Kopp's Custard

By Lu

Butter Pecan - that is one scoop!

Who doesn't like ice cream? Very few. Pleasant happy thought will pop in most people's head when they hear the word "ice cream." What's not to like? It is something cold, creamy and rich, with familiar flavor/s that surely can get rid any malady or depression in an instant. Oh, yeah..ice cream is many people's best friend. The few people who don't like ice cream more than likely are the exception with specific taste and boundaries. In short, they're weird.

Thinking about ice cream made me think of my uncle Paul. He was the disciplinarian uncle. Most of us kids were afraid of him. Ri even aspired to be a cop when she was young so she would have a gun to shoot him. He would tell me if I didn't do such and such, he would lock me up in this little storage room under the stairs in my grandma's house. That little hole was dark and scary. I didn't want to be locked in there. However, no matter how mean my uncle Paul was, one childhood memory of him I still treasure to this day is when he bought us kids ice cream when the ice cream man passed my grandma's house.

My cousins, sisters, and I would go absolutely insane when we heard the ice cream man's horn tooting. The ice cream man didn't have a truck like the ice cream man here. He had a bicycle that has been improvised to include two freezer attachments as side cars. Ice cream "Woody" as we called it, as the ice cream's brand bore the Woody Woodpecker cartoon character as its mascot, was our favorite. There was also a rarer brand called "Campina" that I used to love. The ice-cream man had various different things in his freezer chests - some like the normal ice creams that current ice cream men would have today: vanilla ice cream covered with chocolate, the drumsticks, popsicles, and also some traditional Indonesia flavors such as coconut, mung beans (kacang ijo), etc. The drumsticks were the most expensive ones and we would be pushing our luck if we asked for one. However, my all time favorite was the regular scoopable ice cream that the ice cream man would scoop and put on a cone. They only had one flavor - Neapolitan.

I still buy Neapolitan ice cream to this day though I have learned of better ice cream flavors from the fun Cherry Garcia to Humphry Slocombe's prosciutto ice cream. I have gone through my friends' mockeries of my taste in ice cream too when I bought Neapolitan in the past. But, it still holds a special place in my heart and I thank my uncle Paul for all the scoops he bought me.

Well, me going off on a tangent there was to paint a picture of how ice cream could have a deep impact in one's life. Ice cream entered our life at a quite early age - perhaps since our toddler bodies were ready to digest milk who didn't come from mom. So, it is really not that strange that ice cream can hold a special place in one's heart.

People like ice cream so much, they developed different types of it. They developed the same concept of frozen churned cream from trying to obtain different textures and consistency to creating creative flavors, branching out using different base ingredients, and coming up with new forms. Regional types that were not so known also got discovered and made popular worldwide. Because of those efforts, now we're blessed with gelato, soft serve, frozen yogurt, dip n dots, and frozen custard. I remember several years back when gelato was so trendy. Now, it is the time of the frozen yogurt. Places like "Pink Berry" and "Red Mango" are popping out every where. Now, it is cool to eat frozen yogurt. Yet, despite the trends, I love my frozen custard too. Even though frozen custard is not as trendy as the other types of frozen dessert, it can hold its own place in the ice cream world.

Frozen Custard Machine spewing...

What is frozen custard? It is pretty much an ice cream; however, on top of cream and sugar, eggs were also added. Thus why the texture is super creamy because of it. Most of the homemade ice creams use eggs in the base, so people may not even realize it that they may be making custards if attempting to make ice cream at home. In the US, people make a big distinction of frozen custard and ice cream, especially in the Midwest. However, for most people around the world, custard or not, it is just ice cream.

However, not to me. Having lived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, frozen custard is not just ice cream to me. Wisconsin is home to many frozen custard thriving businesses. One of the most famous ones that have made name for themselves with tons of franchises around is Culver's. But, what is the most awesome Wisconsin's frozen custard?

Kopp's!

