Ohio isn’t the state that first springs to mind when someone says, “ice cream”–Vermont has that honor locked up these days, now that Ben & Jerry have become international celebrities. But if B&J have any hope of establishing serious staying power, they should take a lesson or two from Cincinnati’s Aglamesis Brothers and their (nearly) century-old creamery. Since 1908, the company has been making ice cream and chocolate candies from all natural ingredients, and recently, they’ve started exporting their goodies out of the Buckeye State.

We first heard about Aglamesis purely by chance, when an Ohioan reader sent us a photograph of a pint container of Aglamesis Brothers’ ice cream, along with a swooning article written about their products. So we took the bait and sent an e-mail to Aglamesis, expressing our interest in sampling their ice cream. One week later, a package arrived at the NoshPad–courtesy of Aglamesis Bros.–containing six pints of ice cream and a pound of their Deluxe Assorted Chocolates. We were impressed right away with the way the box was packed: inside a cardboard box sat a disposable styrofoam cooler filled with dry ice, newspaper, and of course, the ice cream and chocolates. Even though the package was shipped Fed Ex Ground, we suspect it would have survived a few more days without refrigeration before the ice cream melted–score one for quality packing. Immediately after transferring all of the containers to the freezer, we telephoned Lady Film Editor and Chopper to invite them over for a light dinner and a very big dessert.

Just as we had with our Capogiro shipment, we planned out our tasting and borrowed a tactic I use when running wine tastings: placing lighter flavors earlier in the line-up leaves palates less fatigued and more sensitive towards the end, when the richest flavors appear. HungryMan took excellent notes, and what follows here is a summary of these, in the order in which the flavors were sampled:

French Vanilla– This was very smooth and perhaps a little bit too sweet, flavored with vanilla extract and not real beans (we couldn’t spot any vanilla seeds here). This wasn’t anyone’s favorite, even though it was decent.

Our overall impressions of the ice cream were very good, with a few flavors clearly finishing the night as standouts. Everyone also enjoyed the chocolates, which broke open with a satisfying ’snap’ that is the hallmark of fresh chocolate. HungryMan and I were especially smitten with the dark chocolates in the assortment and were very happy to discover that Aglamesis offers several all-dark packages. We also really love Aglamesis Bros.’ commitment to using all natural ingredients, even though the description of ‘calf gelatin’ was a little too explicit (and also a warning sign to vegetarians). But at the same time, there is something really refreshing about seeing a product that isn’t afraid to disclose all of its contents completely. I also fell completely head over heels with the stylized, late-Victorian style packaging on the ice cream. I’d buy a pint of this ice cream just to stare at the container, and truth be told, both HungryMan and I opened the freezer several times to take a peek at the lovely pink pints inside, during the very short time the ice cream sat in our freezer.

If you’re in the mood for a regional specialty that you can’t buy in a supermarket in this area, Aglamesis Brothers sells 6 pints of its ice cream for $75 (including shipping and packaging) on their website. You’ll need to order in groups of three pints, so a 6-pint order could contain 2 flavors, including some very tasty-sounding seasonal flavors such as banana chocolate chip and coconut. Chocolates run about $16 per pound, with an extra $8 for shipping. We’ve really warmed to the idea of sending people ice cream in the mail instead of flowers–the prices are pretty comparable, and frozen treats make a very big impression. Plus, unless you’re going to be in Cincinnati, how else are you going to get your hands one one of those stunning pink pints?

Aglamesis Brothers, Oakley Square, Cincinnati, Ohio, 513-531-5196