Stout Ice Cream - double take from Northern Ireland
Blending traditional Irish Stout with luxury ice cream proved so popular in taste tests that gourmet producer Glastry Farm in Northern Ireland decided to launch two different varieties this spring!
The artisan ice cream maker, based on a family farm at Kircubbin, near picturesque Strangford Lough in county Down, is launching a version using one established Irish stout and another made from Belfast Black Stout, an artisan stout brewed in Northern Ireland by the award-winning Whitewater Brewing Company, located at Kilkeel in county Down.
Will Taylor, Glastry Farm founder and managing director, explains: "We had a number of suggestions to build on the success of our existing ice cream with Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey, which has won a number of major awards for taste and originality, by embracing stout, another traditional Irish beverage,
"We decided to explore how best to develop a stout ice cream and looked at a couple of brews, an established flavour and a comparatively new one from Northern Ireland.
"Our food technologists created both and these were subsequently trialled with our experienced taste panels. Both proved extremely popular, encouraging us to move both into full production and to launch this month at food events in Europe and Northern Ireland. They just couldn't decide which was best and so we've opted to allow our customers to choose.
"Feedback on both has been excellent, and we've now decided to launch both for the spring/summer season. The flavours are quite different, giving us two distinct shades of black ice cream," he adds.
All the ice cream is processed from milk sourced from the Taylor family's dairy herd which grazes the lush pastures near Strangford Lough, an environmentally protected area of Northern Ireland.
Glastry Farm, which also produces popular low fat sorbets, has achieved SALSA quality accreditation in its focus on developing retail and foodservice sales particularly in Britain. Safe and Local Supplier Accreditation is helping the company in responding to a number of approaches from potential customers outside Northern Ireland.
The business has been experiencing rapid growth and enjoyed record sales of ice cream and sorbets during the autumn and winter. Ice cream and sorbets are particularly popular with leading chefs in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The artisan company, a farm diversification initiative, has already significant business in foodservices in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Glastry's luxury ice cream has also featured in the Great British Menu television programme and has been enjoyed by international celebrities including US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
The business was established in 2007 by Mr Taylor, a highly respected Northern Irish dairy farmer specialising in Holstein-Friesian animals.
The company's portfolio currently features over 20 ice creams and four sorbets. While sales of all its products are growing steadily in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the company has seen spectacular interest in its low fat sorbets, fast becoming the preferred dessert with women. It is aiming to win business in Britain and other parts of Europe over the next two years.