It’s difficult to stand out among creative small batch ice creams without evoking the two names synonymous with zany-flavored pints, or the onslaught of copycats that Ben and Jerry inspired. However, when friends insist that the ice cream you continue to bring to parties is good enough to be a sold to the masses – mixed with a background in making brands pop – it’s no surprise that Hoopla Ice Cream was sold out in advance of its first pop-up at Anarchy Brewing Co. last week in Durango.
Two former co-workers turned friends can now add business partners to the ways in which they know each other. Hoopla’s founders Lexi White and Jason Hopkins, who still hold full-time jobs in marketing, met doing similar work at an ad agency in Boulder, with Hopkins taking the Durango carrot and then dangling it in front of White and her fiance.
“We were partners at an agency, and then when (Jason) moved here, me and my fiance were (still) in Boulder, and we just kept coming out to visit Jason and chase powder, and after like four of five trips we were like, ‘I think we should just move here.’”
The idea for an ice cream business sprouted in White’s garden, as a surplus of mint went into a batch of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and it turned out good enough to try again with different combinations. How you get from mint chip to the indulgent yet not cloying Funky Donkey – peanut butter ice cream with Oreos and fudge – probably takes a few more steps, but the duo seems to have thought through every aspect of their business.
The event at Anarchy Brewing Co. was the first of a string of pop-ups, with one planned at Ska Brewing Co. this month, and other collaborations in the works, including possibly with Durango Coffee Co. for an ice cream featuring its beans. That opportunistic trait also extends to its creative process.
The inspiration for flavors and names tries to capitalize on trends, think miso in its Kaiju Crunch maple ice cream with corn flakes.
“We have plenty of standard variations like pistachio, raspberry chip and a coffee chip, but (we’re) trying to bring creative flavors to the ice cream that are more unexpected,” White said.
“We go to Oye all the time, and they’re always rotating their cocktail menu, and they’ve got a miso bourbon Old Fashioned. Miso’s popping up in all sorts of random places that you wouldn’t expect. That seems like a flavor that’s having a moment, and I think that would be good in ice cream.”
And once produce season returns, local sourcing will follow.
White said “wherever we can partner with local restaurants and businesses” we will.
“Once (the farmer’s market) is back, that’s where I’m getting all my mint,” she said.
That attention to details shows in the taste. There’s no shortage of legacy sweets mixing IP just because someone tweeted out “What if we mixed Oreos and Reese’s?” and then the companies threw a cookie in a peanut butter cup almost as fast as they put them on shelves.
Hoopla’s Funky Donkey isn’t that. The peanut butter ice cream has an intentional savory hint to balance what could otherwise be an overly sweet, stomach ache-inducing concoction.
“(The flavors aren’t) just for the sake of being weird,” Hopkins said. “They’re all very delicious, too.”
One of the three options offered at the Anarchy pop-up was Purple Nurple, a lilac-colored ice cream with chocolate raspberry truffles and taro root, that had no business being as tasty as it was. It takes a certain amount of confidence to incorporate a root vegetable into an ice cream, and that kind of risk-taking definitely makes Hoopla’s ice cream stand out from others.
This is not to say that the first roll-out was flawless – the caramelized corn flakes in the Kaiju Crunch could’ve been crunchier, and the chocolate raspberry truffles could’ve been chopped up throughout the Purple Nurple pint instead of just on top – but the taste is there, and judging by the turnout, Durango has plenty of willing guinea pigs.
For now, Hoopla plans to offer its products, including its bright pink merchandise, at pop-ups or events. There isn’t a brick and mortar location planned, but White and Hopkins did recently purchase a trailer that’s being fitted to serve scoops and cones, possibly at the farmer’s market. You can find updates via Hoopla’s Instagram account, or sign up for news about new flavor drops on Hotplate.com/Hoopla.
Also, because the pair both still work full time, the flexibility to make their own hours, instead of a building and overhead dictating a schedule to them, is crucial because it allows them to adapt their business model to the environment and rate of growth.
The Hoopla founders said Durango is the environment they want to be in, and the long-term goal for growth is to make ice cream their full-time jobs.
“This is the transition,” Hopkins said. “AI is coming for all the marketing jobs.”
“Hopefully, AI can’t make and sell ice cream any time soon,” White said with a laugh.
But perhaps Hopkins distilled Hoopla’s vibe best: “Selling ice cream with your homie.”
sbeckwith@durangoherald.com
