What Is the Real Flavor of Blue Moon Ice Cream?

I haven’t had a scoop of blue moon ice cream in years, but I ate it so often as a kid that I can still taste it—hints of marshmallow, vanilla and almond. At least, that’s what I thought, yet none of these flavors have any blue to them.

Blue moon is a cult classic flavor when it comes to ice cream. Of course, you can’t miss the extraordinary blue hue when eyeing up the display case, but fans of this treat love the flavor, too.

What Is Blue Moon Ice Cream?

There’s no definitive answer about the flavor of blue moon. Tasters might find it reminiscent of this or that, though there are some popular theories. Believe it or not, fans often cite Froot Loops—yes, the cereal—as one of the main notes in blue moon’s flavor profile.

Other guesses include vanilla with a hint of citrus, amaretto, lemon, cotton candy, marshmallow, bubble gum and more. People who make blue moon ice cream at home use raspberry and lemon. We wish there was an easy answer to this, but the trademarked recipe has been kept secret since its inception. Unless you were once a flavor chemist at Petran Products—the Milwaukee company credited with inventing this flavor—you’re probably out of luck.

That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy blue moon ice cream for what it is—whatever it is. The dessert has been around since the 1950s and is bound to keep showing up in ice cream shop display cases for years to come!

Where to Buy Blue Moon Ice Cream

Blue moon is a Midwest gem and enjoying scoops of it seems to be a shared childhood experience here. If you’re in Wisconsin, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream Co. in Madison is a personal favorite. I went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison and was definitely a regular at the Chocolate Shoppe.

You’ll also find blue moon at places like Kopp’s in Milwaukee, and Sherman’s Dairy Bar in South Haven, Michigan. Generally, you’ll find blue moon at most local ice cream shops in the Upper Midwest. But outside of the region, this iconic treat might be trickier to find.

Next: Find the most iconic ice cream flavor from every state.