Scoops' out for Summer: Day 10

Did you know that, in addition to those amazing gold leaf chocolate masterpieces, Portland chocolate shop Alma makes its own ice cream? It does. We sent Music Editor Casey Jarman down for day 10 of Scoops' out for Summer.
 

Alma Chocolate
140 NE 28th Ave., almachocolate.com.

Price per cup: $4 for about a half a pint.
Most popular flavor: “They change every day, but when I have the vanilla with brownie chunks it goes pretty fast.”
The person in front of me: Actually it was a person sort of perusing around me. She had what looked like a hemp dress on. She looked sorta like Emmylou Harris.
Best for: Those days when you’re on 28th Avenue and you don’t want gelato, because gelato is the frozen treat of the oppressor. Or when you want a really good chocolate chip cookie. 

Alma is one of those shops I walk right by, because I'd rather not look around and then decide that everything is too expensive for me and walk out the door without buying anything. This assignment (free ice cream!) made it worthwhile to go in. And now that I've broken the seal, I might just make my way back. 

While some of the individual chocolates at Alma—a cute-n-cozy little space that looks like something my design-oriented stepmother might put together—are a little steep for my broke ass, the ice cream isn't really all that expensive. I mean I spend $4 or $5 on pints of ice cream at Plaid Pantry all the time, and that ice cream is awful. Besides, Alma's peanut butter cup ice cream is basically a highbrow version of my all-time favorite summertime cool treat, the peanut butter cup Blizzard from Dairy Queen. DQ is not cheap. Considering that Alma's peanut butter cups cost $2.25 on their own (try the Spicy Thai one, it's kind of incredible), a cup of ice cream that contains two or three of them in big chunks for $4 is a pretty sweet deal. 

And if you're not into peanut butter cups (you sicko), the menu changes daily—a few of the more adventurous varieties were "probably not real cold yet" when I visited, but there were also chocolate chunk and brownie-laden varieties—and Alma also has house-made popsicles. I'll have to tell you about those next time.

WWeek 2015