Bi-Rite Creamery

Bi-Rite rarely uses more than 5 ingredients in their ice cream. There are no preservatives or artificial ingredients and the goal is to try and use as many local ingredients as possible. While it is now trendy for other Bay Area ice cream shops to use Straus Family Creamery organic dairy as their base, Bi-Rite creamery was the first the first ice cream shop in SF to do so. Straus has a a long history and was actually the first certified organic dairy one could buy west of the Mississippi.

Bi-Rite’s most popular flavor is by far, Salted Caramel. I find this flavor to be a little too sweet, so I prefer the Ricanelas (cinnamon snickerdoodle) or the Ginger ice cream. Even the chocolate ice cream is extremely satisfying. People tend to pick more unusual flavors, but I opt for going back to classics. At the store, I encourage people to try the fun seasonal flavors such as basil and balsamic strawberry. Another special flavor Bi-Rite makes is honey lavender. In the spirit of being local, the recipe calls for organic dried lavender from Bi-Rite’s farm in Sonoma, and the honey comes from the apiaries in Sonoma or the rooftops of the Bi-Rite markets. If you wanted another excuse to eat ice cream, this is a good one.