One taste, and you’ll go nuts.
That was the original slogan of Mr. Dewie’s first non-dairy ice cream in 2011. Almost 15 years later, the popular cashew ice cream shop is opening its fourth store.
The new location in Walnut Creek will extend Mr. Dewie’s reach from Albany, Emeryville and Oakland all the way to downtown Walnut Creek.
“It’ll blow you away,” said owner Andrew Cohen. “It’s blown people away for 15 years.”
Created because both Andrew and Ari Cohen could’t eat dairy, Mr. Dewie’s was originally an almond-milk based ice cream that quickly found its way into major grocery stores, including Whole Foods, up and down the West Coast.
But drought issues in California made it expensive to grow almonds, so the brothers made a decision to cash out of the almond-milk ice cream business and cash in on cashews.
They opened their first scoop shop in Albany on Solano Avenue and “it was an instant success,” Andrew Cohen said. They quickly expanded to Emeryville and Oakland.
Their product evolved after a customer connected them to a cashew distributor in Tanzania, where they now purchase all of their cashews.
“We said, ‘if they’re organic and tasty, let’s try them,’” Cohen said. “They are phenomenal. I didn’t realize there’s such a difference in cashews from where they’re grown.”
After the cashews are imported, they’re roasted in Mr. Dewie’s San Leandro kitchen and made into 16 flavors of ice cream.
“Everything is vegan, dairy-free, soy-free, gluten-free and additive-free,” Cohen said. “They’re all natural, organic products. High in protein. It’s quite good for you except that it has sugar.”
The most popular flavor is the caramel almond crunch, the only flavor that uses coconut palm sugar instead of cane sugar. It provides a flavor profile that combines nicely with natural caramel flavor, then is mixed together with roasted almonds to make a crunchy and creamy ice cream.
Chocolate cookie crumble, mocha chip, chocolate orange chip and strawberry are among the most popular flavors, Cohen said.
Mr. Dewie’s also sells freshly-packed pints to go, ice cream sandwiches and Dewie Dippers, which are ice cream sandwiches dipped in chocolate.
The Walnut Creek location will open on or around March 1.
“We’re the most popular unknown ice cream shop,” Cohen said. “You either have known us for a long time or never heard of us. You have to try it.”
Details: Opening soon at 1521 Cypress Street in Walnut Creek; mrdewies.com.
