Where to find the best ice cream in Branch County? Take your pick, 'they're all good'

Where can you find the best ice cream in Branch County? It depends on whom you ask, but there are plenty of favorites. Some are accessible by boat.

An informal poll on The Daily Reporter Facebook page drew hundreds of responses. First, second and third places had multiple ties.

But as Shannon Pearce commented, "Judge for yourself."

“I don’t really think we should trust all these responses, I’m going to have to try each and make my own decision," Pearce said.

To the question, "Where can you find the best ice cream?" Cheryl Parks said, “Wherever ice cream is served!”

Dave Pierce asked, “Is there a bad place?”

Apparently not, and which ever community you're in, you'll find someone serving ice cream.

Tied for first place were Country Cove, at 840 N. Union City Road in Coldwater and Showcase Garden, 878 Marshall Road in Coldwater.

The two shops are north of Coldwater and about a mile apart.

Country Cove arrived on the scene 26 years ago.  Bill Uren wanted his own business so he bought a neglected store and four run-down cabins on the Coldwater chain of lakes.

“My wife thought I was crazy,” Uren said.

But they fixed up the cabins and started selling hand-dipped ice cream in the store. Now they offer 31 flavors, two are sugar-free and two are non-dairy, one of which is also vegan. Top sellers are Traverse Bay cherry fudge, butter pecan and Michigan pothole.

There are seven campgrounds on the chain of lakes and on holiday weekends the line for ice cream weaves through the store and sometimes out the door, he said.

“75 percent of our business is tourists," Uren said.

Last summer they sold more than 2,400 gallons of ice cream. Open year-round, Country Cove orders ice cream twice a week in the summer and about once a week during the winter, sometimes less.

Showcase Garden is a completely different setting. It started as a garden shop/ greenhouse with statuary, chicken feed, seasonal produce and landscaping services. About five years ago, owner Floyd Tucker finally opened “The Gathering Place” for selling ice cream, but no one calls it that. It's just "Showcase" to most customers.

“It blows my mind how much ice cream we sell,” Tucker said.

Apparently he talked about it quite a while before jumping in, so one day Tucker’s father said, “Stop frogging around and open it or shut up.”

It stuck and frogs are a theme. They offer “Froggy Treats” and “Froggy Floats.”

Sundae flavors include nine choices, all with frog-something in the name such as "The Tadpole," "The Frog," "Muddy Frog" or "Psychedelic Frog."

At the ice cream shop adjoining the green house, customers can eat inside or wander the garden, the greenhouse or feed the chickens pecking about.

They offer 36 flavors from eight different distributors — two sugar free and two dairy free. The No. 1 seller is butter pecan, Tucker said.

“We sell butter pecan 3-to-1 to any other flavor," he said.

It's hand-dipped ice cream and the waffle cones are homemade.

On the menu is “Ice Cream Nachos" which Tucker said is a way to use waffle cones that didn’t turn out well or that got broken. On a bed of waffle chips are scoops of ice cream and toppings — popular for those who like to share.

Tied for second place were Tasty Twist at 360 Marshall St., in Coldwater and Sunset Cove, 931 Sunset Cove Road in Quincy.

Tasty Twist of Coldwater, along with ice cream offers an extensive line of food, including soup. But as soon as it’s warm the lines for ice cream start to form, they offer both soft-serve and hand-dipped in dozens of mixes.

Of several customers in the shop recently, Susan Heath was waiting for an order to take back to Coldwater City Hall.

“They have the best Peanut Butter Crunch,” Heath said. “And their prices are really, really good.”

Sunset Cove, the store at Sunset Cove Campgrounds, stays steady during the week for their hand-dipped ice cream, but like most accessible by water, they get very busy on holiday weekends.

Coming in third place were three ice cream destinations, one for each Branch County town.

• The Ice Cream Parlor: 867 W Chicago Road, Bronson.

• Mancino’s Creamery: 387 N Willowbrook Road, Coldwater.

• Cottonwood Resort: 219 Wildwood Beach Road, Quincy.

Also earning votes

• Potawatomie Campground: 1117 Bell Road, Union City.

• Union Station: M-60, Union City.

• Adventure Zone: 125 W Chicago Road, Coldwater.

• Shorts on the Water: 685 W Channel Drive, Coldwater.

• Dairy Queen: 559 E Chicago Street, Coldwater.

• The Patio: 577 E Chicago Street, Coldwater.

Both John Waltz and George Price remembered when Girard Country Store was an ice cream destination. Uren, County Cove owner, said Girard was the inspirations for serving ice cream.

By the numbers:

• On average, Americans consume about 23 gallons of ice cream each year.

• 90 percent of Americans eat ice cream regularly.

• The U.S. production of ice cream and frozen yogurt totals 6.4 billion pounds per year.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Reporter: Best ice cream in Branch County - take your pick