9. Blue Mountain Coffee
Coffee-flavored ice cream is just one step below chocolate, vanilla and strawberry on the ubiquity scale. But Jamaica has the best coffee in the world, so it only stands to reason that it would have the most unusually good coffee ice cream in the world, right? The world-class bean it’s named for is harvested primarily for export, and, similarly, Blue Mountain Coffee ice cream is probably easier to find outside of Jamaica than within it. There’s no Blue Mountain Coffee flavor at the island’s top creamery, Devon House I-Scream, but it is on the desert menu at Ortanique, the Miami Caribbean restaurant run by the family of late Devon House chef (and “Julia Child of the Caribbean”) Norma Shirley. It’s also carried by a few of North America’s Jamaican ice-cream specialists, like Marlon Davis’ Nesberry’s shops, where Blue Mountain Coffee’s richness is evidenced in a dark, almost chocolate-like hue.
Pictured: Nesberry’s (164-17E Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, NY, and 2 other locations; 516-881-7782)