Just in time for the unending Summer heat wave, we're so excited to introduce our latest collaboration, an exclusive dairy-free ice cream flavor, now available at Jeni's.
Jeni loves to ask her friends a simple question: If you were an ice cream flavor, what would you be?
Most people hem and haw, but being good friends, Clare responded immediately: almond milk cortado. Similar to Jeni's other dairy-filled coffee flavors, dairy-free Almond Milk Cortado tastes exactly like coffee smells.
To get the taste just right, Jeni's team steeped Intelligentsia’s El Gato coffee blend (which is nutty with notes of stone fruit and dark chocolate) and lightly roasted and ground almonds directly into coconut cream.
On a recent trip to L.A., Jeni and Clare caught up on the patio of their Larchmont shop. Below is a short excerpt of their conversation about the inspiration behind the new flavor, and link to the full interview on IGTV here.
Jeni: I’d like you to meet one of my favorite people in the world, Clare Vivier. Clare is an amazing fashion designer, bag designer, and a good friend of mine. Clare, what else do you design? You’re designing clothes, bags, hats?
Clare: And ice cream!
Jeni: Yes! You guys we are doing a collaboration with Clare.
Clare: It’s called Almond Milk Cortado because it’s my favorite drink at any cafe. Jeni asked if we wanted to do something together, and I was like, Yes we do. And I want it to be Almond Milk Cortado. It took about 5 seconds to decide what we wanted. I don’t eat cream; it doesn’t settle well with me. I asked if we could do something non-dairy. And you said yes.
Jeni: Which is so funny. We’ve jumped into the dairy-free realm this year, but it’s been years in the works. … One of the reasons it’s taken us so long is because I never wanted to put out a dairy-free ice cream that dairy eaters don’t want. I have this dairy standard for non-dairy ice cream. So when you said you wanted to do a dairy-free it was perfect because, at the moment, I was really excited about the work we were doing. You just tasted it today for the first time today, what did you think?
Clare: I just devoured a cone. Devoured it. That’s the first ice cream cone I’ve had in years because I don’t eat ice cream. I was so pleased; it was so delicious.
Jeni: OK, I love origin stories from entrepreneurs. How did you start Clare V.?
Clare: I like to say that we are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year. We started in 2008, and I only say that because 2008 is when I got my bags into my first store. Which is Mohawk General Store, and is still one of my favorite stores. They were right down the street from my house. I walked down the street and said, Would you be interested in carrying these bags? I had sewed them myself. She said sure. So that’s how I started. But, I have been doing this for years. I started with the idea of creating the perfect laptop bag for women.
A dairy-free flavor isn’t the only thing Clare designed for the collaboration. Inspired by oursignature playful-chic Parisian aesthetic, we lent our artwork for the hand-pinted pints, which reads Almond Milk Cortado in French. Find it at their scoop shops nationwide.
