Cool Rulers: Where To Find The Best Jamaican-Style Ice Cream

Words by Jesse Serwer
Photos by Martei Korley, Ola Mazzuca and Justin Pallack

Visit any ice-cream shop in the Caribbean, and you’re sure to encounter a few flavors you won’t find at Cold Stone Creamery or your local freezer aisle. Along with the more ubiquitous coconut and mango, lesser-traveled regional fruits like soursop, passion fruit and naseberry all make for popular flavors in the islands.

In Jamaica, tropical fruits are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to local ice cream culture. While most people around the world equate ice cream with childhood, confectioners on the island have perfected what one might call “adult ice cream,” crafting savory-sweet flavors from beer, rum and even apple vodka. In reality, there’s hardly enough alcohol content in these concoctions to get anyone buzzed—usually about 1.5 percent ABV—but there’s something about satisfying your sweet tooth with the same flavors that get you drunk that just appeals to Jamaican sensibilities. “Jamaicans just like the flavor of alcohol in ice cream,” says Marlon Davis, founder of the New York-based Nesberry’s ice-cream chain, which specializes in so-called tropical ice-cream flavors. “They like stout and rum and raisin. It plays on how they grew up and what they were exposed to. People want to spend that five minutes taking a trip down memory lane.”

Easily, the most popular of these alcohol-infused concoctions is Irish stout ice cream, typically made with Guinness or its somewhat sweeter Jamaican counterpart, Dragon Stout. The specialty was made famous by the world-famous Devon House I-Scream in Kingston, where it’s known as “Devon Stout.”  Then, there’s rum raisin, the rare Caribbean confection that’s actually gone mainstream: Baskin Robbins has a version, and so does Blue Bell.

Falling completely to the left is the decidedly non-alcoholic, yet surprisingly intoxicating “grape nut.” (Also known as “Great Nut,” in certain establishments). In Jamaica, it’s an anomaly to consume the similarly named cereal as the Post Foods company intended it–it’s far better known as the active ingredient in a mystifyingly delicious ice cream. For a more extensive guide to Jamaican and tropical ice cream flavors, see our list here.

We can’t think of a better way to cool off in the summer than with some frosty tropical ice cream, and if you actually need another reason to try some, here’s one: It’s currently “National Ice Cream Month”, as designated by Ronald Reagan, in 1984. What’s more, Jamaican ice cream is easier than ever to find off-island, as homesick Jamaicans missing the flavors of their youth have opened up specialty shops abroad, spreading the holy trinity of grape nut, rum raisin and stout into the USA, Canada and England.

Here’s a look at some of our favorite Jamaican-style ice-cream shops, so you can satisfy that Guinness and Grape Nut craving wherever you are, from Mandeville to Maryland.

1. Devon House I-Scream
(@ Devon House, 26 Hope Road, Kingston, Jamaica; 876-929-7038; and locations across Jamaica)

According to Food Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 Extraordinary Places to Eat Around the Globe, a book published by National Geographic, Devon House I-Scream is the world’s “fourth best place to eat ice cream.” We disagree: We say it’s No. 1. For decades, this shop, located within the Devon House Heritage Site in Kingston, has been synonymous with ice cream in Jamaica, and specifically the island’s most popular flavor, Irish stout—or Devon stout, as it’s known here. You can find a similar flavor variety at other shops, but if you truly want the Jamaican ice cream experience, you have to come to Devon House I-Scream. Now a chain with outposts in Mandeville, Ocho Rios and Port Antonio, Devon House I-Scream was recently introduced in London, where it’s sold at the Jamaica Patty Company in Covent Garden. If you must have your stout ice cream made the Devon House way and can’t make it to any of the above anytime soon, Saveur magazine recently published a recipe said to be based on Devon House’s own. But while you might be able to nail the flavor at home, there’s no way to replicate the vibes that come with enjoying your cone on the lush grounds of Devon House, the uptown Kingston estate built by George Stebel, Jamaica’s first black millionaire.

