Along with the upcoming warm weather comes the urge to eat cool and refreshing ice-cream. I have researched many of the ice-cream places in the area. There is TCBY in the 25th Street shopping Center, Dairy Queen in the Palmer Park Mall, Baskin Robbins in Phillipsburg, and Rita’s Italian Ice on the Hill. There is one ice-cream place in particular that caught my eye. The Purple Cow Creamery is, by far, the best ice-cream shop in the area.

    The Purple Cow, which opened last March, is located in an alley next to the Crayola factory. My boyfriend and I had the pleasure of going to the shop and sampling many of the luscious flavors. The shop itself is very bright and cheery. There is plenty of space to sit and enjoy your ice-cream. There are purple tables and chairs and a lovely cow mural painted on the wall. The ambiance and decor of the shop are so uplifting and bright that you will never want to leave.

    The ice-cream itself is to die for and comes in many yummy flavors, including a selection of gourmet flavors like Sweet Cream, Midnight Amaretto Crunch, Jazzed Up Java, Tiramisu and Rum Raisin. The Amaretto ice-cream has Amaretto cookie pieces which are imported from Italy, and the raisins in the Rum Raisin are also imported from Italy. The Tiramisu really tastes like the dessert, but of course, it is cooler. I tried all these gourmet flavors and then some. They were all rich, creamy, and delectable.

    The regular ice-cream includes unique flavors like Almond Joy, Blueberry Cheesecake, Toasted Coconut, Snickers, Heath Bar Crunch, Chocolate Malt Caramel Crackle, Cherry Seinfeld, Bubble Gum, and Goobers N’ Raisinets. I also tried all of these flavors, and each one was rich in flavor and tasted exactly as promised by the name. I felt like I was eating a Snickers bar and a piece of smooth, creamy blueberry cheesecake when I ate the ice-cream. Being a chocolate fanatic, I am naturally biased to chocolate flavors of ice-cream. I was hesitant to try any other flavors, but I am glad I did because they are all awesome. The Cherry Seinfield has fresh cherries in it, and the Bubble Gum has little pieces of gum. The Purple Cow Creamery offers a total of 48 flavors of ice-cream, including Bubble Gum, Peach, Banana, Cotton Candy, Butterscotch and Coffee n’Cream soft ice-cream.

    On the lighter side, Purple Cow serves up a variety of sorbets and Italian Ices like Lemon, Cantaloupe, Mango, Peach, Lime, Blue Raspberry, Strawberry, and Orange. I loved the refreshing Lemon sorbet which has little bits of lemon, and my boyfriend enjoyed the Blue Raspberry. Chocolate and Vanilla ice-cream is available in fat and sugar free.

    The best part of the ice-cream at the Purple Cow is that it is all made on the premises every few days. It is always fresh and only the best ingredients are used. We had an opportunity to see how the ice-cream was made, and I can am happy to say that it is made in a spotlessly clean area with very natural ingredients. Even the waffle cones are homemade.

    In addition to ice-cream, the Purple Cow serves up Sundaes, Milkshakes, and Flurry’s (like a Blizzard, only better). Snacks like chips and soft pretzels are also offered.

    At the end of our visit, I had tried over twenty flavors of ice-cream, and my boyfriend had eaten well over thirty flavors. We both agree that the ice-cream is one of the best we have ever eaten. Forget the chain ice-cream stores. The Purple Cow Creamery is the place to get premium quality ice-cream, and it definitely warrants a visit.

    In case you are wondering why this parlor is called The Purple Cow, the owner Lynn Flanagan named it after her favorite childhood poem by Gelett Burgess, reprinted below.