How to Plan the Perfect Ice Cream Crawl
4 min read ·
An ice cream crawl is the best way to compare scoops head-to-head — if you do it right.
Pick 3-5 shops, not more
Past 5 shops, palate fatigue sets in. The sixth scoop tastes muddy. The seventh you'll regret. Three to five is the sweet spot — enough to compare meaningfully without ruining the chase.
Choose shops in close proximity so walking time matches palate-reset time. Conequest's map view lets you cluster nearby shops visually before planning your route.
Order strategy
Order from lightest to richest. Sorbet first. Then vanilla or a clean flavor. Save chocolate, caramel, and intensely sweet flavors for late in the crawl. Going dark first dulls everything that follows.
Get the smallest portion at each shop. A scoop at five shops is a normal person's amount of ice cream. A double at each becomes a regret.
Hydrate + reset
Drink water between shops. A bite of plain bread or a sip of unsweet tea between scoops resets the palate. Avoid coffee — its bitterness lingers.
Walk 10-15 minutes between stops if you can. Your tongue needs the temperature reset; the slight hunger return makes scoop two as enjoyable as scoop one.
Log immediately
Snap a photo and log the scoop while you're still tasting it. By scoop three, you'll forget what scoop one tasted like. Conequest's offline-first logging means a slow signal at the back of a shop doesn't lose your entry.
Build the crawl in Conequest beforehand as a multi-shop crawl. Each shop pre-populates. Each scoop logs against the planned route. At the end, the crawl is a single shareable timeline.
Start logging your scoops
Conequest is the all-in-one ice cream app. Free on iOS and web.