I have no idea if the Portland Timbers are the first MLS team to have an official ice cream flavor, but I’m pretty certain they’re the first MLS team to have an official ice cream flavor that beat out “rose water ice cream with saffron infused cream chips and crushed pistachios” and “oregon mint ice cream with shaved chocolate from Woodblock Chocolate and candied lemon zest” for the title. Oh, Portland.
The ice cream shop in question is the Salt & Straw, a shop that registers very high on the “Portlandness” scale. The shop describes itself and its ice cream thusly:
We’re Salt & Straw, Portland’s farm-to-cone ice cream shop. Our ice cream is handmade in small-batches using only all-natural dairy with the best local, sustainable and organic ingredients Oregon has to offer, as well as imported flavors from small, handpicked farms and producers around the world. We start with local cream from Lochmead Dairy in Eugene, Oregon. All their cows were born right there on their third generation, family farm – so we know it’s the highest quality we can get and super fresh. Our ice cream is made with 17% butterfat, very little air in the churn process, and a low sweetness level…so the flavors can really shine through!
Gourmet, organic ice cream is just about the only ice cream one could imagine would be appropriate for a team from Portland.
Over three days earlier this month, Timbers fans were asked to stop into the Salt & Straw shop in Portland to taste three different contenders for the official flavor. After tabulating the fan vote and the votes of a celebrity panel that included the club’s chainsaw-wielding mascot Timber Joey, the official flavor was announced during a special launch on October 15th.
The contenders:
Bury Me In Green and Gold: Oregon mint ice cream with shaved chocolate from Woodblock Chocolate and candied lemon zest.
Rose City Riot: Rose water ice cream with saffron infused cream chips and crushed pistachios.
Lumberjack Stack: Maple syrup ice cream and housemade blueberry pancakes.
The official ice cream flavor of a soccer club is not where I would expect to see the word “infused.” But again, this is Portland. Things are constantly being infused with one thing or another.
Perhaps surprisingly, the people of Portland went with the least complicated choice of the three. To be fair, it’s really hard to pass up anything with maple syrup involved.
Rose water ice cream may never recover.
