Ice cream season is here

Matt Kronsberg with some sweet summer news for the long weekend ahead [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Hi, everybody! [Matthew Kronsberg]( here, a frequent contributor to Pursuits. Welcome to the unofficial start of summer, at least here in the US. Everyone has a moment when the season feels like it’s begun for them: Maybe it’s breaking out the [seersucker](, putting away the duvet or making the [switch to iced coffee](. For me, it’s the first time I impulsively stop at a [Mister Softee truck](. Soft-serve vanilla ice cream with chocolate sprinkles on a wafer cone is my order. Basic but blissful. Less basic but still blissful: Fresas con nata (strawberry and cream swirl) in a xuxo cone was a hit at Mercado Little Spain last summer. Photographer: Rey Lopez That bliss might be short-lived when I find out what a cone is going for this year. This came to mind when I watched a viral [TikTok clip]( of a young British girl in an absolute sputtering rage over an ice cream vendor with the audacity to charge her “bloody nine pounds” for two cones. That could be the scene here, too. The [April consumer price index]( had the cost of ice cream increasing by 3.3% in a report that was otherwise favorable for food prices. No word on whether the [profound cocoa shortage]( is driving it. A bright spot in chocolate news: African confections, like Midunu chocolates from Ghana, are seeing increased global demand. Photographer: Francis Kokoroko No matter. Maybe it was reading Tony Rehagen’s story about how the [Hudson Valley is turning into the Napa of beer](, but brew-flavored ice cream has grabbed my attention of late, and there’s plenty to explore right now. [Hardscoop](, the Charleston, South Carolina, maker of booze-infused ice cream (most are between 8% and 9% ABV) just launched a limited-run Blue Moon Home Run Twist, inspired by the Belgian-style witbier. It comes in at a restrained 2% ABV, and thanks to the use of Valencia orange peels, just like the beer, it has a creamsicle quality. No more sober sundaes! Boozy ice cream is still the summer’s hottest treat. Photographer: Ted + Chelsea Cavanaugh for Bloomberg Businessweek More daring will be [Salt & Straw](’s Brewer’s Series coming out in June. For this five-flavor series, co-founder Tyler Malek worked with five breweries, all in cities where Salt & Straw has shops. New York will be added to that list when a [pair of Manhattan locations]( opens late this summer. Among the brewery collabs are Métier’s Black Stripe porter and bread pudding (from Seattle), Russian River’s Supplication ale with Manchego cheese (from Santa Rosa, California) and La Tropical’s La Original Lager with guava (from Miami), which includes flan and a sweet guava drizzle. Salt & Straw’s Brewer’s Series. Source: Salt & Straw If those sound tempting to you, you’re not alone, says Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, associate director for Mintel Food & Drink. In its research, it found that incorporating alcoholic flavors into ice cream sparks consumers’ interests “in novel and indulgent experiences,” often leading to impulse buys. In the US, 36% of ice cream eaters said a “new-to-me” flavor has encouraged them to purchase a frozen treat they had not tried before; this goes up to 41% of Gen Zs and 42% of Gen Xers. Van Leeuwen and Ollie have collaborated on an ice cream just for pets. Source: Van Leeuwen Ice Cream You know who else is taking their premium ice cream sans chocolat this summer (and every other summer)? Dogs, that’s who. Along with dedicated pet ice cream brands like [Dog-O’s]( and [Yöghund](, human favorites are getting into the act. Ben & Jerry’s has long offered [Doggie Desserts](, for example, and just this week [Van Leeuwen announced its first pet pint](, a nondairy peanut butter and banana confection made in partnership with Ollie, a purveyor of personalized pet foods. It’s all part of what [Bloomberg Intelligence predicted]( will be a $500 billion pet industry by 2030 due to a “premiumization of food and services resulting from the continued humanization of animal companions.” Woof. You know what goes great with fried chicken? Ice cream! Also, Champagne. Londoners are eating it up. Photographer: Paul Winch-Furness Digging into the animal kingdom isn’t the only way for ice cream brands to expand their reach. At Cannes, [Magnum dropped new mood-inspired flavors](created with Australian singer Troye Sivan, along with an accompanying EP. While the ice cream is not yet available in the US, the music is. Connect with Matt on [Instagram]( and [X](. What’s the scoop? Every week we call for queries on [our Instagram account]( and [via e-mail](mailto:askpursuits@bloomberg.net?subject=I%20have%20a%20question). But instead of answering your questions this round, we had one for you: What ice cream are you longing to eat this summer? Here are your sweet suggestions. [Azucar Ice Cream Company, Miami]( This Little Havana scoop shop takes its cues from Cuban cuisine. Café con leche and flan flavors are fantastic, but its signature scoop is Abuela Maria, made with guava, cream cheese and crispy [Maria cookies](. If you don’t find yourself in Florida, it ships nationwide [through Goldbelly](. Musket Room, New York City]( Pastry chef Camari Mick has created what might be the city’s first “appointment” ice cream sandwich. Smoked Tahitian vanilla ice cream, swirled with spicy [Fly By Jing Chengdu Crunch](, is sandwiched between Sichuan honey cookies in this treat that’s available only during the Michelin-starred restaurant’s garden happy hour, Tuesdays through Fridays, starting on June 4. The Musket Room x Fly By Jing ice cream sando. Source: The Musket Room [Hokey Pokey, Los Angeles]( You don’t have to be nostalgic for New Zealand to appreciate the soft serve at this shop in the Westfield Century City mall. The namesake hokey pokey is shot through with crushed honeycomb toffee, made in the shop. You can also get an ice-cream-filled pavlova.  [Sugar Hill Creamery, Harlem, New York]( Chairperson of the Board, the most popular flavor at this uptown Manhattan favorite, features cream cheese, along with blueberry jam and graham crackers, making it a blueberry cheesecake in scoop form. Other flavors are tributes to George Costanza, A$AP Rocky and Al Roker. It [also ships nationwide](. Want more suggestions? A few years back, we had top chefs pick the best ice cream all across America. Photographer (from left): Joyce Lee/Bloomberg; Zack DeZon/Bloomberg; Akasha Rabut/Bloomberg Kidz bop Beyond ice cream and sneaking beer into things, one of my main topics of expertise is [home audio gear and gadgets](. And guess what: It’s going to be a strong summer for the pop bop, with new releases from Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift all making their way into fans’… tape decks. Wait, what? As I reported last week, [cassettes have taken on a fascinating second life]( as a favorite medium for superfans to support their favorite artists, while also serving as an effective vehicle for boosting chart position. The cassette comeback has even inspired a new wave of Walkman-style players, like [We Are Rewind](’s retro-cool models, which update the old form by including a rechargeable battery and Bluetooth. Mad Max is another ’80s icon having a comeback. Furiosa is out this weekend—and it’s a breathtaking blast. Click for our full review. Source: Warner Bros. Pictures While WAR’s old-school-styled [orange-foam-padded Bluetooth headphones]( might give the most authentic lewk while you wear out your Sabrina Carpenter Espresso [cassingle](, the gear world this week is buzzing over the just-announced [$449 Sonos Ace headphones](, a bright spot during a time when the company is [facing a revolt over the redesign of its app](. Beyond their sweet sound, the headphones sport a finish that’s resistant to fingerprints, under normal circumstances. (If you’re getting sticky fingers rocking out with a melty cone, you might want to wash your hands first, OK?) Here’s a dig through the Pursuits archives for other retro-lifestyle news in case you missed it the first, er, second time around. [Secondhand Nostalgia Is Driving Demand for Vintage Game Boys, Polaroids]( [Wish You Could Be a Kid Again? Seven Summer Camps Just for Adults]( [These Entrepreneurs Are on a Mission to Save Luxury Scissors]( [An Old-Fashioned Popcorn Maker Is the Merriest Way to Holiday]( [A New Generation of Music Fans Is Building Stereos From Scratch]( [The Humble Pencil Is Just Now Hitting Its Prime]( What else I’m reading There was a time not long ago that a product partnership like Troye Sivan’s would have marked the end of his credibility as an artist. The essay “Unnatural Blues” in British music magazine The Quietus explains how 25 years ago, [the relentless licensing of Moby’s Play]( paved the way for artists like Sivan. Writer and photographer Craig Mod is best known for long, beautifully documented walks in Japan, where he lives. He is currently at the tail end of [a two-week, 600-kilometer walk]( from Kyoto to Tokyo along the old Tōkaidō Road. His daily newsletter dispatches are a great way to start the day, or find inspiration for an amble of your own. Last year I took my own walk along the “Berkshire Camino” and can attest it’s a magical way to travel. Photographer: Gabriela Herman for Bloomberg Businessweek Much like [wine and whiskey](, the world of tea can feel a little forbidding. I always feel like I’m drinking it wrong. Max Falkowitz’s Substack, Leafhopper, has proved to be the perfect primer on the subject. With clarity and passion, he digs into the [how’s and why’s of the world’s most popular drink](. [I love a good manifesto.]( John Darko, a popular reviewer of high-end audio gear just dropped one, “The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto.” It’s a welcome bit of pushback against the kind of price-, prestige- and stats-driven obsessiveness that can sap listening of its pleasure. Every great vacation induces at least a moment of “I could live here” fantasizing. When that moment happens in a [beautiful but decaying Sicilian village](, where abandoned houses are being sold for as little as €1, there’s the risk it could become more than just a fantasy. In Afar, Lisa Abend looked at what those cheap homes meant for the villages, the villagers (new and old) and herself. For those who would rather rent than buy, try staying in alberghi diffusi. Tiny villages like Civita di Bagnoregio in Italy are becoming “scattered hotels” to save themselves. Photographer: Andrea Frazzetta/Institute for Bloomberg Businessweek And if you read just one thing… Architecture is very much my jam. Especially over-the-top designs that stretch the limits of imagination … and common sense. Just released by Phaidon, the Atlas of Never Built Architecture catalogs some good ideas—and a lot of bad ones. [Take a look inside.]( The architect is not always right. Source: Phaidon Meanwhile a unique, useful idea through and through, [Japanese bathrooms that double as clothes driers](. Other newsletters you might enjoy - [Watch Club]( for exclusive horology news, access to launch parties, collector meet-ups and brand showcases - [Top Shelf Society]( is a weekly missive on wine, beer, spirits and cocktail culture plus special member-only offers and events New for subscribers: Free article gifting. Bloomberg.com subscribers can now gift up to five free articles a month to anyone you want. Just look for the "Gift this article" button on stories. (Not a subscriber? Unlock unlimited access and [sign up here](.) Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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