Orange creamsicle. Banana split. Jack Daniels Chocolate. Blueberry Poptart. These are just of the few unique flavors you’ll find at recently opened Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream in Koko Marina Center. The shop took over the former Bubbies Ice Cream space, which was recently home to Moena Sweets.
The dessert shop is celebrating its grand opening on Saturday, June 7, from 12 to 9 p.m., according to Trang Hammond, who owns the business with her husband, Ryan. The grand opening event is designed for the community to enjoy, with support from other local businesses. Keiki can enjoy free glitter tattoos from 12 to 3 p.m. Attendees will also have the chance to win gift cards from Moena Café, Boba’s Crystals and custom crocheted ice cream pint totes.
“I have some friends in the community that do art,” business owner Trang Hammond says. “We’ll have custom-made artwork just for the grand opening. The first 25 people in line will get free ice cream, no questions asked. The grand prize is free ice cream for a whole year.”
The business, known for its premium ice cream that’s handmade in small batches by Ryan, originally opened in 2014 in San Diego. The Hammonds sold it once they moved to Hawaiʻi about nine years ago.
“We wanted to have an owner that was there in San Diego to take care of it, but after Covid-19, they weren’t able to sustain it,” she says. “We had wanted to open an ice cream shop here — Hammond’s was available again; the person we sold it to closed it, so we reopened it. Basically, it’s full circle; we’re re-doing everything that we did.”
The shop is especially known for its ice cream flights, complete with mini waffle cones, which are made in house. Flights include two to six mini scoops of ice cream.
“Ryan came up with the idea to do flights because we have so many flavors,” Hammond says. “He, of course, has the beer flights when he goes to breweries. The idea was, how can we create an experience where you can try a bunch — like sample — but still experience the ice cream cone in each. I executed a tray that has the mini waffle cones in it, but Ryan came up with the idea that it should be a flight.
“The flights allow our customers to experience a bunch and have fun with it,” she adds. “I like the flights because people sit down. They don’t just walk and get ice cream; it gets people to really interact. I feel like we really need that nowadays.”
Customers can still try samples of ice cream — which is necessary with about 20 flavors to choose from — and popular choices include dragon fruit cream, Jack Daniel's Chocolate, banana pudding and mango sorbet.
“The Jack Daniel's chocolate has Jack Daniels just for the taste,” Hamnond says. “It’s really interesting; all the sorbets are really good. All of our sorbettos and sorbets are oatmilk-based.”
For our flight, we got cookies and cream, orange creamsicle, mango sorbet, blueberry poptart, caramel praline and dragon fruit cream. The orange creamsicle and mango sorbets were especially refreshing. If you’re looking for a more traditional flavor, though, the cookies and cream is a winner. I wouldn’t hesitate to drive 30 minutes to this shop just to get it again. The caramel praline is another unique flavor that we enjoyed because of its delightful crunch.
During our visit, the shop ran out of Vietnamese caramel coffee — which I highly recommend getting if you’re a coffee lover.
If you decide on a single scoop instead of a flight, you can still get a split scoop to try more than one flavor. The shop also offers affogatos ($6.25) and ice cream floats ($5.50).
“We live here in Hawaiʻi Kai; our children go to school here,” Hammond says. “It was about creating a space for the community, but we’re also realizing that there was a need to have a handmade product.
“Our logo is a sun coming out of a cloud,” she adds. “There’s always a light at the end of the tunnel; that’s what our logo represents.”
CONTACT
Hammond’s Gourmet Ice Cream
Koko Marina Center
7190 Kalaniana‘ole Hwy. Ste. D-103, Honolulu
808-354-7201
hammondsgourmet.com
Instagram: @hammondsicecream
Open daily, 12-9 p.m.
Kelli Shiroma Braiotta can be reached at kelli@alohastatedaily.com.
