Josh and John’s has always been home to creative flavors with local ties and arguably the spot for the best ice cream in Colorado Springs. But the hometown premium ice cream shop has just gone next level with a series of seasonal flavors for the holidays and a limited release to commemorate Colorado College’s 150th Homecoming celebrations.
CC Tiger Blood
When Colorado College wanted a collab ice cream to help celebrate its 150th Anniversary Homecoming, they didn’t have to think twice about where to go. Owner and co-founder John Krakauer is an alum from the class of 1985. Working together in Josh and John’s Churn Barn, the CC and J&J team sampled various flavors and settled on a new flavor called Tiger Blood.
“It’s a strawberry watermelon flavored ice cream with a hint of coconut in it,” Krakauer says.
The coconut is subtle, and Tiger Blood overall has a light and bright berry flavor.
The commemorative flavor is available now only at Josh and John’s Colorado Springs downtown store, but it also will be available at CC Tigers hockey games. Don’t wait to try it though. Tiger Blood is a limited release, so when it’s gone, it’s gone.
“However, as is always the case, if it’s popular, we’ll bring it back by popular demand,” Krakauer says.
Tiger Blood joins Tiger Stripe, another CC collab flavor available at CC hockey games in Ed Robson Arena. “That’s a yellow cake flavor with a swirl of brown sugar,” Krakauer says, noting that it is the best-selling of their flavors at CC Tiger hockey games.
Krakauer graduated from Colorado College in 1985 and opened Josh and John’s first ice cream shop in 1986 in downtown Colorado Springs. The ice cream entrepreneur says he loved CC’s Block Plan, its unique academic calendar that allows students to focus on one class at a time for an intensive three-week block.
When asked about a favorite college memory, he says, “I can remember vividly walking downtown with a group of friends and wanting to go get ice cream and there was none — which is why Josh and John’s became a thing.”
Josh and John’s New Seasonal Flavors
Josh and John’s new thing is its Fall Festival: monthly collections of seasonal and holiday flavors that are already proving to be popular. The Colorado craft creamery is rolling out six special edition flavors in October, November and December. All are available in take-home pints with one special flavor available in shops at a time. Krakauer says fans have been stocking up, buying multiple pints at a time — then coming back for more. “For the first time ever, Josh and John’s actually made money in October because of these flavors,” he says.
The Fall Festival October Collection has featured these harvest and spice oriented flavors:
-
- Cheesecake Cinnamon Bun Swirl
- Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookie
- Bourbon Brown Sugar Pecan
- Chai
- Gingersnap Molasses
- Vermont Maple Walnut
November will, of course, be the Thanksgiving Collection. If you want to work them into your Thanksgiving feast menu, you probably want to stock up ahead on these flavors:
-
- Sweet Potato Marshmallow
- Mocha Pecan Pie
- Ceylon Cinnamon
- Pumpkin Pie
- Cranberry Walnut
- Mezcal Old Fashioned
The Fall Festival of flavors will roll out the Holiday Collection in December, and Krakauer says we can expect to see these flavors:
-
- White Christmas: white chocolate with peppermint stick
- Pa Rum Pa Rum Rum Raisin
- Lumps of Coal: fudge brownie chunks
- The Grinch: pistachio pudding with chocolate chips
- We Wish You a Cherry Crispness: cherry with sugar cookies
- Peppermint Bark Rumchata
Krakauer says his team is working hard to keep all the seasonal flavors stocked through their respective months. And if they prove popular enough, you might just see some of the Fall Collection seasonals earn a prolonged place on the menu.
You can pre-order each collection of flavors shortly before the new month and find all the hours and locations of the five Josh and John’s Colorado Springs and Front Range stores at joshandjohns.com.
And you can read here about Josh and John’s new location coming to Ivywild.
