Already on that side of town, I stopped at a place that always cheers me up. Flavors: Black Currant Sherry Wine, Mascarpone, Green Cocoa Tea (Vegan), and Strawberry Triple Sec.
Winner: Black currant sherry wine.
Salty White Chocolate and Black Sesame. I know, I repeated the Salty White Chocolate, but it’s so good! They made a great pair together. The Black Sesame was a soft and subtle toasty-sweet taste. It was the quieter one of the two flavors.
Winner: Salty White Chocolate
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
Scooped: Strawberry Tarragon, Salty Carmel, Peanut Butter Molasses, and Chocolate IPA.
Favorite of the cup: Strawberry Tarragon.
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
What I got scooped on my birthday: Salty White Chocolate, Banana Oreo, Mocha Peanut Butter, and Zabajone. What is Zabajone you ask? It is another word for the Italian dessert, Zabaione. It is a very light liquid custard that is usually made with egg yolks, sugar, and Marsala wine. The ice cream version did not taste like wine to me, but it was sweet and fruity.
Favorite of the cup: Salty White Chocolate.
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
A minor goal in life right now is to have tried every flavor of ice cream offered by Scoops. So far, sooooo good! It is my new favorite place to return to. I do not think I will ever grow tired of their ice cream.
Twice in the past month I have been to there. The first time I ordered a One Scoop + One (4 scoops): Brown Bread, Green Tea and Coconut, Salty Dulce de Leche, and a vegan Lingonberry. I have had the Brown Bread ice cream before and always enjoy it’s Grape Nuts sweetness. The Green Tea and Coconut was not as tart as I expected (probably because of all the Pinkberry and Frogo I have had lately). The coconut was very subtle to me, but I still loved the green tea taste. I enjoyed the flavors greatly and would order them all again. The Salty Dulce de Leche might have been my favorite. It was a salty sweetened milk candy taste. I was hesitant about the vegan ice cream, especially since I have no idea what Lingonberry is supposed to taste like, and was combining it with non-vegan flavors. It turned out to be a creamy delightful flavor that worked well perfectly with the other flavors; much better than Soy Dream and all those other soy ice creams you can buy at the supermarket.
The second visit I ordered a One Scoop + One: Chocolate Raspberry, White Chocolate with Pomegranate Swirls, Strawberry Balsamic, and Peanut Butter & Dates. In comparison to the aforementioned One Scoop + One, these four flavors grouped together worked a little better with one another. The Chocolate Raspberry was rich and strong in flavor as if I were actually eating raspberries with a dark chocolate sauce. The pomegranate swirls in the White Chocolate with Pomegranate Swirl actually tasted like it was made from pomegranate and not just a high fructose flavored syrup. The Strawberry Balsamic was a light pink delight of creamy goodness with tiny pieces of real strawberries that gave it’s fresh strawberry flavor. The dates in the Peanut Butter and Dates gave the scoop an amazing thicker texture that teamed well with the subtle peanut butter flavor.
During both visits the service was very friendly and accommodating of my urge to sample everything and indecisive nature.
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
On Saturday, my boyfriend (who is not the same person as my roommate) and I went to Scoops. It was my first time and it was pretty awesome. First of all, when we got there, the place was empty. I knew this was just luck and had nothing to do with the quality of ice cream. Also, shortly after we sat down to eat, a herd of people filled the room. I tried the flavors: Brown Bread (made from grape nuts), Banana Peanut Butter & Bacon, Guinness Mocha, and Thai Iced Tea with Honey. My favorite was definitely the Brown Bread, which is supposedly one of their most popular flavors. Even though they use grape nuts to make it, it is definitely a different taste than I expected. In fact, it made me wish I could just eat Brown Bread ice cream for breakfast everyday. I was slightly disappointed in the Banana Peanut Butter & Bacon because it seemed to be that each flavor was too subtle for me to distinguish. However, it could have just been that my palate was overwhelmed from such a variety of flavors. The Guinness Mocha was quite tasty, but seemed the most normal of the bunch to me. The Thai Iced Tea with Honey was probably the sweetest of my bunch, my second favorite, tasting like happiness. All and all, I would definitely go again, especially because of the rotating crazy flavors and the kind scooper that helped me was very accommodative, patient, and helpful while I made my my flavor decisions. 
Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped by Intelligentsia. We parked right next to a store I had only heard about, The ReForm School, a pro-green gift-y store. It is a very adorable store with a lot of neat and innovative products. I had found out about it on the internet a month or two ago and was always interested in visiting. Inside, you can find everything eco-friendly from bags, clothing, furniture, local artwork, notebooks, to bath & body products. The store fits right into the Silver Lake neighborhood. I would recommend it to anyone that is on the hunt for clever and cute gifts. I just wish I had the money to buy everything. I really liked these fun, easy to hold Buddha Bowls, but do not have the funds to purchase bowls at this point in time. The website is just as cute as the actual store. The story of how the store started is one that I respect: two friends that just wanted to own a store that promotes green living. How awesome is that?
Surprisingly, there was no line at Intelligentsia, but the place was pretty full. My boyfriend got his usual Mocha and I just ordered a cup of coffee. The coffee I chose was Galapagito, a La Tortuga Micro-Lot from Honduras. The website describes it as greeting “the palate with a burst of crisp citrus and lush tropical fruit. The acidity peaks in the center of the cup and melds elegantly into a supremely well-structured finish of deep, dark chocolate and baking spices.” My (probably weak) palate did not find it as citrusy as described. I did enjoy the finish and found it very smooth. I would/will buy those beans in the future. To keep the mornings interesting, I bought a 1/2 lb. bag of Fazenda do Sertão, Brazil. These beans come from Carmo de Minas, a popular growing region of Brazil. They are characterized as:
Flavor: Caramel, sweet orange, fudge
Acidity: Balanced, dried mango
Finish Smooth, buttery, dutch chocolate
Yum. Apparently these beans were tested to become espresso, but the taste was filled with such amazing depth and complexity that Intelligentsia R+D changed their minds and let it shine as a coffee. Another interesting fact about these beans is that they are pulped natural; beans were pulped without fermentation. Pulped natural coffees result in a beverage that has the characteristics of both a dry-and a wet-(fermented to remove the pulp) processed coffee; it is sweet, but retains acidity. This type of processing can only occur in countries where there is low humidity, such as Brazil, who has popularized this method and apparently produces some of the best pulped natural coffee in the world. For more information on the differences between processing, check this informative site out, CoffeeResearch.
Scoops
712 N Heliotrope Dr
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
The ReForm School
4014 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-8660
Intelligentsia
3922 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 663-6173
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