STIL Boise: Ice Cream Flights with Wine & Beer Pairings
I just finished a whirlwind Memorial Day vacation in Idaho and managed to fit quite a few highlights into only three days. But one of the experiences that, surprisingly, stood out the most was my trip to a local ice cream shop: The STIL.
I’m not really a dessert person, and even less so ice cream, but the local ice cream shop had come highly recommended. Apparently they offered ice cream and micro brews or local wine pairings. I was intrigued. I’ve often said Ratatouille captures the experience of a great pairing, and this didn’t sound like a “pour this sweet moscato dessert wine over your vanilla ice cream in lieu of syrup” kind of thing.
The STIL, which stands for the Sweeter Things In Life, is located in a redeveloped area of downtown Boise at 786 W Broad St, Boise, ID 83702. It offers a decent amount of indoor and outdoor seating, though when the lines get long, the inside can feel crowded.
The ice cream is made from locally sourced ingredients and flavors change up frequently. With options like Namaste (coconut matcha), Licking the Spoon (brownie batter) and 21+ only flavor Double IPA + Grapefruit Marmalade, it looked pretty promising.
You can order ice cream by the scoop and beer and wine by the glass, or you can indulge in their flights:
- 4 beers & 4 micro bowls of ice cream for $15
- 4 wines & 4 micro bowls of ice cream for $19
- 2 wines, 2 beers & 4 micro bowls of ice cream for $17
- All the ice cream — 8 micro bowls for $17.50
Not cheap for ice cream, but if you think about it as a happy hour or after drink alternative, not terrible.
I’d assumed the flights were pre-determined, but it turned out you tell them which ice cream you want, what your beer and wine preferences are, and they put together the pairings. This was more decision-making than I was prepared for, but the STIL staff are friendly and accommodating and were able to make some good suggestions. To optimize the pairings, we also left the wine and beer pairings completely up to Brian.
We wound up with:
Double IPA + Grapefruit Marmalade | Lost Grove IPA
Picnic in the Park (raspberry, walnut & goat cheese) | Idaho riesling
Chocolate Oreo Porter | Coffee Porter
Midnight Snack (chocolate peanut butter) | Cab franc, merlot & malbec blend
All SO good and really well paired! The ice cream was good, so was the wine and beer, together there were completely new flavors. My favorite for overall flavor was a toss up between the Picnic in the Park or Double IPA + Grapefruit each with the reisling. But the Midnight Snack with the red blend became rather like a luscious PB&J.
Good ice cream and such a unique experience that even dessert unenthusiasts like myself can enjoy it.
