iCream Café

Description:

• Hatched as a class project by two UofC b-schoolers, iCream's futuristically fatty idea was to let customers direct a customized process involving ice cream made from scratch, on-the-spot, using blasts of liquid nitrogen; after a 2-day August opening, their equipment blew a gasket, forcing them to re-up with $80K in shiny, 2nd Gen gear. How it works: select one of six liquid bases (ice cream, low-fat yogurt, shake, etc) for the dessert-jockey to pour into a beaker, plus up to three of the 30+ flavors (burnt sugar, peanut butter, ginger snap, pomegranate...), which're dispensed precisely from syringes; then choose sweetener (liquid sugar cane, honey) and, optionally and oddly, dropper-dispensed, food-safe, non-flavored coloring -- so no matter the flavor, it'll match the shirt you plan to drip it on. The concoction's then poured into an industrial mixer, and a computerized system directs an overhead "phase separator tank" to drop -320degree liquid nitrogen through vacuumed-jacketed tubing into the liquid, turning it into smooth, creamy goodness in 35-55 seconds; to pretty up your creation, opt for any of 25+ toppings & mixings, from Heath Bar to Nutella to gum balls -- resulting in an exhilarating minefield of desserts you should and shouldn't eat. iCream's also serving handmade Italian sodas made from the ice cream flavorings, and espresso-machine steamed "hot pudding" -- or, what happens when a monkey reenters the atmosphere.
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