Blank Slate Creamery opened in Ann Arbor in 2014, and its first week didn't go as planned. The family-owned shop ran out of ice cream in three days and closed for a week to make more. It still makes its ice cream mix and most of its mix-ins from scratch, and it is not a franchise.
Blank Slate is known for unusual flavors as well as the classics. Next to Madagascar Vanilla and Cookies and Cream, you will find Fresh Basil, Lavender Lemon Honey, and Vietnamese Cinnamon. Order the Chai and ask for it dirty. They add a drizzle of homemade espresso syrup to the Arbor Teas chai base.
Wolverine Tracks mixes handmade fudge with housemade peanut butter cups. Peanut Butter Cone Crackle is a staff favorite, with a salty-sweet peanut butterscotch base, a salty caramel swirl, and pieces of chocolate-covered waffle cone. The newest flavor is Concord Grape Sorbet, tart and sweet and made with real Concord grapes. It is the first time Blank Slate has served it. Vegan friends get sorbets plus coconut cream and oat milk flavors, and GF on the menu marks the gluten-free picks.
A lot of the ingredients come from close to home. Zingerman's Creamery makes the goat cheese and cream cheese. Arbor Teas supplies the tea. The coffee comes from Roo's Roast and Hyperion, plus Brighton Coffee House. The Apple Cider Sorbet uses cider from Dexter Cider Mill, and the milk and cream come from Guernsey Farms Dairy in Northville.
Find the downtown shop at 300 W. Liberty St. (the original Blank Slate). It is open 2 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 2 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 2 to 10 p.m. Sunday. Grab chalk while you wait. The chalkboards in the shop are for games, drawings, and math problems.
For pints to go, the carry-out at 7879 Jackson Road sells pints and novelties, noon to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. There is a second scoop shop in Brighton, and the Pint Locator on their website finds the nearest store that sells their pints.
