The Spirited Licks Story

Ice cream is simple until you add alcohol. Then it becomes chemistry.

Spirited Licks grew out of two professional instincts working in the same kitchen. I spent years behind a bar, where balance and proof matter in every glass. At home, I share that kitchen with a registered dietitian who is also a retired food scientist. She thinks in ratios, temperature curves, and structural stability.

When alcohol meets dairy, both disciplines apply.

Most boozy ice cream recipes fail for predictable reasons. Too much spirit and the base never sets. Too little and the flavor disappears. Different machines complicate it. A frozen bowl behaves differently than a compressor. A Ninja Creami behaves differently than both.

So we built a system.

Every recipe is written three ways. Traditional churn. Cuisinart-style frozen bowl. Ninja Creami. The alcohol is measured carefully. The fat and sugar levels are deliberate. The ingredients are listed in grams first, not cups. A digital scale is not optional here. Precision matters when dairy, alcohol, and freezing point meet in the same bowl.

The texture is tested before it ever reaches the page.
The six recipes in this guide show the range. Caramel and bourbon. Citrus and triple sec. Matcha and Japanese whisky. Bitter Italian aperitivo. Tropical rum. Honeyed Scotch liqueur.
The full collection contains 52 recipes, one for each week of the year, organized by season.

Start anywhere. Lick the bowl!
Jon