Here at Little Rock Family, we’re still celebrating our 20th anniversary year! This month, we got the best birthday present ever—our very own ice cream concoction from Loblolly Creamery and a tour of the kitchen where all the magic happens.

Our original treat, inspired by seasonal flavors and traditions. Our Facebook fan Trish Beth Croslin calls it the “Red, White and Blueberry.”

It’s every kid’s dream—to invent ice cream flavors. Meet Ice Cream Dan, the Ice Cream Man, who does exactly that. Dan Moore is one of the chefs at Loblolly Creamery, and estimates that he has made 75-80 percent of Loblolly’s ice cream since the company launched in 2012. Moore’s days are filled with marshmallow-making, syrup-mixing, ice cream-churning, and of course, flavor-inventing. His favorite invention to date is the Spicy Thai, a coconut “ice cream” with lime, ginger and the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion Pepper.

Dan Moore whips up ice cream at the Loblolly Creamery kitchen.

Most of Loblolly’s offerings aren’t so fiery: Moore says salted caramel and double vanilla are the most popular. No matter the product—ice cream, kombucha, soda, sorbet and more—all are hand-crafted in small batches and made with as many Arkansas-sourced ingredients as possible.

As part of our year-long 20th anniversary celebration, Little Rock Family visited the Loblolly Creamery kitchen, located in the bottom floor of downtown Little Rock’s Quapaw Towers. We toured the space and watched as Moore made a batch of Rocky Road. The best part: Ice Cream Dan made us our very own Little Rock Family dessert—two scoops of buttermilk ice cream, drizzled with raspberry sauce and blueberry syrup, and topped with blueberries and whip cream.

Get Your Fix

The Soda Fountain in the Green Corner Store offers the most flavors, as well as handmade sodas, shakes, egg creams, sundaes and more.

You can also pick up a cone or a pint from the Loblolly Creamery ice cream truck, which you can find on Saturdays at the Hillcrest Farmers Market, and at events and food truck meet-ups around town.

Find even more locations that sell and serve Loblolly, including Mylo Coffee Co., Boulevard Bread Co. and more, at LoblollyCreamery.com.