FLAVORS: Bordeaux cherry, butter almond, cherry, chocolate chip, chocolate, coffee, cookie and cream, Devon stout, fuzzie navel, fruit basket, grapenut, guava, Java spirit, rum and raisin, fruits and nuts, pineapple, pistachio, mango, chocolate, One Drop, rocky river, soursop, strawberry, strong back, vanilla.

2. Taste The Tropics
(1839 Nostrand Ave, Brooklyn; 718-856-0821)

Taste The Tropics is a Flatbush, Brooklyn institution. Brothers Jerry and Al Zirino founded the shop on Nostrand Avenue in 1975, as the area was transitioning from an Italian, Jewish and Irish neighborhood into a largely Caribbean one. The shop initially served a typically American set of flavors, but gradually began introducing Jamaican staples like rum raisin and grape nut to their menu to better serve the local community. Eventually, Taste the Tropics became Brooklyn’s first full-fledged tropical ice cream shop with a full menu of flavors from Jamaica and the Caribbean, from soursop to stout.

“We’ve got the second generation of kids who grew up coming here with their parents from their Caribbean and moved away, and now they’re coming back to the neighborhood with their kids,” says Jerry Zirino, now the shop’s sole owner (brother Al is behind the Taste the Tropics wholesale operation, an entirely separate business). The vibe inside is part old-fashioned ice-cream shop (think Carvel), and part Caribbean grocery store, with hand-written signs advertising Jamaican cheese and patties.

FLAVORS: Cherry vanilla, chocolate, pistachio, peanut butter, Irish moss, Strawberry cheesecake, Guinness, coconut, Grape Nut, pineapple, butter pecan, strawberry, rum raisin, vanilla, banana, vanilla fudge, orange pineapple, soursop, peach, praline & cream, Tropical rum nut, mango, cherry rum nut, pistachio grapefruit, coffee.

3. Nesberrys
(Green Acres Mall, Valley Stream, NY;  225 Hempstead Turnpike, West Hempstead, NY; 164-17e Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, NY; 516-881-7782)

Nesberry’s is the USA’s only Jamaican ice-cream chain, with three shops between Long Island and Queens, New York. A Kingstonian who previously worked at the Jamaica Observer, Marlon Davis founded Nesberry’s, named for the sweet, pear-like fruit indigenous to the Caribbean and Central America, at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Long Island, in 2012. “It started off with me one day having my own cravings for a particular flavor of ice cream from Jamaica—stout—and I couldn’t find it anywhere,” Davis says. “If I was craving it, I figured there were some people from the Caribbean who were feeling the same way. After I did some research, we found there was a definite need.”

Launching in a mall proved to be a savvy decision, allowing Nesberry’s to get its product before consumers who might otherwise have never set foot in, or even heard about, a Jamaican-themed ice cream shop. “[Being in the mall] has exposed a lot of different cultures to the way we do ice cream in the Caribbean,” Davis says. “Everything we do in the Caribbean, there is care taken to give it that certain kind of flavor and taste. We use real fruit and real ingredients and prepare it in a way that makes it more flavorful–in Jamaica, the flavor has to taste strong and, if it doesn’t, people believe it’s not real. We use the real thing to give it the real taste.”

In 2014, Davis opened his second and third shops in Hempstead, NY, and Jamaica, Queens. But branded retail stores are just one part of the bigger picture for Nesberry’s, which wholesales its product to West Indian takeout spots and restaurants throughout the New York area.

FLAVORS: Irie Jamaican Stout, Grape Nut, Blue Mountain coffee, rum raisin, egg nog, Jamaican rum cake, pineapple coconut, soursop, melon sorbet, sorrel & ginger, champagne, vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, butter pecan, cookies & cream, pistachio, red velvet cake, mango sorbet.

