They say that smell is the strongest sense tied to memory. A whiff of a certain perfume or home-cooked meal and you’re transported back in time. Seana O’Neill offers a rival sense to bring about the nostalgia: taste. Her company, Pedal Sassy, is in the business of offering small-batch, artisan ice cream with certain flavors inspired by sweet summer memories.
pedalsassy
Growing up on a horse farm in cow country in upstate New York offered O’Neill the opportunity to have great ice cream nearly every day. It also gave her a special familiarity with the individual ingredients that make up her product, allowing her to dish out a “true ice cream experience.” Summers spent biking, eating sweet corn and drinking margaritas have inspired such flavors as Strawberry Cream Margarita and Kentucky Peaches and Cream Corn.
Summer and ice cream are nearly synonymous, so when O’Neill and I caught up on an August afternoon, the three samples she set before me were more than welcome. O’Neill strives to only use fresh, in-season ingredients from local farmers, bought at the Lexington Farmers Market. As I’m filling my mouth with IPA Peach, in honor of IPA (Indian Pale Ale) day, O’Neill tells me that she and the farmers are starting to be on a first-name basis, as their tables can inspire her flavors as well as fill her ingredient needs.
The first thing I notice as I let the ice cream linger, attempting to taste it the way wine tasters do wine, is the way the flavors are all distinct, yet none are overpowering. They are individual, yet marrying together.
Sometimes with ice cream, there can be a somewhat filmy residue left over. That is not the case with Pedal Sassy. The ice cream goes down clean and even refreshing. As I comment on this, O’Neill explains her ice-cream theory. First, it is small batch. This means that each bit of ice cream eaten under the Pedal Sassy name has been handmade by O’Neill. She makes a quart to a quart and a half at a time, with each step of the process guided by her hand. Second, simplicity is the order of the day, as the ingredients are basic.
Her website explains, “Exotic flavors, candies and/or other fancy add-ins are not used in Pedal Sassy ice cream [as] keeping it simple creates ice cream that is versatile.”
My next sample was The Kentucky Goddess. O’Neill introduces it as “the one that started it all.” The flavor is distinctly vanilla, and yet, it has an edge of bourbon. It is beautifully done; the bourbon, which is normally too strong a flavor for me, plays nicely with the vanilla, as the more neutral flavor softens the harder liquor.
On top of using local ingredients, any alcohol she uses is always top of the line. O’Neill’s friends are another form of inspiration for her, as creating ice cream using their favorite mixed drinks or liquor is a fun way to come up with new ideas. One particular friend was having a birthday celebration at Sidebar Grill, and as O’Neill’s homemade ice cream is her signature dish, she brought along The Kentucky Goddess. She cautiously asked the Grill if bringing in ice cream would be okay, and with their approval, the flavor was a hit. As a thank you to Sidebar, she gave them the leftover ice cream. Soon, those at Sidebar were proposing that O’Neill make them ice cream to use in their dishes. She agreed and has even been granted access to their kitchen to make and test her creations.
As for the pedal part of Pedal Sassy, O’Neill is very open (and hoping) to handle deliveries on her beloved bike. She longs to “figure out what else [she] can do for the community,” and delivering to local restaurants is one thing the future may hold for her.
Another way that she contributes is by offering vegan alternatives to many of her flavors. O’Neill never uses eggs in any of her ice cream, and through trial and error, has come up with a way to give something to those who otherwise may not be able to enjoy it. Her inspiration? A trip to New York and a visit to a vegan restaurant where milkshakes were being served.
My final sample, The Kentucky Buckeye, was a vegan version that seemed to have forgotten how to taste vegan. I’m not entirely familiar with many vegan dishes, but I haven’t met one that I’ve enjoyed so far. I do believe, however, that if I were vegan, I could live entirely off of The Kentucky Buckeye. Chocolate, peanut butter and bourbon make this ice cream rich and delicious. O’Neill is a pioneer for creating a product that makes the most of Lexington’s local ingredients as well as keeps the community at large in consideration.
If there were a Nobel Peace Prize for ice cream, and there should be, I would put my vote in right now for O’Neill’s concoctions. I scoop some more in my mouth and feel the different flavors dance. This would bring peace to the Middle East, if only there were a way to keep it frozen on the battlefield.