Boozy Ice Cream Parlor To Open First Brooklyn Spot In W'burg

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — Normally an ice cream shop wouldn't find its way onto the new liquor license application list, but a new one proposed for Metropolitan Avenue isn't exactly a normal ice cream shop.

"Tipsy Scoop," a company that makes alcoholic ice cream, has applied to open its first Brooklyn location at a space at 270 Metropolitan Avenue, records show. The company's ice cream is made with 5 percent alcohol by volume, about the equivalent of a regular, liquid drink, meaning that it only serves customers 21 years and older.

The new Brooklyn spot only just applied for a liquor license and will first face the local community board's State Liquor Authority Review Committee.

The "barlour" would be the company's first in Brooklyn and second in the city. Their first brick-and-mortar shop opened in Kips Bay in 2017 and they also have a location in South Carolina.

Tipsy Scoop had been in New York grocery stores for a while, but decided to start opening storefronts when interest in the their desserts surged after videos of their boozy take on frozen treats went viral, they told Patch at the time.

The company was started by the descendent of an Italian family that brought ice cream to Scotland in the 1800s, according to Tipsy Scoop's website.

"First up – my great, great, great grandfather, Achille, who moved from his small mountaintop town of Picinisco, Italy to Glasgow, Scotland," the company history says. "He made ice cream at home and sold it from a pushcart as he walked the city streets. Eventually he opened his own ice cream shop and brought his sons into the business."

The family continued to open shops around Glasgow in the 1900s and in England, where the current owner's great grandfather became the President of the Ice Cream Alliance of Great Britain.

Tipsy Scoop owners decided to continue the family business but began experimenting with adding alcohol to the flavors. They sell about 14 classic flavors and some seasonal options, including at the current Irish coffee option.