You’re standing in line at a Graeter’s scoop shop in Cincinnati, or maybe you’re staring at the freezer case in a high-end grocery store in Chicago, and you’re faced with a choice. It seems simple. It’s just ice cream, right? Wrong. The Graeter's ice cream menu isn’t just a list of desserts; it’s a weirdly specific, 150-year-old stubborn refusal to join the modern world of industrial food production.
Most people look at the board and go straight for the Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip. It’s the legend. It’s the one Oprah Winfrey famously obsessed over. But if you actually want to understand what you’re eating, you have to look past the purple hue.
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Graeter's is the only commercial ice cream maker in the world still using French Pots. We aren't talking about a fancy name for a standard machine. These are small-batch, 2.5-gallon copper kettles. Because they don't whip air into the mix—a process the industry calls "overrun"—the result is a dense, heavy cream that feels more like a frozen truffle than a Cloud-9 airy whip. When you look at the menu, you're looking at a product that technically shouldn't exist at this scale.
The Signature Chip Flavors: Not Your Average Morsels
Let's talk about the "chips." If you expect uniform, tiny pebbles of chocolate like you find in a bag of Toll House, you’re going to be confused.
The chocolate on the Graeter's ice cream menu is liquid when it hits the frozen cream. As the French Pot spins, that chocolate freezes into a solid sheet. Then, a person—an actual human being—shoves a paddle into the pot and breaks that sheet by hand. This is why you’ll find a chip the size of a postage stamp in one bite and a hunk the size of a golf ball in the next. It’s inconsistent. It’s chaotic. It’s exactly why people drive across state lines for it.
- Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip: The heavyweight champion. They use Oregon black raspberries, and honestly, the fruit flavor is so sharp it cuts right through the high butterfat content.
- Double Chocolate Chip: This is for the purists. A dark cocoa base with those signature massive chunks.
- Cookie Dough Chocolate Chip: Most brands use tiny dough balls. Graeter’s uses chunks that feel like they were stolen directly from a mixing bowl.
- Mocha Chip: A sleeper hit. The coffee notes are subtle, but they make the dark chocolate chips taste even more intense.
The Seasonal Rotation and Why Timing Matters
If you walk in looking for Peach in December, you’re out of luck. The Graeter's ice cream menu is slave to the seasons. This isn't just marketing fluff. Because they use real fruit, they wait for the crops.
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Take the Summer Peach. It usually drops in July. It’s gone by late August. They use Freestone peaches, and because the French Pot process is so gentle, the fruit doesn't get pulverized into a purple or orange slurry; it stays in distinct, juicy pieces.
Then there’s the "Bonus Flavors" program. Every summer, Graeter’s releases a string of limited-edition runs—usually six flavors that last only a few weeks each. One week it might be Strawberry Cheesecake, the next it’s Churro or Lemon Meringue Pie. It creates a sort of localized frenzy. You’ll see people on Reddit tracking the "Bonus Flavor" calendar like it’s a leaked government document.
The Classics and the "Plain" Flavors
Sometimes you don't want a chocolate chunk the size of a 2x4. The "Classic" side of the menu is where the craftsmanship actually shows. Without the distraction of the chips, you can taste the "custard" base. It’s technically not custard because they don’t use egg yolks in the traditional sense, but the density makes your brain think it is.
Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla is the baseline. It’s boring? Maybe. But it’s the best way to test the texture of the French Pot method. Then you’ve got Original Salted Caramel. Most places just swirl in a syrup. Graeter’s cooks the caramel into the base. It’s salty enough to make your tongue tingle but sweet enough to satisfy that lizard-brain craving for sugar.
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The Dietary Reality: Vegan and Low-Sugar Options
Honestly, for a long time, if you didn't eat dairy, the Graeter's ice cream menu was a wasteland of "maybe next time." That changed a few years ago.
They didn't just go the almond milk route. Instead, they partnered with Perfect Day to use lab-grown flora-based dairy protein. It’s vegan, but molecularly identical to cow’s milk protein. This means the vegan Black Raspberry Chip actually melts like ice cream. It doesn’t have that weird, thin, watery finish that most coconut-based alternatives do.
They also have a "Low Glycemic" line. They use monk fruit extract. It’s fine. It’s good for what it is. But let's be real: you don't go to a place that prides itself on 150 years of butterfat dominance to count your macros.
Sundaes, Sodas, and the Bakery Side
A lot of people forget Graeter’s started as a bakery. In the scoop shops, the menu extends into "Pershing" donuts and oversized cookies.
But the move? The 1870 Tower. It’s a massive sundae with a chocolate bundt cake, a scoop of Black Raspberry Chip, hot fudge, whipped cream, and a cherry. It’s an endurance test.
Then there are the "Nectar" sodas. This is a regional thing—mostly a Cincinnati/Midwest quirk. A Nectar soda is a bright pink, almond-flavored syrup mixed with soda water and a scoop of vanilla. It tastes like nostalgia and maraschino cherries. You either love it or you find it medicinal. There is no middle ground.
How to Navigate the Menu Like a Pro
- Check the "Bonus Flavor" schedule online before you go. If it’s Black Cherry Chocolate Chip season, you need to know.
- Ask for a sample of the seasonal. The staff is usually pretty chill about it.
- Look for the "Pint Warmer." If you’re buying a pint to go, let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Because the ice cream has zero air, it’s rock hard straight out of the freezer. If you try to scoop it immediately, you’ll bend your spoon.
- Don't ignore the sorbet. The Lemon and Raspberry sorbets are surprisingly punchy, especially if you want something that won't put you into a dairy-induced coma.
Graeter’s is an anomaly. In an era where every brand is trying to cut costs by using cheaper fats and more air, they’re still using the same copper kettles they used in the 1800s. The menu is a reflection of that stubbornness. It’s small, it’s specific, and it’s uncomfortably rich.
Next Steps for the Graeter’s Enthusiast:
- Locate a scoop shop rather than buying a grocery store pint if possible; the "temperature-controlled" environment of the shop keeps the fats from re-crystallizing.
- Verify the current "Bonus Flavor" on the official Graeter's app or social media pages to ensure you don't miss out on the 2-week limited runs.
- Try the "Bittersweet" sauce on a simple vanilla scoop to experience the original 19th-century chocolate recipe that isn't as sugary as modern hot fudge.