By Megan Wehring 

DRIPPING SPRINGS – We all scream for ice cream, especially when there is a special day that celebrates it nationally. 

National Ice Cream Day dates back to 1984 when President Ronald Reagan decreed a day in honor of the delectable dessert. He wanted to commemorate a treat that was enjoyed by most of the U.S. population – now, we celebrate National Ice Cream every third Sunday in July.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
From left, Hayley Sorenson, Turner Sorenson, Max Sorenson and Matt Sorenson celebrate National Ice Cream Day and a grand opening after several soft opening events.

In honor of the holiday but also celebrating its grand opening, Flight Ice Creams hosted a pop-up event at Fitzhugh Brewing  July 17. The family-owned business featured a special flavor of the day: English Mild (brewed by Fitzhugh) flavored ice cream with dark chocolate.

What started out as a self-taught hobby during the pandemic turned into a business when people started tasting the product and the family found a unique opportunity in Dripping Springs. Flight Ice Creams was officially opened in June this year.

“One unique thing about our strategy is we don’t have a brick-and-mortar location,” said Matt Sorenson, owner of Flight Ice Creams. “We rent kitchen space to make the ice cream and then sell it [through] mobile pop-ups. Also unique, and of value to the community, is that we often feature products from local businesses in our ice cream whether it be chocolate from Dripping Springs Chocolate Company, beer from local breweries to flavor our ice cream, and donuts from Bougie’s Donuts that are excellent when mixed into our coffee ice cream made with coffee from Weathered Hands Farmhouse Coffee, roasted here in Dripping Springs. The Dripping Springs community has been rallying around us and loves our ice cream. Flight Ice Creams is not our full-time job, it’s a side gig that is seeking to serve our community while also being a viable business.”

Sorenson added that Flight Ice Creams is the only craft ice cream maker in Dripping Springs – which differentiates itself from similar companies.

“We only use necessary ingredients and believe simple recipes result in more delicious and healthier ice cream,” Sorenson said. “For example, our vanilla ice cream has five natural ingredients, [while] Blue Bell’s Homemade Vanilla has about 13 and some are artificial.”

The company partners with other local businesses, whenever possible, to use their products in their ice cream. 

“An example is our Chocolate Bean to Bar flavor with Dripping Springs Chocolate Company, which features their cacao nibs and 65% dark chocolate, a chocolate ganache ribbon and chocolate base ice cream made with their chocolate as well,” Sorenson said. “For our deliciously smooth coffee ice cream we use coffee from Weathered Hands Farmhouse Coffee, a small-batch coffee roaster based in Dripping Springs that is committed to sourcing exceptional specialty coffee and roasting in a calculated manner. We’ve also made beer-flavored ice cream using Ghost Note Brewing’s Hilco Hill Country common beer, adding Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups or other ingredients to compliment the amazing flavor of the beer. We’ve done similar beer ice cream collaborations with Acopon Brewing and Fitzhugh Brewing.”