Viking Feast Ice Cream

Excellent ice creamery with a theme I can get behind! I had the Dark Elf Delight, which turned out to be even better than it sounds. The tangy-​ness of frozen yogurt with the richness and density of… really good ice cream. Would recommend to a friend.

Vikings are making ice cream.
Yes, the chocolate pieces are big inside. Yes, the flavors are bold and adventurous.
I can’t believe people on Unilocal nit pick about the real chunks of chocolate in this product. Or peanuts that are soft, because they absorb moisture. Psha! If you want boring ice cream, go buy boring ice cream.
If you want Viking ice cream, buy Viking Feast!
That being said, I’ll see you at Viking Fest this May!

Excellent ice cream from nice people! The Sea God’s Caramel is my favorite. If you’re lucky enough to catch them at a farmer’s market or fair you’ll also be treated to a waffle cone prepared on the iron before your eyes.
I love the texture, which is rougher than most grocery store ice cream, but in a very good way that enhances the flavor while drawing attention to its artisan small batch quality. Folks who are used to commercial ice creams loaded with stabilizers, corn syrup, and high ingredient counts who mistakenly equate «smooth» with «good texture» may need to adjust their thinking and get used to a few cones.
I even like the way the label isn’t aligned perfectly on the carton. I have yet to try their ice cream in a root beer float, but I bet that’s a real treat.

I buy through my co-​op on the Key Peninsula. I don’t find the fruit flavors to be so interesting but the chocolate is perfection — rich flavor, not too sweet, perfect texture. Dark Elf, Orange of the Underworld (choc with a hint of orange) and Hels Revenge are my favorite ice cream ever!

I’ve decided to keep my original review up and just add flavors as I try them.
The first I’d heard of this place was this line at work. «So there’s this guy named THOR. He has a secret factory where he and his wife make ice cream while their daughter plays in the factory. Also, you need to know the secret knock to enter.» By this point, I was already sold. Further research on their website and reading the backstories of each flavor cemented my decision. I had to try this ice cream.
As soon as I walked into the subtly named VIKING ICE CREAM FORGE, the first thing I noticed was how disheveled everything looked. Obviously the Viking family had conquered this store front. And that was when I first laid eyes on Thor.
Wearing a Mortal Kombat t-​shirt.
Nothing against MK, but my image of a mighty Viking warlord venturing into long-​forgotten lands in search of the finest ice cream ingredients was instantly shattered. That being said, Thor, and his assistant (whom I shall now refer to as Son of Thor) were especially nice and helpful when I started asking about flavors. Pints are five dollars apiece, which is okay.
I waited to finish this review until I had a few flavors under my belt, specifically the Mint Chocolate Chip based on a previous review. In order of tasting:
Arctic Vanilla — Pretty good. Viking Feast’s ice cream has skyr as one of it’s main ingredients, so the taste isn’t as bluntly sweet as typical ice cream. Otherwise, this was regular vanilla.
Dark Elf Delight — Really good. Again, not as sugary sweet as I’m used to, but the dark chocolate they use here tasted great.
Mint Chocolate Chip — Not impressed with this flavor at all. I could smell the mint extract coming from the pint, but the color and taste were very plain, like a flavorless white ice cream. Had about 1 or 2 chocolate chips in each bite.
Berserker’s Booty — Really nice. BB is one of their selections with a beer mixed in. BB has Valhöll Brewing’s British Black Ale, because of course it does.
Currently Untitled Root Beer — When I went in recently to pick up a pint for my inlaws, I saw an unlabeled pint with root beer written on it. Now we’re talking. Thor explained the origins of the root beer flavor. Apparently they’ll create customized flavors when requested. Root beer was made for a birthday, so happy birthday and thank you to whoever this was crafted for. It’s my favorite flavor so far, and I hope it becomes a regular selection.
Blue Thunder — Really? I understand supporting the home team, but come on! You guys and Minnesota share the SAME NAME! Anyway, this flavor was okay. I’m not normally a fan of fruity ice cream, but fans would enjoy it. It’s also the best packaging of the group.
Viking Feast gets an A for it’s theme. The building is located on Viking Way within sight of the statue. Even their open sign sticks with the theme. The packaging looks nice, with each ice cream having a little backstory on the back. I’ll be supporting them on a regular basis, but they really need to start dressing up more than at the local festivals. Maybe just have Son of Thor put on some gauntlets. Something.

