Indulging in scoops, sundaes, and cones aplenty will be participants of the annual Long Island Ice Cream Tour (LIICT) taking place on Saturday.
The tour invites lovers of the chilled treat to discover hidden gem ice cream parlors across LI, learn how homemade ice cream is made, and enjoy endless frozen desserts along with vegan options at some locations.
“This is a must-do event for Long Islanders because it supports local businesses while getting to tour unique parts of the Island and enjoy a beautiful summer day,” said Jeff Noreman, LIICT co-founder. “It’s ice cream. What could ever not be great about ice cream?”
Born in 2011, the tour blended Noreman’s knowledge and love for homemade ice cream with cofounder Derek Steen’s sense of adventure to create the tour across the Island.
The annual tour begins at 9 a.m. on July 13 and travels to nine different locally owned ice cream parlors across Suffolk and Nassau counties.
It starts at International Delight Café in Rockville Centre, where participants can buy ice cream along with breakfast to kick off the day. The tour will then proceed to travel down Long Island and stop at many shops along the way and even the beach for a quick photo. The tour ends at Snowflake Ice Cream Shoppe in Riverhead, where participants will see a behind-the-scenes demo of ice cream being made.
So what makes this homemade ice cream better?
“When you have regular ice cream it’s created, frozen, then transported from place to place,” said Noreman. “It melts a little during this process, when they refreeze it, sometimes it crystalizes and it ends up being not as smooth and creamy. You get more flavor and it’s a much smoother ice cream when its homemade.”
Tickets cost $20.70 and registration is open on liict.org. Special deals will be available on the tour for registered participants but only if they wear the color of the year, which is yellow.
