There’s no shortage of Scoops love on b.la, and if you’ve been there, you know why. Proprietor Tai Kim not only whips up some of the most imaginative and delicious ice cream treats I’ve ever tasted, but he changes them on an almost daily basis. The Scoops Scoop is going to be another one of my irregular columns, and will keep all of you ice cream enthusiasts up to date on Mr. Kim’s latest concoctions.

Keep reading to learn more about the ice cream-making process… (Update: Just added – this weekend’s Halloween holiday flavors!)

Keeping up with all these different flavors can be tough, but it’s exciting to come back to Scoops every few days to see what’s new. There’s a suggestion board near the front door for customers to, well, make suggestions, and it’s that kind of openness to new ideas that keeps the flavors interesting (like “mint nicotine”).

“During the week, the flavors aren’t too crazy. I try to save the crazy stuff for the weekend,” Tai tells me as he passes me a sample of Vegan Pistachio Lemon. (Edit: I forgot to mention that it was fantastic.)

It takes Mr. Kim about four or five days to create each ice cream, and that includes gathering the raw ingredients and blending, pureeing, soaking, and mixing everything right there at the shop. “Sometimes I just use whatever is available,” he remarks.

Scoops-lovers don’t just make suggestions, they sometimes bring new and exotic foods for Tai to sample as potential flavors. He shows me a paper bag filled with hard black bricks of sugar-coated coffee beans one customer brought back from Indonesia. He’s going to grind them up later in the week.

“One customer brought some Absinthe from the Czech Republic, and I made a sorbet out of that. It was pretty good,” he recalls.

Of course, when one opens oneself up to suggestions, the responses can be pretty intriguing. What does Mr. Kim think about a chicken and waffles ice cream flavor (an actual suggestion from the board)?

“I can do the waffles,” he replies. “But not the chicken. I don’t think a lot of people would want chicken-flavored ice cream anyway.”

Update!

My super ice-cream spies just reported back from the field. It seems that Mr. Kim is preparing a spooky spectacular of sweet and savory scoops, Halloween-style!

Pumpkin Cheese Cake
Pistachio and Gummy Worms
Vampire Blood Sorbet
White Chocolate, Salt and Raspberry Swirl
Black Halloween

Scoops is located here:

712 N Heliotrope Dr.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 906-2649
Mon-Sat 12pm-10pm

Related posts:

1. Pumpkin Ice Cream?
2. Sooth the Savage Retro Sweet Tooth at Scoops
3. 31¢ Scoop Night at Baskin Robbins
4. New York Scoop
5. Help a soon-to-be unemployed writer with a Halloween costume