LOCAL

Which ice cream flavor does RI like that the rest of the US does not? Here's the scoop:

Paul Edward Parker
The Providence Journal
Emilee Flynn, an assistant manager at Wright's Creamery in North Smithfield, holds a cone with coffee Oreo ice cream, which ranks as Rhode Islanders' third-favorite flavor, according to an informal survey of ice cream shops.

You just knew Rhode Islanders had to be different, didn't you?

A national dairy industry group just came out with a list of the nation's most popular ice cream flavors, according to the people who run ice cream shops.

Top 5 ice cream flavors in the US

The Top 5, as counted by the International Dairy Foods Association:

1. Cookies 'n' cream

2. Vanilla

3. Chocolate

4. Mint chocolate chip

5. Strawberry

More:Strawberries are ripe and ready for a 'pick your own adventure' at local RI farms

RI Best:22 can't miss food and drink adventures for summer 2022

RI's tastes differ

The Providence Journal decided to see whether Rhode Islanders' taste matches the nation — dumb question, right?

So, we surveyed more than a dozen ice cream shops across the state.

We checked from the smallest town — New Shoreham — and smallest city — Central Falls — to the largest metropolis — Providence — and urban and rural places in between.

Despite that impressive data-collection effort, this was still a highly unscientific survey.

We asked ice cream shop owners and managers to rank their five top sellers, and then we assigned five points for each No. 1 seller down to one point for each No. 5 seller.

And we found one flavor profile that's a winner in Rhode Island that's missing from the national list: coffee.

Well, duh!

After all, the official state drink is coffee milk.

More:Your 2022 guide to great summer food in RI, including can't-miss restaurants

While coffee Oreo ice cream landed in the third spot in The Journal's survey, coffee is part of several other best-selling flavors listed by the shop owners, including cappuccino crunch, coffee Heath Bar and, of course, just plain coffee.

Also, the state's top flavor, chocolate chip cookie dough, isn't in the national Top 5, but Rhode Islanders don't feel nearly as proprietary about that flavor.

And Rhode Islanders are not as fond of mint chocolate chip as the rest of the country is.

Customers discuss their orders at The Wright Scoop in North Smithfield, one of more than a dozen ice cream shops surveyed in Rhode Island.

Best rooftop bars and restaurants in RI:Summer dining and drinks are sweet at these 10 spots

RI's top 5 ice cream flavors

1. Chocolate chip cookie dough

2. Vanilla

3. Coffee Oreo

4. Chocolate

5. Peanut butter caramel cookie dough

The shops surveyed for this story were:

Aldo's Bakery, Block Island; Brickley's, Wakefield; Dari Bee, East Providence; Hill-Top Creamery, East Greenwich; Hope Creamery, Providence; Iggy's Creamery, Warwick; Josie's, Cumberland; Kilwin's, Newport; Lil' Rhody Ice Cream, West Warwick; Lincoln Creamery, Lincoln; Mimi and Pop's, Central Falls; Newport Creamery, Barrington; Riverside Creamery, East Providence; and the Wright Scoop, North Smithfield.