Home and travel inspire flavours concocted by Daniel Edler in a small kitchen off Oak Bay Avenue.
He hopes his artisan ice cream, delivered to the door, offers customers an opportunity to slip out of their flavour comfort zone.
“I’ve always liked playing with flavours,” Edler said. “Some you will like, some you will love, some you will like less. But you’ll try new things.”
Edler started making ice cream in his 20s when his parents gave him a household ice cream maker for Christmas. With a technology day job, it offers an outlet for his creativity.
When he and wife Erin welcomed their first child 18 months ago, it brought on the traditional questions and thoughts of entering a next phase in life. He started playing around with artisan ice cream bringing it to gatherings and sharing with co workers.
“People were interested. So I knew I had something that would work,” he said.
With the day job paying the bills and no money tree in the back yard, a traditional storefront seemed unmanageable for now.
“I decided I would do something I could manage by myself in a small space,” he said.
Enter local, by subscription, ice cream. It’s about local ingredients and small batches with ingredients patrons recognize. He started in June with 20 subscribers who purchase delivered pints each month.
“I know how much I need,” he said. “I can grow organically.”
Subscribers get one pint of a flavour, inspired by tradition, and one rooted in local flavours. A month might include chocolate cinnamon crunch and mint chocolate chip.
“A lot of these are inspired by flavours I liked as a kid or travel,” he said. For example, time spent in Vietnam during a post-grad trip with dad inspired the popular Vietnamese Coffee flavour. The pints also come with a tale behind the flavour.
He describes the incentive behind that flavour: Summer 2006, scooters whizz by as I attempt to cross the street. The noise is deafening. It’s muggy and I have been walking the streets of Ho Chi Minh City all day. I just finished dinner and am making my way to the ca fe next to my hostel. It was my last night in the city and I was going to get one more Iced Vietnamese Coffee. It’s the perfect combination of dark coffee and sweetened condensed milk. This strong, sweet drink made a lasting impression on me and was one of the first flavours we played with at 49 Below.
49 Below currently delivers in Victoria, Saanich and Oak Bay. The flavours are also available wholesale at Branch Coffee Co. in Fairfield.
Visit 49below.ca to learn more about the subscription service.
Did you know?
• The 49 Below Mascot is an octopus:
• Edler got his BSc in biology from UVic and spent a good chunk of time studying the majestic creatures.
• The Giant Pacific octopus, or Enteroctopus dofleini calls our waters home.
• He and Erin were married at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea alongside a very active Enteroctopus dofleini