Timely Writer: We All Scream!
All ice cream is not equal. Several people have told me recently that New Hampshire was No. 1 in the country in per capita consumption of ice cream.
O P I N I O N
TIMELY WRITER
By John Angelo
Major League Baseball no longer has a definitive season thanks to climate change. It begins with the who-knows-what spring training weather of Florida and Arizona in February and ends with the World Series now into November, annually creeping closer to a potentially icy Turkey Day.
The outdoor ice cream season, however, kicks off for me when income tax forms are sent to the belly of the beast on April 15th and dribbles to a cone-licking conclusion when Indian Summer hits the rear view mirror in mid-October.
All ice cream is not equal. Several people have told me recently that New Hampshire was No. 1 in the country in per capita consumption of ice cream. While that stat can’t be substantiated, reddit.com has New Hampshire ranked No. 18 in total volume eaten or dripped onto your shirt annually. Not bad considering the Granite State is No. 41 of the 50 states in population. New England as a whole is ice cream happy, with Vermont leading the way at No. 8 in consumption while its population checks in at No. 49! According to Maine Foodie Tours the average New Englander eats 22.8 quarts per year while the national average is 15.1.
“Vermont has more space for cows!” chuckles Jaime Metzger, manager of Manchester’s Granite State Candy Shoppe at 832 Elm Street. The shop is one of 42 stops on the New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail. More on that later.
Vermont also has a home court advantage. I spent a summer in Burlington in 1977 and it was an easy walk to Battery Park where two guys named Ben and Jerry sold their ice cream out of what looked like a converted laundry truck. They couldn’t have made it without me. Bring on the Cherry Garcia, their most popular flavor.
According to Zippia.com factoids, the average American consumed 20 pounds of ice cream in 2024, though this was down six pounds from 2000. While the average person went out for ice cream 41 times last year, those aged 55+ made an average of 56 visits to parlors. Women have the sweet-tooth edge over men. 95% of ice cream junkies fall between 12.14 and 29.26 lbs. eaten annually. The United States ranks 2nd in per capita licks around the world, behind New Zealand and ahead of Australia.
While the Zippia summary has gems like there’s less consumption in colder weather and more in hotter weather, you know they mean business with their formula for ice cream eaten X=U+(Z*O). Everyone knows that X is the consumption value, while U is the mean. Z* is the score with O the standard deviation. Of course! It was right in front of us all this time.
Yahoo cites Hawaii coming in first per capita in a 2015 study, ahead of Maine and New Hampshire. The USDA Economic Service has Long Beach CA, Dallas and Philadelphia as the three top US ice cream cities. My wife Lorrie hails from southern New Jersey, a stone’s throw from Philly. Pork roll, a Philly cheese steak and Boost (tastes like carbonated prune juice to me) are Garden State de rigueur every visit. I’ll take a Butter Pecan cone any day over that mess. I’m a semi-vegetarian (no beef or pork). The Granite State Candy Shoppe does offer Vegan Vanilla and Vegan Chocolate for those so inclined with coconut milk replacing cow ingredients.
The Granite State Candy Shoppe also has a store in Concord. The third generation business, owned by Jeff Bart, started in Concord in 1927, the year of the New York Yankees’ “Murderers’ Row” line up, with or without Babe Ruth’s torpedo bat. Plans are being made for the store’s 2027 centennial. The Manchester store will be 13 in July with Metzger the manager for the last nine years. The store has four part-time employees, with one of them on board for eight years according to the manager.
“Our most popular flavors are the staples: vanilla, chocolate and black raspberry,” Metzger said.
“The outliers are Salted Caramel and Fudge Brownie Avalanche. My favorite flavor? It depends on the day. I like Fudge Brownie Avalanche with a ton of peanut butter sauce on it so that it tastes like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. A classic!”
“25-30 flavors to choose from are normal for the summer,” Metzger continued. “We rotate depending on what’s available and also what’s selling and what’s not. People might ask for a flavor we have in Concord and I’ll make plans to get it. I go to Concord once or twice a week. People don’t realize that our ice cream is homemade. We use local cream from Contoocook Creamery. The butterfat content is higher than your basic grocery store ice cream. It has a richer flavor.”
Low cal ice cream is anathema to my palate. I ditched it about the third time I watched one of the many doomed get-rich-quick schemes Ralph Kramden brought home from the bus depot to Alice and Norton on The Honeymooners: low cal pizza.
New Hampshire Travel and Tourism now sponsors the New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail. The idea is to hit all 42 stops. Moose Valley Cones in Pittsburg is the tough one, though its proximity to Canada makes it a good place to bivouac when Trump texts Pete Hegseth and his Facebook friends about the proposed invasion of Nova Scotia.
According to Metzger about 15-20% of the store’s summer business is due to the New Hampshire Ice Cream Trail map.“The map came out late last year,” the manager said. “People were like ‘Where’s the Ice Cream Trail?’ People love it.”
When asked if some customers try to hit a baker’s dozen of shops in one day, she responded “Oh, yes! They ask for the smallest amount possible.” ‘I’ve had seven other stops already today’ they tell us.”
With three scoops comprising a small cone, it’s good to know that a micro size is on the menu. The Granite State Candy Shoppe displays trail maps with completed maps eligible for modest prizes. It’s not about Wheel of Fortune’s “thousands of dollars in cash and prizes,” as Rain Man likes to say. It’s about the journey.
For the record, WMUR’s Viewers’ Choice for the Best Ice Cream in New Hampshire finds Jordan’s Ice Creamery (Belmont) in the top spot. Second is Sundaes Ice Cream Bar (Claremont). Ilsey’s Ice Cream (Weare) completes the trifecta. Rounding out the top five are Richardson’s Farm (Boscawen) and Supersecret Ice Cream (Bethlehem).
“Ain’t no cure for the summertime blues” unless it’s Fudge Ripple.
"Things are not as things may seem:
The only emperor is the Emperor of Ice-Cream."
First line by John Angelo (2025)
Second line by Wallace Stevens (1922)
