This week, I’m honored to have Max Schwimmer, known to me mainly as a stellar saxophonist and arranger, as a guest blogger. I think you’ll love his contribution (and if you do, be sure to comment, so we can convince Max to return again sometime soon!), and I know it definitely makes me want to take a road trip to Connecticut soon! 

For a small state, Connecticut has no shortage of high-quality, fresh ice cream. I’ve lived in the state for nine years, and I’m still discovering new spots.

But no matter how many places I visit, there’s one that stands out above the rest. Grassroots Ice Cream in Granby boasts “wickedly creative ice creams”, with 36 constantly-rotating flavors like goat cheese blackberry, rose chocolate, cardamom cashew, caramelized pear, Irish cream chip, and salted caramel bacon brittle.

These unique flavors were what first drew me to Grassroots, but what keeps me coming back is the consistency of their ice cream base. I can’t overstate the perfectly creamy texture. If they only served vanilla, I’d probably still go there because the ice cream itself is just that good.

Grassroots is located just off the town green in Granby on the site of an old general store, and the space still has an old-time, New England vibe. In 2018, they expanded the building to open Deep Roots Street Food, serving up fast-casual style global cuisine like falafel wraps, “pho-rritos”, and Greek street cart fries…perfect for a pre-ice cream meal.

Starting at $3.50 for a scoop, the prices are reasonable for premium, fresh ice cream. You can get a milkshake for $7.25 (definitely not a bargain, but then who wants a milkshake when you can try so many fun flavors?), as well as ice cream cakes and pies. Grassroots offers a variety of toppings too, but I’ve always felt that fine ice cream is best unadorned. Come at me if you disagree!

Here’s what I tried on my recent trip:

Strawberry Oreo – Grassroots usually offers several Oreo flavors, and I don’t think I’d ever tried one before. The strawberry flavor was strong, fragrant, and not super sweet. The oreo pieces felt soft, as if they had soaked up some of the ice cream before freezing solid. This was probably my favorite flavor of the three.

Lemon White Chip – I was pleasantly surprised by chocolate chunks and large shortbread pieces in this scoop. The lemon flavor was pretty subtle. Shortbread pieces were definitely the highlight.

Garden Berry Pie – based on the name of this flavor, I was expecting something a little more exciting…maybe some fresh berries mixed in with some pie crust pieces. Instead, I think it was just a plain vanilla base with a berry swirl. Definitely the least interesting of the three flavors, but since it was still Grassroots ice cream, it was still good.

In non-COVID times, I recommend taking advantage of taste-testing several flavors before ordering. Since there are so many tempting flavors to choose from, it’s helpful to try a few to figure out which ones are truly worth it.

Have you visited Grassroots? If so, what did you think of it?

About Max, our guest blogger: 

Max lives in West Hartford, Connecticut, where he is a digital marketing specialist by day, a saxophonist and music educator by night, and an ice cream aficionado by all hours. His blog at maxschwimmer.com helps students and parents navigate the challenges of learning saxophone, from instrument purchase guidelines to pandemic practice tips.

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