4. The Ice Cream Factory
(408 E Sandford Blvd, Mount Vernon, NY; 914-699-1349)

Located just outside NYC in Mount Vernon, New York, The Ice Cream Factory has been serving up Jamaican ice cream flavors like rum raisin and soursop for three decades in the hometown of Heavy D and Sean “Puffy” Combs. Founded in 1954 as a Carvel franchise, the shop was re-developed and re-branded 30 years later as The Ice Cream Factory and began serving the tastes and palettes of the increasingly Caribbean community. “I kept hiring Caribbean people, and they gave me the ideas for flavors,” recalls owner Rudy Guerrino, whose Italian-American father and uncle founded the original shop. “We started with grape nut cereal which was and still is the most popular. Then we went to rum raisin, Guinness stout and soursop. I just kept my ears open and my mouth shut. They would tell me what ingredients to use.”

Today, The Ice Cream Factory has a massive selection of nearly 60 flavors that includes staples (chocolate, vanilla, pistachio), all of the usual tropical/Jamaican flavors (Grapenutt, Irish Moss, Stout) and unique hybrids like Sugar Free Pistachio with Grapenutt, Soy Milk Rum Raisin Grapenutt. Presumably, the extra ‘T’ in “Grapentutt” stands for tasty–The Ice Cream Factory’s version is among the most flavorful we’ve had. The shop is also home to a fresh juice bar which also serves smoothies, and nine different flavors of Jamaican-style moss drinks.

FLAVORS: Too many to name. A few favorites include: Egg nog, rum raisin, Irish moss, Grape Nutt, stout, soursop, coconut, mango and Jamaican rum cake. The Ice Cream Factory also serves sugar-free flavors such as Sugar Free Pistachio with Grapenutt, and a half-dozen vegan ice creams made with soy milk, including rum raisin and Grape Nutt.

5. Uncle Junior’s Ice Cream
(at the Grace Jamaican Jerk Fest, Sunrise, Fla and Queens, NY; 786-361-1103)

It doesn’t get more Jamaican than jerk seasoning. While Jamaicans have used the homegrown spice blend to flavor everything from pork to lobster, the unlikely marriage of jerk and ice cream actually originated in South Florida. That’s where Jamaican expat Paul Johnson first introduced his namesake Paul Johnson’s Jerk Ice Cream, at the Boston Juicy Jerk restaurant in Lauderhill, Florida. More recently, Lloyd Waugh of Uncle Junior’s Jerk Ice Cream stand at the Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival has become the stuff of legend, drawing some of the longest lines at the annual festival held every fall in Sunrise, Fla’s Markham Park, as well as at the New York edition held in July, at Queens’ Roy Wilkins Park. So what does jerk ice cream taste like, you ask? At first, a bit like it’s base—vanilla. After a second or two, the hints of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and peppers come out, but never with the punch they pack on cooked meats. Like other salty-sweet ice-cream flavors such as stout or sea salt, it’s a surprisingly subtle thing that’s much kinder to the palate than you can image without actually tasting it.

Flavors: Jerk Vanilla, Jerk Grape Nut

6. JR Sweet’s Jamaican Inspired Ice Cream
(522 Oakwood Ave, Toronto; 416-913-0110)

When Claude Fearon, owner of JR Sweet’s Jamaican Inspired Ice Cream, was growing up in Sandy Bay, Jamaica, Sunday night dessert always meant a slice of his mother’s freshly baked goods, from black cake to carrot pudding, all paired with a scoop of rum raisin ice cream. “That was our staple,” says Fearon. “Those are the things that I remember as a kid, and a lot of the people that walk in the door feel like they’re a kid again in Jamaica. It makes them feel good.”

