Treat Yourself to Davis Creamery at Sugar Daddies

update: now Davis Creamery 


Honey Lavender, Maple Bacon, Avocado Coconut, Dark Chocolate with Orange Zest. These are not flavors you will find in your supermarket freezer. You can find them relatively close by in Davis, at Sugar Daddies on E Street. They, and about 130 other flavors, are all made by Davis Creamery. And how good are they? Well, they put the Ben & Jerry's down the street out of business.

I met with Jesse Sahlin, a partner in both Sugar Daddies and Davis Creamery. It should be noted that Sugar Daddies also sells Cupcake Cravings, and so it was no wonder that my first questions were about this bit of identity crisis. 

Jesse explained that Sugar Daddies was started eight years ago by David Robert. Sugar Daddies is the store, while Davis Creamery is the ice cream label, both owned by Robert and Sahlin. Sahlin actually joined the business earlier this year when he had started working on a new website for Robert. Robert had been looking to sell the businesses and so Sahlin started by buying 15% of the business, then 51%, and by the end of the year he will finish buying out the last 49% and be sole owner. 

Asked why he wanted to go into ice cream, Sahlin said, "It keeps life interesting and I think it helps me keep creative and motivated both with the ice cream and with my other business."

Jesse Sahlin

Sahlin explained that he makes his ice cream with  his own recipe of an eggless starter base that is used for most of their creations. To save time, he now has this base combined at a nearby dairy subsidiary where they make about 80-120 gallons a week. Sahlin then takes the base, adds the flavorings, and mixes and freezes it in an Italian ice cream machine in the shop.  Due to the size of the machine, they only make small batches of 2-3 gallons at a time. The added benefit of these small batches and the quick sale of the flavors means that the ice cream is never older than 72 hours old - it sells quickly.

"Making an eggless recipe creates a smoother ice cream," says Sahlin. He says that egg adds fluff/air and the higher likelihood of ice crystals forming. His goal is for super smooth and creamy. To aid in this he also uses a higher butterfat content cream and freezes at a lower temperature than other ice cream makers.

Up on the wall there is a large sheet with the Ice Cream Braketology on it. I asked if it was a listing of some of the flavors they make and Sahlin explains it's actually a new flavor contest they do once a year. During the year customers can enter flavors that they would like to see created. Sahlin goes through and picks the strongest 32 flavors and then puts them into brackets. Every three days a different flavor pair duke it out until a final flavor becomes the winner. This year: Dark Chocolate with Orange Zest. The winning flavor is featured for one 3-month season of the customer's choice. During that season the customer gets a free quart of it every week. 

The shop is busy with all sorts of creations. A customer can order a Cow Pie where they choose two cookies and two scoops of ice cream to create a personal ice cream sandwich for $4.25. There's also an assortment of suggested milkshake combinations or one can make their own for $4.50. 

The newest addition is the Gourmet Cookie Sandwiches for $5. These are pre-made using gourmet cookies specially made for them by Love Baked Bakery in Davis. Sahlin gave me a couple to take home including Lime Shortbread Cookies filled with the Avocado Coconut ice cream and a Bailey's ice cream in a Chocolate Guinness cookie with white chocolate studs. Some of the other gourmet sandwich names include Sweet Goat, Chocolate Pig, and Lavender Vida Loca.

Asked about plans of expansion I was surprised to hear that they are already in a number of restaurants. For Sacramentans, they can be found as dessert items at Kupros Bistro and de Vere's Irish Pub. A restaurant can request a signature ice cream be made only for their use and as long as they are able to keep a constant order, they can keep it exclusively. Otherwise, it is open for use by Davis Creamery and others. One example is Orchata flavored ice cream that was developed for Tres Hermanas restaurant. You'll find Guinness ice cream at de Vere's. 

But there are plans for more shops as well. Now that I'm a fan, I look forward to a location opening in Midtown in the future. Sahlin is also thinking about Walnut Creek and Palo Alto/San Jose. 

Specials:

Mon: $1 scoops from 5-close
Tues: $2 cupcakes all day
Wed: $6 quarts all day
Thur: $3 Cow Pies and $4 Gourmet Sandwiches
Fri: Milkshake Happy Hour 4-7 $1 off milkshakes

Davis Creamery

Location

113 E Street

Davis, CA 95618

Contact

(530) 564-4315

daviscreamerygo@gmail.com

Hours

Mon – Wed: 11:30 – 10pm

Thurs – Sat 11:30 – 11pm

Sun 11:30 – 9pm