Wine Ice Cream Is Coming, and It Contains Plenty of Alcohol

Winecream has 10 percent ABV.

Wine and ice cream have long been the unofficial mascots of couch-parked movie nights, break-ups, and sweatpants-wearing indulgence in general. Naturally, someone finally decided to put them together. Enter: Winecream—the creation of a Washington D.C.-based ice cream maker who is churning out a wine-infused product that packs buzz without alcoholic flavor.

The treat, which has roughly the alcohol content of a glass of wine but tastes like good-old-fashioned ice cream, was the invention of engineer Dan Gorham and his sister, Katie, who spent a year researching and developing the optimal way to give their frozen treat a 10 percent ABV without making it taste gross. Another unique challenge for the duo was the fact that wine doesn't freeze in the average freezer, even when mixed with other ingredients. The solution, they found, was liquid nitrogen, which at -300 degrees Fahrenheit froze and fused the wine with the cream. 

Unlike your average bottled wine, Winecream's base is not made from grapes, but rather other sweet fruits—including peaches, pineapples, and strawberries—which are fermented in a similar way.

Gorham says the idea to create this binge-watcher's dream dessert came to him one Christmas day, according to WTOP. Following his family's holiday meal, Gorham and his kin grappled with the choice between wine and dessert and even brainstormed some other vino-based recipes to satisfy the sweet tooth (like wine floats and wine milkshakes). However, when the family landed on the idea of wine ice cream, they not only set out to eat it, but to also turn it into a thriving boozy business.

Now, Winecream has begun selling their product at various festivals and private events, and have plans to stock Baltimore and D.C. liquor stores with pints by July—just in time for peak ice-cream-eating and day-drinking season. Currently, each order of Winecream is customized to the patron's preferences, combining the wine with a cream and sugar base, along with the fruit purees and candy of the consumer's choosing. It's all mixed together and given an arctic blast of liquid nitrogen, providing for plenty of dramatic effect and an instant freeze.

"It's kind of a show... you get to pick your own order, you make it how you want it, you get to see it go down the line," says Gorham, who describes the brand as an adult-friendly Coldstone. "It tastes like ice cream, and then as you're finishing the bite and it's going down, you get the little follow effect of a glass of wine."

For those outside of the D.C. area clamoring to get their hands on some Winecream, the Gorham family has plans to ship online orders in the near future. Until then, you'll have to stick to the old-fashioned means of consumption, holding onto the hope for a day when wine and ice cream can live together in delicious, boozy harmony.

Article and images sourced from http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/wine-ice-cream-coming-and-it-contains-plenty-alcohol?xid=soc_socialflow_facebook_fw