July is nearing a close, but don't worry—you still have plenty of time to celebrate National Ice Cream Month.
According to the International Dairy Foods Association ice cream company survey in 2012, the average American consumes more than 23 pounds of ice cream per year. Now, we're not exactly advocating you aim for that amount, but in lieu of the annual celebration, we're taking you on a tour of four of the sweetest Southwest Florida parlors so you can find your favorite flavor.
Adelheidi's Gelato Cafe, downtown Naples
The Schuppenhauers—Jens, Marion and their daughter, Maja—are living the American dream with a sweet tooth. The cafe specializes in organic and gluten-free gelato. Their most popular flavors include lavender and sea salt caramel. Our personal leaning? The sea salt caramel. It's the perfect mixture of sweet and salty flavors combined to create the most satisfying gelato.
Adelheidi's rule of thumb is never to put any chemicals, toxins or artificial preservatives in their products. And the family is so dedicated to their gelato, it took them a total of five years to perfect their recipes. Trust us; you will not be disappointed by their hard effort to satisfy your taste buds.
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Love Boat Ice Cream, San Carlos Boulevard in Fort Myers
Love Boat shows nothing but love to all its ice cream fans.
Their most fun flavors include Key lime pie, coconut almond fudge, French raspberry supreme and salted caramel bacon, among many more. Limited-time flavors include coco caliente, which is a chocolate-rich ice cream with a spicy aftertaste, meeting both the demands of spicy and sweet. But Love Boat's most-demanded ice cream flavor? Classic butter pecan. Other specialties include sorbet, fat-free yogurt, and fat-free flavors like caramel swirl and vanilla fudge.
If you ever doubt indulging an ice cream as a treat, simply look to the inspirational quote on this shop's wall: "My idea of a balanced diet is an ice cream cone in each hand."
Royal Scoop, Collier Boulevard in Naples
This Royal Scoop location is nestled a small shopping plaza off of Collier Boulevard. The winner of their “Create Your Own Ice Cream” contest created a signature flavor for the shop called “Sticky Fingers.” This creation features a satisfyingly sweet blend of peanut butter ice cream, caramel swirl, brownie bits and caramel cups. It also happens to be one of their most popular flavors.
Royal Scoop creates flavors for each month, and July’s flavor exemplifies a red, white and blue blast of fruity goodness: creamy, sorbet-esque blueberry, lemon and raspberry flavors.
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Scoops On First, downtown Fort Myers
Owner Lori Large and her husband, Dave, were having dinner at Los Cabos Cantina when they realized there were no ice cream places nearby to satisfy their sweet craving. So began Scoops On First in May 2015. The ice cream shop took five months to open due to the condition of the old barber shop building, and the agreement that the new owners would not remove the original walls or flooring.
Their most popular flavor, along with all their other flavors, come from The Ice Cream Club in Boynton Beach, Florida. The top seller, “Stellar Coffee,” mixes coffee ice cream with fudge and mini dark chocolate-covered “coffee cups,” similar to the structure of a Reese’s cup.
Scoops' other popular flavors include “Butterscotch Bomb,” “Special Praline,” “Purple Daze,” and “Mackinal Turtle Fudge.” They’re also famous for their three-for-$1 Otis Spunkmyer cookies served all day, every day.
How's that sweet tooth right about now?
