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A local farm and chain have been named as the best ice cream in Connecticut.
Arethusa Farm was included among Food & Wine's list of the best ice cream in every state, which was published earlier this summer.
The Arethusa Farm in Litchfield initially served as a dairy farm delivering milk and other products locally, beginning in 1868, according to its official website. The farm began bottling milk under its new label at a rented creamery in 2009 and Arethusa Farm Dairy opened its first store front on 1020 Chapel Street in New Haven in 2014.
"From small-town mom-and-pop operations to destination-worthy farmstead creameries, Connecticut has to be one of the luckiest states when it comes to classic ice cream, making this one of the toughest calls on the list," Food & Wine's David Landsel wrote. "But if you're only going to sample one ice cream while you're here, it's going to have to be Arethusa Farm in Bantam, which began as a land preservation effort, way back in the 1990s, by two Manolo Blahnik executives who lived across the street from an old dairy farm and wanted to protect their view. One thing lead to another, and now we have Arethusa, the mini-empire, which includes scoop shops as far away as New Haven and West Hartford, serving plush, high-butterfat ice creams in pleasingly classic New England flavors like rum raisin and coffee, made with some of the best milk and cream in the state."
Here's Food & Wine's full list of the best ice cream in every state:
- Alabama- Big Spoon Creamery
- Alaska- Wild Scoops
- Arizona- Sweet Republic
- Arkansas- Loblolly Creamery
- California- Gunther's
- Colorado- Little Man Ice Cream
- Connecticut- Arethusa Farm
- Delaware- Woodside Farm Creamery
- Florida- Dasher & Crank
- Georgia- Cremalosa
- Hawaii- Black Sheep Cream Co.
- Idaho- The STIL
- Illinois- Lagomarcino's
- Indiana- Lick Ice Creams
- Iowa- Wilton Candy Kitchen
- Kansas- Sylas and Maddy's Homemade Ice Cream
- Kentucky- Louisville Cream
- Louisiana- Creole Creamery
- Maine- Gelato Fiasco
- Maryland- Dumser's Dairyland
- Massachusetts- Toscanini's; Christina's Homemade Ice Cream
- Michigan- Moomers Ice Cream
- Minnesota- Bebe Zito
- Mississippi- Oxford Creamery
- Missouri- Crown Candy Kitchen
- Montana- Big Dipper Ice Cream
- Nebraska- Coneflower Creamery
- Nevada- Luv-It Frozen Custard
- New Hampshire- Annabelle's Natural Ice Cream
- New Jersey- The Bent Spoon
- New Mexico- Caliche's Frozen Custard
- New York- Fortunes Ice Cream
- North Carolina- Two Roosters Ice Cream
- North Dakota- Pride Dairies
- Ohio- Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams
- Oklahoma- Roxy's Ice Cream Social
- Oregon- Salt & Straw
- Pennsylvania- Bassett's
- Rhode Island- Wright's Dairy Farm
- South Carolina- Off Track Ice Cream
- South Dakota- Mount Rushmore National Memorial
- Tennessee- Cruze Farm
- Texas- Lick Honest Ice Creams
- Utah- Rockwell Old Fashioned
- Vermont- Little Gordo Creemee Stand
- Virginia- Island Creamery
- Washington- Molly Moon's
- West Virginia- Austin's Ice Cream
- Wisconsin- Leon's
- Wyoming- Shumway Farms