Here they are, the 194 unique flavor entries that we received in our gelato contest.  We were absolutely blown away by the response and by the sheer number of intriguing, delicious ideas!  The decision was not an easy one, but our panel of judges selected Mascarpone Peach Balsamic.  The good news is that by having involved some of our most loyal and passionate customers, we will making lots of the above flavors in the upcoming weeks and months.  Stay tuned…

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who took part in this event!  Grazie!

At risk of writing an overly preachy post, I’m compelled to say something about gelato and nutrition.

When I started my quest years ago, admittedly, I merely thought of gelato as a really great tasting product.  However, as I learnt more about the art and science of this culinary creation, I soon realized that the Italians had once again not only figured out how to make something taste divine, but how to make it healthier at the same time.

Let’s start by taking a quick look at the numbers.  Consider that big ol’ chain that rhymes with ‘bold drone screamery’.  Their chocolate ice cream contains 20g of fat per serving— our dark chocolate gelato has exactly half this amount.  A medium cup of this flavor contains 290g of fat or 50% of a person’s recommended daily intake.  A McDonald’s cheeseburger has about the same fat content.  But I digress…

Focusing on fat and calories is only part of the story.  My real issue with these types of products has to do with the sheer number of awful, unpronounceable ingredients they contain.  I’m surprised that people don’t pay more attention to what’s actually contained in the products they eat.  Flavors like Praline Pecan, for example, have a total of 23 ingredients, none of which actually include pecan nuts!  Simulated artificial flavors make up the entire flavor profile.  Conversely, at CaféMia we do crazy things like use real hazelnuts in our hazelnut gelato, or 3 lbs. of actual strawberries in our strawberry sorbetto.  Pretty mind boggling, I know.  Not only does this make our gelato taste wonderful, customers can also feel better about what they’re putting into their bodies.

I’m inspired by movements like Slow Food, or by what advocates like Alice Waters are doing to educate people about what they eat.  We’re talking a great deal about healthcare in this country right now.  Perhaps one of the ways to reduce healthcare costs in America is by eating healthier food with simple, natural ingredients. 

As I looked over Etsy’s website I thought, what a cool idea, giving artists and craftspeople a platform to show and sell their original work.  What did these people do before?  Maybe they would contact galleries, gift shops and the sort, hoping to have their work picked up and displayed.  Our friend Rosa Murillo, who has created beautiful original art for CaféMia, has her own Etsy store.  What a great tool, empowering talented people and giving them a worldwide audience that they would never have otherwise been able to reach.  Cool stuff.

Although most of the items on Etsy are clearly non-edible, there are a few food items creeping in every day.  In fact I recently noticed a summer category called ‘Slow Food’.  In any event, since CaféMia prides itself in hand crafted artisan gelato, I thought, why not give it a try?  Check out CaféMia on Etsy.  Know someone not living in the Charlotte area that might want to try out our gelato?  No problem, we’ll make it, ship it on dry ice anywhere in the country.  Although we’ve grouped our offerings into ‘collections’, Etsy users can also request custom combinations or even custom flavors.  Let us know what you think.

A quick story.  I’m standing in line at the grocery store a few weeks ago checking the weather forecast on my phone (our business is highly weather sensitive) and I get an email alerting me that someone has posted a new gelato flavor idea on our blog as well as sending out a tweet about this.  In real time I look over the post and email the link to my wife to get her ideas.  For the hell of it, I also google the flavor to see if anyone else is doing this.  I see an obscure mention in Australia.  Big deal.  All of this takes place in a matter of seconds, before being asked if I prefer paper or plastic.

Behold the dawn of Web 3.0 or 2010 Web– whatever you want to call it.  It’s on.  It’s everywhere.  Hopefully we’ll be better off.

Are you a talented “closet” celebrity gelato chef?  Can you imagine the next great flavor?  Do you have bold, delectable gelato flavor ideas that you know will blow CaféMia customers away?  Imagine suggesting ideas like, tupelo honey lavender or dark chocolate with roasted sesame seeds…  Let your culinary imagination soar!  The winner will receive: 

  • two 40 oz. containers of the winning gelato flavor

  • four 40 oz. containers of any other CaféMia gelato flavors

  • unbelievable bragging rights amongst your foodie friends (we’ll even name the flavor after you for a week…)

Here’s how to enter:

Send us your unique flavor idea(s) along with your email address, full name, telephone number via:

 • Email: flavor@cafemia.com

 • Twitter: (click here)

 • Facebook: (click here)

 • Blog: respond to this post

Send us as many entries as you would like.  Judging will take place at 3 PM on August 1^st by a distinguished panel of CaféMia gelato aficionatos.  Entries will be accepted until July 31^st (midnight).  Good luck!