established in 1979, shain's of maine has grown to be one of the most innovative and top producing ice cream companies in maine........ now boasting over 90 flavors........ they began as a small ice cream company and sold everything that they made in their retail outlets in sanford and springvale... in 1984 they consolidated these two shops and built their current location on route 109... in the spring of 1988 they purchased an ice cream freezer truck to better enhance their service to wholesale accounts and to get the product to their customers in good condition... thus began the wholesale division of shain's of maine ice cream.... jeff shain has been in the frozen dairy delights business for decades, and the food biz for longer than that..... he is the creative force behind the creation of all flavor profiles and will make anything a customer can fathom as long as you purchase the entire tub........ jeff and I sat around in the kitchen of the tides inn a few summers ago, and bounced one ice cream flavor idea after the other around..... we joked about the pickle, garlic, red wine and trout flavored ice cream that we had heard of in our combined years in the food biz...... shain's of maine is a family owned ice cream company, this lets them be as flexible as they want when it comes to novelties and flavor profiles....... case in point: THE SEA DOG BISCUIT....... every year, five workers in sanford make the treats.... all two hundred thousand of them..... by hand....... twice in one week we decided to put them to the test....... not that we haven't TESTED their ice creams on a regular basis...... in the thick of summers heat and when there is three feet of snow on the ground, we make our way to shain's of maine...... on the evaluation block is ginger, cookie dough and black raspberry explosion.... ginger................creamy milkiness . loaded with bits and pieces of ginger . floral scent . slightly spicy, but smooth as hell.............. cookie dough................ a very creamy base with a gigantic 'fist-sized' ball of cookie dough..................... black raspberry explosion.........................a sweet creaminess . bold berry flavor with big chocolate chunks.......... we loved them all and will continue to sample the spectacular array of tongue twisting flavors....... shain's of maine........1491 main street sanford, maine ph:207.324.1449 -or- 800.324.0650
