Mochi Ice Cream And 8 Other Crazy Ice Cream Trends You Need to Know About

These colorful treats hail from Japan, and anyone who’s tried them is sure glad they made the trip to the US. They’re balls of ice cream — usually strawberry, vanilla, or green tea flavored — wrapped in mochi, a sweet rice paste. Ice cream that doesn’t even need a spoon? We’re in!

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that we’re pretty pumped about this one. As soon as we heard about cereal milk ice cream, we got right to work concocting our Cereal Splashback flavors, based on all your favorites from childhood. What is it, you ask? It’s an ice cream-ified version of that sweet, sweet milk at the bottom of your cereal bowl. And it’s aaah-mazing.

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Ice cream shop? Bar? Why choose! From wine sorbets to cocktail and beer ice cream flavors, this trend has something for everybody (except the under-21 set, that is). This booze packs a real punch — unlike our own Urban Bourbon flavor, which uses real bourbon, but would take a bellyache’s worth to give you even a hint of a buzz. 

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Seen any especially crazy ice cream sandwiches lately? You probably have, because they are so on-trend right now. We’ve seen ice cream sandwiches made from macarons, cupcakes, donuts, croissants, churros, even foie gras. We’ve even taken a stab at getting in on the action ourselves — bacon and Ben & Jerry’s, anyone?

This trend rolled right out of Thailand and into the hearts of ice cream lovers the world over. They pour liquid ice cream and all your mix-ins onto a chilled metal surface and chop the mix-ins into the liquid. Once it’s blended and chilled, they scrape it into rolls and serve it up. If that’s not clever, we don’t know what is.

A post shared by Charis Anwyn (@miss_anwyn) on May 4, 2017 at 1:02pm PDT

We have to assume it’s their ultimate Instagram-ability that has pushed these wild sundaes to the top of the trends lists. Whether they’re covered in candy and toppings, garnished with literal gold, or just really, really big, over-the-top sundaes are taking over.

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Sure, you can always count on your local Scoop Shop for a top-notch waffle cone or even a waffle cone dipped in chocolate and sprinkles, but you’ll have to travel a little further for a donut cone or a fish-shaped cone if you want to bite into this trend.

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Ice cream’s supposed to be sweet, right? Wouldn’t making a non-sweet ice cream go against the very rules of the dessert universe? Apparently not, according to this trend. Flavors like garlic, rosemary, cheddar cheese, sriracha, and buttered popcorn are popping up everywhere. Consider us bewildered.

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We know how it goes — you hit up a trendy new ice cream shop with your squad and the first thing you do with your cone is snap a pic for social media. (Don’t worry, we do it, too.) Shops are catching on and making the cutest cones they can to please patrons’ followers. From elephants to cats to chickens and flowers, these cones are almost too cute to eat (almost).