How do you cool off on a hot day in Moline, Ill.? You could jump into the Mississippi River, or even better you could enjoy a soft serve cone from Country Style. This delicious treat is made with real milk and cream, and it's richer and thicker than your typical soft serve.We order a cone of vanilla to share--this is what a family of four on a budget of $150 a day can afford--and of course we're all fighting over it. Right when my daughter is trying to grab the cone from her brother's hands, the owner, Kent Kindelsperger, steps out to say hello. "I have kids. They do the same thing," he says.
Kindelsperger gives us a tour of the inside of the tiny little shop that sits on 16th Street in this town across the river from Davenport, Iowa. He tells us his great uncle opened the shop in 1947 and then Kindelsperger took over 23 years ago. (Now there are seven shops.)He shows us the soft serve machine handmade by his great uncle and fills a tall cup with ice cream. He turns it upside down and holds the cup over my kids' heads. Country Style ice cream is so thick that it doesn't fall out of the cup.
Are there other flavors besides vanilla? Yes, chocolate, and Kindelsperger gives us a sample. It's the color of a dark chocolate bar--and tastes like one too.
"We originally had a lighter chocolate that tasted more like a fudgiscle," he says. "But then we decided to introduce a new chocolate and just kept adding more and more cocoa. When we taste-tested it, 99 out of 100 preferred it over the original."
I never got to try the original but I can tell you that the chocolate is the best soft serve I have ever had.
Listen to a sound bite from Country Style owner Kent Kindelsperger:
1 comments:
I grew up in Bettendorf, IA, right across the river from Moline. My family discovered Country Style when I was in grade school. I'll never forget my first taste of Country Style: a Butterfinger malt...a Butterfinger malt that I have found no equal for to this day (I'm now 40, so I've had a lot of days to try). I went to college in WI, have lived in Seattle, New Orleans, and Salt Lake City, and have traveled to all corners of America. I've tried to find a malt that compares, but no one does ice cream as well as Country Style. I've even tried, out of desperation, to create a comparable malt at home, but I'm constantly left wanting the real deal. I only get back to the Moline area every other year or so, and you better bet a stop at Country Style is on my agenda with every trip. Congratulations to your family for happening upon the best soft serve ice cream anywhere.
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