Today I attended an awards luncheon, sponsored by the media company for which I work. It is an annual event to honor entrepreneurs in Cincinnati. Many of them are long-time entrepreneurs, having inherited a business. Others are lone rangers who have pushed through with Ramen noodles and pure grit.
One of the honorees was a fourth generation member of the Graeter family. Yes, as in ice cream.
The Graeter family began making ice cream in Cincinnati in 1870. Back then, ice cream was a rare treat, hand made in small batches. Louis and Regina Graeter made ice cream just two gallons at a time with the traditional “French Pot” process in a little neighborhood parlor for 50 years.
Mass production methods ensued and big companies began pumping air into reformulated recipes full of preservatives and artificial ingredients. Ice cream was never the same again. Except at Graeter’s, where Louis’s widow, Regina, stubbornly refused to adopt new-fangled methods. I love that.
Graeter’s ice cream is widely acclaimed as the best that you will ever eat taste. By slowly freezing their ice cream in small batches to a point much colder than the large modern producers, they are able to achieve an irresistible creaminess that is unique to Graeter’s. This process prevents air from whipping into their ice cream. A lower quality pint of ice cream can weigh as little as eight ounces. A Graeter’s pint weighs nearly a full pound. Lord help me.
What Graeter’s is fabulously famous for is the massive chunks of chocolate found in their signature chocolate chip flavors. They create those unique chips by pouring their specially prepared liquid chocolate into the French Pot just as the ice cream is finishing. A large paddle is then used to break up the frozen chocolate into chips and chunks of all sizes. I’m drooling right now.
I learned that few family businesses survive to the fourth generation of family ownership, but the Graeter family fully intends to pass on Cincinnati’s historic and beloved ice cream tradition. I love that, too.
Lest you think otherwise, Graeter’s Ice Cream is not paying me to promote their product. However, if someone at the company catches wind of this blog post and in deep appreciation chooses to send me massive amounts of raspberry chocolate chip or mocha chocolate chip, I would probably accept it. Hint, hint, hint.