This Way to the Little Creamery

It all started on a hot summer day in 1907

In Texas and other parts of the Southeastern United States, it’s not summer without Blue Bell ice cream. The regional favorite is the go-to choice on a hot and humid day (or a cold one, this is a no-judgment zone). It’s an ice cream brand with a small-town feel and image but a big business reputation and a devoted following of ice cream lovers who load up their freezers with the stuff.

Blue Bell Creameries © Rex Vogel, all rights

Founded in 1907 as the Brenham Creamery Company, Blue Bell began operation making butter. In 1911, ice cream for local consumption began production. Ice cream distribution was limited to the small town of Brenham in the Brazos River country of south-central Texas about 70 miles west of Houston.

Blue Bell Creameries © Rex Vogel, all rights

As transportation improved, distribution expanded. The company name was changed to Blue Bell Creameries in honor of a Texas wildflower in 1930. A reproduction of one of the first route trucks, a 1932 Ford, sits outside company headquarters.

Related: Getting in our Licks on National Ice Cream Day

Blue Bell Creameries © Rex Vogel, all rights

The rest is history! Blue Bell ice cream flavors are often the exciting grand finale of any celebration. The products are now sold in 18 states according to its website. That’s quite a change for a company that still promotes itself as a small town business selling a locally produced product. “We eat all we can and sell the rest,” one of the company’s favorite marketing slogans says.

Blue Bell Creameries © Rex Vogel, all rights

The century-old, Brenham-born brand offers a wide variety of ice creams, sherbets, and frozen snacks. Ice cream flavors include 25 classic year-round options like cookie two-step, mint chocolate chip, and pistachio almond. As well as rotational limited-time flavors like fudge brownie decadence, spiced pumpkin pecan, and confetti cake. And yes, I’ve tried them all!

Blue Bell Creameries © Rex Vogel, all rights

I taste-tested 11 flavors of Blue Bell ice cream and ranked them starting with my go-to favorite.

Another scrumptious Texas dessert: Along the Kolache Trail

Pecan Pralines ‘n Cream

Praline-coated pecans are a thing?? These are so good.

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

The Original Homemade Vanilla

Nothing is better than Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream. This vanilla is so rich, creamy, and delicious. When have you ever wanted more! And, oh so good with pecan pie!

Moo-llennium Crunch

Chocolate and caramel chunks in every bite make this rich and creamy treat so good.

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

Buttered Pecan

This is so popular in the south. Pecans in every single scoop!

Another scrumptious Texas dessert: Pecan Pralines a Sweet Tradition

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Who needs cookies and milk when you can have it all in one?

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

Butter Crunch

Peanut butter mixed with ice cream could never be better.

Homemade Vanilla

This vanilla is so rich, creamy, and delicious. When have you ever wanted

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

Strawberries & Homemade Vanilla

Real strawberries in every bite plus the original homemade vanilla! Yes, please.

Related: Why I Love Blue Bell Ice Cream

Rocky Road

The dark chocolate ice cream is so good. Plus, it has mini marshmallows and nuts!

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

Cookies ‘n Cream

Oreo cookies in every bite! That’s a win-win for everyone.

Southern Blackberry Cobbler

The decadent concoction involves a luscious blackberry ice cream combined with flaky pie crust pieces and a blackberry sauce swirl.

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

Honestly, all Blue Bell ice cream is so good. Any other brand could never compare.

The beloved ice cream brand has two creamery locations you can visit—one in its hometown of Brenham, Texas, and another in Sylacauga, Alabama, outside Birmingham. And you can get a taste of your favorite Blue Bell flavors made fresh, right there on the premises.

Blue Bell Ice Cream © Rex Vogel, all rights

At the original Blue Bell in Brenham, a small town about halfway between Austin and Houston, you can get a scoop of ice cream at the Ice Cream Parlor, view where the ice cream is made from the famous Observation Deck, shop in the Country Store, and learn about the creamery’s 100-plus-year history at the Visitor Center.

At Sylacauga, visitors can indulge at the Ice Cream Parlor, check out where the ice cream is made, and do some shopping at the Country Store.

A trip to Blue Bell isn’t complete without exploring the beautiful surrounding communities.

Related: The Essential Guide to Eating Texas

Ice cream is like a good friend. Sweet, nostalgic, ready on the freezer shelf whenever you need it! And it will never abandon you and when it’s the only dessert that will satisfy a cool, creamy craving, the frozen aisle is pretty close to paradise.

Texas Spoken Friendly

Worth Pondering…

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

—Howard Johnson