Best Ice Cream in Storrs, CT: Rate Your Scoop

The best ice cream in Storrs is a question people here take seriously, because the university has a long dairy tradition and the countryside is full of farms. Taste each cone the same way, and let the Best in town ice cream question in the Mosey app keep the score.

An ice cream argument is a happy kind of argument.

It is also a seasonal one. From May to September the shops are busy, and in winter many close or shorten their hours. A cone on a cold day is a gesture of defiance, and some people prefer it that way. Plan your tour for a warm week.

How do you find the best ice cream in Storrs?

Pick a flavor and hold it constant. Vanilla is the classic test, since there is nowhere to hide. Order a small cone at each stop and compare the cream, the sweetness, the texture and the cone. Try three places over a few afternoons.

Write down the details while the taste is fresh: smooth or icy, rich or light, sticky or clean.

Order the same size every time, so the comparison is fair. Rinse your mouth with water between stops. And remember that the best cone on a hot day may not be the best cone on a cool one, so repeat your favorite in a different mood.

What is a Storrs ice cream cone like?

Generous and cold. Many shops scoop to order, with a case of a dozen or more flavors and a rotation of seasonal specials. A cone or a cup is the standard order, and sundaes and shakes round out the board. In summer, lines run to the door.

Ask for a taste of anything you are unsure about. Most scoopers are happy to give one.

Also look at the cones themselves. A house-made waffle cone, still warm, can change a good scoop into a great one. A stale cone from a box can spoil a fine cream. Treat the cone as part of the dish and rate it separately.

If you are choosing between a cup and a cone, a cup lets you taste the ice cream without distraction, and a cone gives you the full experience. Try both, once. A fair comparison needs the same format at each stop.

Is it good to get ice cream after a game?

It is a tradition. After a basketball win, the street is crowded and the cones are cold. After a loss, the line is shorter and the consolation is sweeter. Plan the stop into the evening, and bring cash for the smallest counters in case a card reader is slow.

A family with small children should go early, before the evening crowd. A scoop in the late afternoon is a quiet pleasure, and the shop staff have more time to chat. If you have a dog, ask whether there is a place to sit outside.

The game day page shows the rest of the evening.

What makes dairy country ice cream special?

Freshness. Eastern Connecticut has working dairy farms, and the cream often travels a short distance. A small shop that makes its own ice cream or buys from a nearby farm can serve a cone that tastes like milk and not sugar. Ask where the cream comes from and listen to the answer.

The farm stands and orchards page covers more of the countryside.

Where is ice cream on Horsebarn Hill?

Horsebarn Hill is a grassy slope at the edge of the campus, with a view over the fields and the cows. It is a favorite spot for a cone and a rest. Buy ice cream from a shop or a campus counter and walk up. The view is the reward.

Bring a blanket and a bottle of water, and take your trash with you. The grass belongs to everyone, and the cows are watching. On a warm evening the hill fills with students, and the atmosphere is the best part.

Sit on the grass with your back to the slope and watch the sun go down over the fields. It is one of the better free evenings in the area, and a cone makes it a better one.

What is the Best in town feature?

Best in town is a set of quick questions in the Mosey app, asked one at a time, about places near you: coffee, pizza, brunch, burgers, bakeries, ice cream and more. You pick a place, give it stars, and every place you rate helps the next person find somewhere good. It suits a campus town, where everyone has an opinion and few have written it down. The answers belong to the people who give them.

How do you rate a scoop?

Stars for the place, then the dish: "vanilla, small cone, rich, smooth, waffle cone crisp". Note whether the line was long and whether the staff gave a taste. If friends shared, tag them and they can add their own rating of the same scoop.

A list called Storrs scoops lets you keep a comparison together and share it with a visiting relative.

Where next from the cone?

The US food guides hold the rest of the country, and the Storrs restaurants guide covers dinner.

This is one of many Connecticut guides, and the Food in Connecticut page lists them all by town.

This afternoon, get the Mosey app, answer the ice cream question for Storrs and rate your cone by the dish.