You’ve probably heard of, or even had, a beer flight or a wine flight, but what about an ice cream flight? That’s right – a flight of mini ice cream cones served on mini cake cones or mini waffle cones. In the San Diego neighborhood of North Park there is a gourmet ice cream shop that just celebrated its one year anniversary (on June 6^th) and is known for serving ice cream flights. Located on University Avenue in the heart of North Park, Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream is in a refurbished building from the 1930s. They offer 93 flavors of Tropical Dreams super premium ice cream and sorbet that is made in Hawaii. What is super premium ice cream? It’s handmade with 18% butterfat which is so rich and has such a creamy texture – you’ll want to come back for more until you’ve tried all 93 flavors.

Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream in North Park neighborhood of San Diego. Photo Credits: Krista. Collage created with PhotoGrid iPhone app.

With so many flavors to consider, it was difficult to decide which flavors to try for our flight of six mini cones. We opted to have the mini waffle cones for our flight. For my 3 flavors, I decided to try Mint & Brownies, Lemon Cream, and Banana Storm. The Mint & Brownies had crumbled fudgy brownies mixed in that were delicious. The Lemon Cream was light and flavorful. The Banana Storm has banana ice cream with strawberry jam and crumbled brownies mixed in. This combination of flavors was just right and I would definitely have Banana Storm again. For my husband’s 3 flavors, he decided to try Salted Caramel, Cookies ‘n Cream, and Orange Dreamsicle. He said the rich cream made both the Salted Caramel and the Cookies & Cream smooth and flavorful. The cookies in the Cookies & Cream were soft and added the perfect texture to this classic choice. The Orange Dreamsicle was just as the name implies – it was a dream and tasted just like the ice cream treat from your childhood of the same name (a.k.a. a “50/50 bar”). I can vouch for the Orange Dreamsicle also because I swiped a small taste from his mini cone – delicious!

Ice Cream Flight! Photo Credits: Krista. Collage created with PhotoGrid iPhone app.

Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream has a fun atmosphere with tables inside, including a community table, and tables outside on the sidewalk. There is a display of ice cream scoops on the wall and a chandelier made from repurposed sundae cups. They are open Sunday-Thursday from Noon – 10pm and Noon – 11pm on Friday-Saturday. Check out their website for more information: http://www.hammondsgourmet.com/ and be sure to visit for yourself to try out Hammond’s Ice Cream Flights.

Ice Cream Scoops as Art. Photo Credits: Krista. Collage created with PhotoGrid iPhone app.

Summer Bucket List Update:   You may recall that trying an ice cream flight at Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream was one of the items on my summer bucket list (#6). It wasn’t quite summer yet when we went to Hammond’s last week, but it was June so we’ll call it close enough.

UPDATE (May 2016): Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream now has 3 locations in San Diego. The original spot in North Park (featured above), a second one in Pacific Beach, and a third one recently opened in the Point Loma area on Sports Arena Blvd. (same parking lot as Phil’s BBQ).

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”