High tech meets delicious at the Ice-Cream Lab’s four locations in Southern California. The shops deliver a first-of-its-kind take on America’s frozen confection: made-to-order scoops of ice cream frozen on the spot with liquid nitrogen. You watch as the server/lab tech pours the ice cream base— there’s also a vegan alternative—into a blue mixer, adds mix-ins like pretzels, chocolate malt balls, diced bananas, cardamom-spiced walnuts, Oreo crumbles, graham crackers or homemade apple pie filing, and blasts it with 320-degree liquid nitrogen. Thirty seconds later, you’re served freshly made, preservative-free ice cream.
A portable version of the Ice-Cream Lab is available for private events of any size. All you need to provide is a power outlet and space for a 6-foot-long table. Clients range from local schools and nonprofits like the Susan G. Komen Foundation to large corporate clients such as YouTube, Google and Pandora. The Ice-Cream Lab can create unique flavors with special ingredients, themed variations or colors to match a corporate logo. If the ice cream is going to be consumed by adults, it can even be spiked with alcohol. How about making the Margarita Special—ice cream infused with agave-based tequila, and lemon and lime zest on top, served in a margarita glass complete with a salted rim.