of your favorites. Happy summer and stay cool, one Bite at a time!