I only know one thing about these guys: they have captured the Sea God’s pee and put it into a carton. I have never been physically transported to heaven, yet when I bite into «Sea God’s Caramel» I am whisked to a magical place full of sweet and savory saltiness. Was it heaven?

I love ice cream in every way shape or form, so it says a lot that I couldn’t even finish my carton of Mint Chocolate Chip from Viking Feast Ice Cream. Like others, I was really eager to support a local company and was willing to pay more to support a local company. I don’t cook or bake or any of that, but even I know that you can’t just toss mint extract into ice cream and call it good. This is pretty much what they did. They threw in chocolate chips so I got one every three bites or so, but the ice cream itself tasted like I was sampling flavors from Mom’s spice cabinet like the old days. Was very disappointed. And like I said, I’ll pretty much eat everything when it comes to ice cream.

I found them at a local farmers’ market. I tried the salted caramel ice cream (don’t remember the name) and thought it was really delicious.
As other people said, it’s not exactly ice cream as you may know it because it’s made of skyr instead of the stuff that makes ice cream so rich and fatty. Personally, I prefer that, as regular ice cream tends to hurt my stomach from being too rich and sweet.
I got the small size for a great price and still got a TON of ice cream.
The guy helping us was very friendly and knowledgeable about the process they used to make their ice cream and I thought that was great too. Definitely would go back! :D

I stopped into the store this afternoon with my daughter after a long day in the sun riding bikes. I often see their vendor booth at fairs and festivals and have ALWAYS been really happy with the flavors I’ve chosen, so I figured «Why not go into the store and get some fresh?»
Long story short. best part of my day (and I had an AWESOME day, mind you)! I chose their dark chocolate flavor, and a peanut butter flavor with bits of dark chocolate. I originally went in there hoping to get some of their orange creamsicle, but they were all sold out for the day of that flavor, so I «settled» for those two. Poor me, right?
I’m in love with the ice cream, the owners are always very friendly and super generous with samples, and it’s local. slam dunk for me!

I agree 100% with Dusty P.‘s review.

The branding and packaging is cute, but the ice cream itself sucks.
I know they are local to WA, which is why I tried to support them, but if you are going to get a product in stores (even small runs like Central market) you need to have something that actually feels like ice cream in my mouth, not freaking sand paper. This stuff takes crystallization to a whole new level.
As for the flavor I got, «Banana Crunch», it was pretty embarrassingly thrown together. I get the feeling that these people just don’t have an idea of what makes for good ice cream. All it is is banana flavored ice cream, whole peanuts, and whole chocolate chips from a bag.
The banana ice cream is apparently made from «banana purée», but it tasted incredibly artificial despite saying otherwise on the package. It really tasted like a banana snow cone (i.e. pure syrup) which isn’t the flavor I am expecting to taste when something says it’s all natural.
The biggest offense here were the «crunch» aspect of the flavor. There is a reason most ice cream companies choose flat chocolate strips or flakes if something has chocolate chips in it… it’s because a frozen solid ball of chocolate hurts your teeth. Oh it «crunched» alright, but not the kind you enjoy. And the peanuts? They absorbed too much of the moisture from the ice cream, so they were soft as corn niblets. Gross.
My wife bought me a Kitchen Aid ice cream maker last year and honestly it’s SUPER easy to come up with logical ice cream combinations. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that super hard, chocolate chips from a bag and whole nuts not coated in anything are both bad ideas.
I hope they can pull it together, because I hate to bag on a local company… but I won’t be buying their product again.

