Brooklyn-based OddFellows has been scooping custom ice cream since October when it first popped open its lids at 550 King St.
The small batch ice cream company is known for its vintage ice cream shop interior and wildly original flavors that include miso peanut butter brownie, passionfruit matcha, coquito and poppycock — an amazing concoction that tastes for all the world like frozen caramel popcorn. The flavors are developed by Michelin-starred and James Beard-nominated pastry chef Sam Mason and rotate depending on the season and availability. According to retail and operations director Andy Mullins, OddFellows created 200 different flavors of ice cream in its first year (2013), and since then, has reached 600. “We’ve been what we like to say ‘relentlessly creative,’” he said.
With Charleston Wine+Food earlier this month, Mullins and OddFellows’ CEO Mohan Kumar were both in town scooping for the masses at the Culinary Village. On March 7, City Paper sat down with Mullins to talk scoops and OddFellows new — or old, depending who you ask — Passport Program.
According to Mullins, the original passport plan introduced a global “flavor set” inspired by countries in South Asia, South America and Africa to name a few. Some of the flavors, like Olive Oil, were so wildly unorthodox the OddFellows team figured they needed a hook. “The trick was to get people to come in and try those different flavors,” Mullins said. Thus was born the Passport Program. With every visit, customers receive a stamp in a specialized passport. With enough stamps came a range of prizes.
The Passport Program eventually fell by the wayside as OddFellows expanded throughout New York City and, in 2019, into Chestnut Hill, MA. “By that time, every system breaks, you know?” Mullins said. “And it’s just something that we hadn’t been able to get back to.”
But now the Passport Program is back — with a few modifications. “We’d always had in the back of our minds that [we] wanted to come back to this Passport Program because we’re never going to stop making new flavors,” Mullins said. “And we want to incentivize people who really get that, which is pretty much everybody who eats ice cream.”
To receive a passport, customers must first enter the OddFellows loyalty program. Every time you buy a scoop of ice cream, a card is stamped. Reach ten stamps and you’ll receive the OddFellows Passport. Then, to complete the Passport Program, you must try every flavor of ice cream offered at least once before the year ends. According to Mullins, OddFellows has 50 flavors slated for the year — so you can do the highly caloric math.
At different Passport milestones, customers receive different prizes: 10 Passport stamps will net a free tub of ice cream (your choice of flavors). Scarf down all of this year’s 50 flavors and OddFellows will host a free BYOB party for you and nine friends.
“It would be so cool if someone did that in 50 days,” Mullins said. “It’s the cost of a scoop of ice cream and an adventurous spirit.”
Help keep the City Paper free.
No paywalls.
No subscription cost.
Free delivery at 800 locations.
Help support independent journalism by donating today.