Pumphouse Creamery - Garam Masala

Garam Masala - Indian-inspired Ice Cream using Coriander, Cumin, Cardamom, Black Pepper, Cloves, Nutmeg and Cinnamon

The flavor today comes from the Pumphouse Creamery in South Minneapolis.  I like to go there at least once a season to see if they have any interesting new flavors.  Today's flavor is called Garam Masala and is an ice cream based on a blend of Indian spices.  Masala means 'spice blend', while garam means 'hot'.  I have had an Indian spice blend once before from McConnell's where it was mixed with tea, date and nuts here.  I had a sample spoonful in the scoop shop and it was quite good, so I am looking forward to this.

Removing the lid, I see an off-white yellow base with lots of speckles from the spices.  It is yellower than I would expect a sweet cream to be, so I believe the spices have modified the color of the base a bit in addition to adding the speckles.  In the first spoonful, I taste a fair amount of spices right away.  It's an interesting mix, but I don't think it is as strong as the sample that I tried at the scoop shop.  I can taste that it is different than the five-spice, or the spices that make up the spices in a pumpkin spice -- that must be the coriander and the cumin.  But it's not as distinctly Indian as I remembered my sample in the scoop shop.  Did I have the pint in my freezer too long before eating it?  Usually spices get stronger when stored, though.  Or maybe the pints were made from a different batch than the scooping bin?  I'm not sure.

This is an interesting experimental flavor from Pumphouse, but I was a little disappointed that the spices were not as strong as I was expecting.  I do have a strong spice tolerance though -- especially compared to my Midwestern neighbors.  Perhaps the flavor is muted for the local clientele, I don't know.  Sample this flavor at the shop before getting a scoop instead of committing to a pre-packaged pint.