Picture this: You come across the water in a cold November rain, buffeted by waves, with a quaint village coming into vision. Your ship quietly pulls up to the shore. A ravenous, disheveled horde pours out of the boat and marches to the village. You find the last of the village’s stores… and celebrate when you realize they have skyr milk ice cream!
So perhaps it’s context, but I really liked the ice cream. We ran into the final Bainbridge farmer’s market of the year and wished our hotel room had a small kitchen. Beautiful produce, and then ice cream! I’m a sucker for ice cream, and the «Viking» style fit the weather. I tasted three, and I think I settled on a more boring-​sounding vanilla that was far from boring. All were smooth and delicious.
We only sampled their cream this once, so… Iciness can come from thawing and re-​freezing; it’s possible the skyr needs to be kept colder in transit. We were there during a cold week without such issues. And it’s not like I could have held off eating it long enough for it to melt.
(Plus, I’m part Irish, so I know where the cows came from… *cough*)

I picked up some of their strawberry ice cream at Ballard Market. At first, I was able to look beyond the fact that it lacked any sort of creamy texture — you know, like ice cream — because it tasted *okay.* Still, not ice cream. But I cannot look beyond the random thing I bit into while eating it. It’s white, circular, hard, waxy texture (see my uploaded picture — yes it’s hard enough to hold a toothpick up). It turned a mediocre ice cream experience into the worst ice cream experience of my life. Creepy, even.
I sent them an email on August 29^th. It’s now November 23^rd and I have yet to hear back. Apparently they don’t give a damn.
You’d be smart to avoid this «ice cream.»

I tried the Viking Fest Saga’s Wild Strawberry «ice Cream» for the first time today… it’s not really ice cream as we know it, but more like a sherbet. Flavor was ok.

I found Viking Feast Ice Cream at the Central Market in Seattle. It is a small batch ice cream made with Skyr (an Icelandic soft cheese) and locally resourced ingredients. I’m prepared to stand-​by this product until they solve the ice crystallization issue that seems to plague some of their flavors. This directly detracts from the «mouthfeel» of of their product which in my estimation is the most pleasurable aspects of eating ice cream.
I appreciate their creativity and willingness to push conventional flavor profiles. I’ve enjoyed their Dark Chocolate and White Out immensely. Regretfully, all the fruit based flavors that I have tried have been heavily crystallized and cinnamon overpowered their Blackberry ice cream. In fact, the fruit notes could be brighter in all of their fruit based ice creams. I like that they use natural ingredients and keep them to a minimum except for the ubiquitous stabilizers (carrageenan and guar gum). Viking Feast, if Haagen Daz can get by without stabilizers why not you?
I make my own ice cream during the Summer and all I have to worry about is getting from my freezer to the bowl. I’m sure the logistics of transporting significant volumes of product from the plant to the stores without thawing and refreezing are much more problematic. I wish you all the success and I look forward to updating this review.

I really hope that I will be able to improve upon this rating, however my experience so far has been mediocre.
First I tried the White Out (Coconut in White Chocolate) and I loved the flavor but the texture was off, lots if crystallization in the pint. The second one I tried was because someone said it was their favorite, it was the blackberry one and it was pretty gross, there was WAY TOO MUCH Cinnamon in it and it overpowered the whole thing, I couldn’t even get a taste of the berry. The same thing happened when I tried the peach one… no peach flavor all cinnamon. Also the textures were messed up on these as well. I threw away those two pints because I couldn’t continue to eat them, they were so terrible.
The ray of light in this is the pint that I picked up today… POLAR BEAR TRACKS!!! This pint of ice cream is AMAZING! However it does not redeem the previous bad experiences. I will keep trying. I hear Caramel Apple was good, waiting to see that hit the shelves.

Viking Feast Ice Cream is quite yummy. I picked up my first two pints at the Masi shop (Pumpkin and Dark Chocolate). The flavors are great and the consistency is quite good. Both containers, however, did contain some ice crystallization which suggests to me that they may have thawed and been refrozen which is unfortunate.
There are days when the plant on Stottlemeyer Road is supposed to be open for visitors so I will plan on stopping by and getting some directly from the source. Will update after I do. Lots of potential here.