If people want to argue about it being the best, it is open for discussion like everything else. However, to me, Kopp's never disappoints. When I was living in Milwaukee, I used to work about two minutes from a Kopp's Custard place and it was really hard not to stop there every day, if not for a scoop of custard, then a butter burger. Kopp's is a frozen custard like no other. They're super super good and creamy. They load it with so much flavoring ingredients like if it is a butter pecan, you can be assured you get pecans with almost every bite. When I had their strawberry cheesecake frozen custard, it was loaded with strawberry slices and chunks of New York cheesecake. It was divine!

Kopp's Location in N. Port Washington Rd, Glendale, WI

Kopp's Custard has been around forever and permanent fixture in Milwaukee. It is a sure stop for me every time I am in town and my friend, Helen, if she finds out I'm going to Milwaukee, she will make me buy her a quart or two. I do even know where you can get dry ice if you need it for transport. You can get dry ice at a Speedway Station on Green Bay Avenue - about 5 minutes from Kopp's Glendale location on North Port Washington Rd. They have a cool ass gigantic sign on this location. You can't miss it. If you're going to the other locations, sorry Charlie, I don't know where to get dry ice.

Besides, this location has the cool cow row in the back. I guess this is a testament of their commitment to dairy. It is a long row of white cows, and there's a black cow in the mix. It signifies something more than likely....lol. I go to the Glendale location exclusively because it is the closest one to my friend Heather's house. I really don't know much about the other locations but I'm sure they serve the same delicious frozen custard!

Monument of Cows in a row

They offer two flavors each day along with the every day vanilla and chocolate. They have some quite interesting flavors. Some of my favorites have been any of the cheesecake renditions, spumoni, red velvet cake, mint chocolate chips that's usually LOADED with chocolate chunks, and lastly, the drumstick. Imagine a cup of frozen custard with ice cream cone pieces with ribbons of chocolate and nuts. Mh..mh..mh.

Other than the two flavors of the day, they also have various sundaes and the famous peanut butter log. I'm not going to try to explain peanut butter log as I don't order it. But in short, it is a huge ice cream dessert. They also have food items such as the jumbo butter burger. I think their burger is yummy. Butter Burger is a Wisconsin style burger where the patty is cooked using butter, and at times they put a piece of butter on top of the patty and served in a buttered bun.

Every time I visit Heather in Milwaukee, I always try to stop at Kopp's. Heather and I can't count how many times we had gone to Kopp's together in the 12 years or so since we became friends. We never get bored. It may not be that big of a deal for her since she lives down the road from Kopp's but she knows I like it and she is usually pretty happy to oblige. The only unfortunate thing, I can't never count for my favorite flavor to be the flavor of the day when I would be in town. The last couple of times I was there lately, I didn't get the flavor I wanted. The flavors were mocha chips and caramel cashew one day. The next time I went were butter pecan and Sprecher Root Beer Float. I had hoped that I would get a colorful flavor so it would be pretty for pictures. Nope! No such luck. If you think about butter pecan, caramel cashew and mocha chips, all of those are very monotonous color of white or tan. Though they're not colorful, they tasted super delicious as always.

Heather, enjoying her mocha chip frozen custard

I definitely recommend you stopping at Kopp's if you ever in Milwaukee. However, do not fret if you don't think you'll make it there anytime soon. They actually ship their custard in the continental US. So save money on plane ticket and spend it on shipping instead.

This place is quite famous for their decadent frozen custards. VP Joe Biden made a stop when he was in Milwaukee, and I guess, then had an altercation with one of the employees there about taxes. Lol. It made news everywhere at the time, and I was laughing out loud about it because..gosh..he was at Kopp's! The VP of the United States of America wanted custard in Milwaukee just like me!

Anyway, I love Kopp's. Not so long ago, I helped my friend, CK's sister, Kellyn, made her first home made chocolate ice cream using her brand new ice cream maker. I didn't know anything about ice cream making; but it turned out fun and it tasted great. I am tempted to get me an ice cream maker too and make custard of my own. However, I want a lot of things in life and I can't get every single thing I desire. But, one good consolation is even though I may not get an ice cream machine or will not have enough time to make ice cream on my own all the time, I can always count on Kopp's for a serious fix of worth the calories frozen dessert.

If you didn't like Kopp's custard, yeah...sorry, you are one of those few weird people. But that's ok. We still love you :).