This guest review comes from the one and only Lauren Davis. We love her!
When you walk into Mr. Dewie’s Cashew Creamery, just off San Pablo on Solano Avenue in Albany, it looks like a classic ice cream shop, with marble counters and the flavors carefully printed on a blackboard. But the shop comes with an interesting backstory: Both brothers have food sensitivities that took dairy out of their diets, but when Ari started experimenting with making organic almond ice cream, Andrew was excited by the prospect of eating frozen desserts again—and he suspected other people would be too. But as the company grew and their almond ice cream made its way into natural food stores, the Cohens found themselves missing the consumer interaction. So when they had the opportunity to buy back the brand, they jumped at it and scaled down the operation. That’s also when they started introducing their cashew-based dessert. The flavors made from the fattier, less fibrous cashew proved more popular; between that and rising almond prices, the Cohens decided to focus on cashew cream. They also opened up that scoop shop in Albany where they could talk to their customers face-to-face and serve their dessert at the ideal temperature.
Andrew claims that many customers (many of whom aren’t vegan and don’t have food sensitivities) have declared their product “better than ice cream,” and I can honestly see why. The Cohens treated me to spoonfuls of each of their flavors (all but one, their lemon cookie, are vegan), and I walked away feeling like I’d had an ice cream buffet (without the bellyache). The ingredients are familiar ice cream ingredients; the Strawberry, for example, contains just strawberries, cane sugar, vanilla extract, and salt, with cashew milk substituted for animal milk. But the fat in the cashew gives each flavor a rich and satisfying mouth feel that’s more powerful than what even most dairy ice creams offer.
Even with such a rich base, I found the Strawberry and Coconut flavors to be pleasantly refreshing, but the real standout flavors harness that richness and go to town. The Caramel Almond is rightfully the shop’s bestseller, with the cashew bringing out the almond’s nuttiness. But I was particularly bowled over by the Chocolate Orange, a luxurious blend of flavors that tastes like something out of childhood. And the Banana Nut tastes like banana bread in frozen form. I was even impressed by the Coffee, which is not usually my favorite flavor of frozen dessert. Too many places load it up with sweetener in a vain attempt to balance out the bitterness. Mr. Dewie’s Coffee managed to highlight the sweeter notes of the coffee without an excessive dose of sugar.
And yes, there is cashew-flavored cashew cream. It’s currently the only flavor that isn’t completely organic, but it’s great if you love the taste of cashew butter but don’t want it stuck to the roof of your mouth.
The shop also offers vegan ice cream bonbons and ice cream sandwiches made with their own vegan cookies. And while the Cohens themselves aren’t vegan, they’re eager to learn from their vegan customers. When they initially opened, for example, they didn’t have vegan cones. But after talking to a disappointed customer, they now keep vegan cones in stock. It pays to speak up!
You can check out the Mr. Dewie’s site for nutritional info, where to find pints in grocery stores, and to order pints online. But if you’re in the East Bay, the Cohens really recommend coming into the shop at 1116 Solano Avenue in Albany, California, so you can eat the flavors at their optimal temperature and try before you buy.