Fearon opened JR Sweet’s, located in Toronto’s Oakwood-Vaughan neighborhood, in May, 2014 with a vision to share a facet of his culture that was being overlooked. Toronto’s Jamaican community includes numerous places to feast on jerk chicken and curry goat, but nowhere else that specializes in the island’s unique ice-cream flavors. “In Jamaican culture, we have a lot of desserts and it runs pretty deep,” Fearon says. “I want to bring that to Toronto in a more detailed fashion.” Fearon works with different suppliers to offer a vast array of ice cream flavors, including Coconut Rum, and incredibly rich variations on classics like Stout, Mango, Soursop and Grapenut. There are a few unexpected twists like Tequila Lime and Kahlua, but the standard choice is nostalgic like Sunday nights in Sandy Bay: an outstanding Rum Raisin. Loaded with the dried fruit and fragrant like an aged barrel of Appleton, it’s unequivocal. —Ola Mazzuca

FLAVORS: Banana walnut, Baileys & cream, black cherry, coffee cream, chocolate, coconut rum, Grape Nut, pomegranate, soursop, malt cream, stout, sorrel, mango, vanilla, tequila lime, rum raisin, praline caramel

The Best of the Rest
(Jamaica/USA)

“The Fudge Man”
(On the Road, Kingston and everywhere)

It’s only in recent years that specialty ice cream shops have really proliferated in Jamaica. For most Jamaican kids, ice-cream arrives via mobile vendors who carry coolers on their motorbikes— freelance contractors who serve a niche not unlike the ubiquitous Mr. Softee trucks in the States, complete with their own trademark sounds to announce their arrival. Arguably, it’s these street-level ice cream soldiers, sometimes referred to as “The Fudge Man,” or “Kremi” (after the wholesale manufacturer most carry), who are responsible for much of Jamaica’s ice-cream innovation, crafting new hybrid flavors to suit local trends and tastes. Jamaican ingenuity at it’s finest—and best-tasting!

Crazy Jim
(Various locations in Kingston and other Jamaican cities)

Jamaica’s most popular ice-cream manufacturer Crazy Jim is sold in shops across Kingston and other cities, as well as in pints at Jamaican supermarkets. The brand unveiled a new range of flavors a few years back, including one made with one of the most popular alcoholic drinks in Jamaica right now: apple vodka. TR8ness!!!

Jimmy’s Ice Cream Shoppe
(Sovereign Centre, 106 Hope Road, Kingston 6; 876-978-3842)

Conveniently located at the food court in Sovereign Cente, Kingston’s largest mall, this Barbican-area favorite is a hit with local teens and families, as well as Kingston expats who make it one of their first stops on trips back home.

York Castle Tropical Ice Cream
(827 Hungerford Dr., Rockville, Maryland; 301-217-5840)

The D.C. suburbs in Maryland are home to several ice-cream shops run by Jamaican expats. The consensus favorite seems to be York Castle Tropical Ice Cream in Rockville. We haven’t made it there yet, but thanks to Yelp reviews for Calver “Cal” Headley’s shop like this one—”Yes, I drive there from Virginia in the middle of winter for this ice cream, it’s that good!”—we’re already making plans for a detour during our next trip to Chocolate City. See also Tropical Ice Cream Queen in nearby Silver Spring, MD.

Caribbean Royale
(914 N.C. Highway 42, Clayton, N.C.’; 919-332-6720)

Could Jamaican ice cream go mainstream in the USA? The existence of Caribbean Royale in Clayton, North Carolina, a small town near Raleigh-Durham, is enough to suggest that it could. Jamaican-born founder Hyacinth Reece-Headley started Caribbean Royale in Chicago in the ’90s but closed up shop when her career as a human resources professional brought her to North Carolina. After wading back into the business as a wholesaler selling to local Caribbean stores in North Carolina, she opened the Clayton store last year. “We only do tropical flavors, and there’s no artificial flavors,” Reeece-Headley says, when asked about her product. Currently, those flavors include banana; coconut; ginger; Grape Nut; guava; mango, pina colada, pineapple, Extra Stout, rum raisin, soursop and a fruit medley (with guava, pineapple, Mango, Banana).