Bobby, my husband, took Owney and me for a ride on a recent Friday night. He had heard about a new artisan ice cream shop, Cowhaus Creamery, that will be coming to Wooster, Ohio in the very near future. He decided that we needed to do some market research by going to see the original location in Oberlin, Ohio.
I always like the idea of taking Owney for a ride, so it was no big deal for me to consider driving to Oberlin for ice cream. It is a nice drive from Wooster to Oberlin. I have only ever actually driven through Oberlin my way to somewhere else, so this was a good opportunity to see the town. I will say that parking is not an easy thing to find in downtown Oberlin. We had to drive around a couple of times to find a place to park near the store.
The Cowhaus is located on College Street, near the end of the block by Pleasant Street. We had to leave Owney in the car, much to his disappointment. It was a beautiful night, so the Oberlin streets were full of people enjoying a nice spring evening. This gave Owney plenty of people watching time while he awaited our return.
We told the server, who we found out later that her name was Kinsey, that we had never been to Cowhaus before and wanted to try a few flavors before making our decision. At that moment we were the only ones there, so she was OK with that. (That changed quickly, so I didn’t get to try as many as I would have liked.)
Bobby and I were both intrigued by their Black Sesame flavor. He tried it first and said it tasted exactly like the name suggested. I had to try it, too. It tasted like toasted sesame seeds. Never would i have thought to make that into ice cream, but my dad always tried to convince me there are other flavors than just chocolate. (Never understood why, but I guess to each their own.)
After that I went back to more traditional flavors. I tried the peanut butter brittle. They use their house made buttery peanut brittle for this ice cream. If you like peanut brittle, this is good. Bobby tried their Righteous Root Beer, their Storm Mountain Coffee and their Salt and Scotch.
We ordered our ice cream and also picked up one of their frozen treats for Owney. I didn’t ask, but I think it was a peanut butter flavor. I selected their Firelands Mint Chip and Chocolate Gestalt. Their menu says that it took them two years to develop the Chocolate Gestalt – Gestalt means complete/whole. It turns out that the effort paid off, it paired very nicely with the mint chip.
Bobby selected the Toasted Coconut and Caramel Salt. He gave me a taste of the Caramel Salt, which was pretty good. He said the Toasted Coconut was also good, although you’ll have to take his word for it, because I don’t like coconut. He had wanted to try their seasonal flavor, Henrietta Bramble, but it was sold out. Ever since we were at Jeni’s Ice Cream in Columbus, he has a new appreciation for berry ice creams.
They were also out of their Blood Orange Olive Oil + Ganache flavor, another seasonal ice cream. Nevarae, the manager, said it tastes like those chocolate oranges that are sold during Christmas time. Before we left Bobby tried their Tahitan Vanilla Bean. Nevarae said that someone at the factory opens and removes the inside of the vanilla beans by hand. The factory where they make the ice cream is just up the road in Elyria, Ohio.
Nevarae also shared that the owners focus on quality ingredients for the ice cream. They buy local ingredients and they buy organic, if available. Their menu has running down the side of it: “Committed to Breaking Things – Rules, Norms, Expectations.” I would agree. Flavors I never knew could become ice cream, are ice cream at the Cowhaus Creamery.
I eagerly anticipate the opening of the Cowhaus Creamery shop in Downtown Wooster (where Ride On used to be on Public Square) this summer. I think it will be a nice addition to an already vibrant area of the city. It will also stretch my boundaries of what ice cream can be. I’ll probably have to bring my dad, too. Just to show him I can appreciate other flavors, even though my first love will always be with chocolate.
p.s. We at Wendi’s Weekend Trips and Whatnot love ice cream. To see all our posts about ice cream, click here.
Keith, I didn’t even think of that, but you are right!