Cold, Creamy Beer, Corn, and Wasabi

“Not every flavor is for everybody, here.”A co-owner of Max & Mina’s, Bruce Becker, gestured toward one of his shop walls, where a menu of beer, corn, wasabi, sour cream, and lox reads more like a picnic or sushi menu than a list of ice cream confections.While locals in neighboring Flushing appear to have fallen under the low-calorie spell of Pinkberry and Red Mango — the competing frozen yogurt chains opened last year within a few doors of each other on Roosevelt Avenue near Main Street — the residents of Kew Gardens Hills begin filing into Max & Mina’s even before lunch. If the offbeat selections are off-putting, there is no evidence of that on this stretch of Main Street, where the ice cream shop has been scooping out its homemade goods for more than a decade.On a recent morning, the store’s self-described “best customers,” Gela Varna and her two sons, ages 5 and 6, were eating up cones filled with circus and cookie monster ice cream. Ms. Varna sat between her two young companions on a bench near the service counter. “We come here every day,” she said with a laugh, “but don’t tell my husband.”At Max & Mina’s, ice cream lovers with adventurous palates can satiate themselves with an expansive rotation of more than 1,000 flavors, as well as an undeniably soft, certified kosher product that owes its rich constitution in part to a 60% butterfat content. In the shop’s beer ice cream, one can detect notes of sweet vanilla and the aftertaste of good ale; a new sour cream variation features chocolate chips and toffee, deliciously combining sweetness with acid, and the circus flavor can only be described as an explosion of fruity sugaryness. One flavor with the moniker “Roker-licious,” which was created for the “Today” show weatherman, Al Roker, has serious “bite,” as Mr. Becker described it. The super-spicy ice cream is made from a peppery mixture, with chunks of piping-hot peppers, too. Needless to say, the fiery flavor truly pushes the limit of how one thinks ice cream should taste — which is fine by Mr. Becker.Since opening the shop with his brother, Mark, in 1997, Mr. Becker, 40, has become accustomed to the initial skepticism of his customers. “Our favorite part is just to test people’s boundaries,” he said. And it is just such fearlessness that has made the venture a success. A collaboration with Dylan’s Candy Bar is in the offing, tourists drop in regularly to sample the chocolate or coffee babka flavors, and boldface names including Mayor Bloomberg and Donald Trump have also made appearances. Framed photographs of the famed New Yorkers adorn the heavily-decorated walls, sharing the space with a photograph of the store’s namesakes, grandparents Max and Mina. Mr. Becker’s grandfather, Max Sockloff, was a Columbia University-educated organic chemist who created toothpaste formulas and, as a hobby, made his own ice cream.Years later, his grandsons have churned out a sweet life. Single scoop cup or cone, $2.85; double scoop, $5.60; pint, $7.50; quart, $9.50 at Max & Mina’s (71-26 Main St. at 71st Road, Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, 718-793-8629).

Cold, Creamy Beer, Corn, and Wasabi

Cold, Creamy Beer, Corn, and Wasabi

More from the New York Sun

‘Woke Insanity’: Scottish Museum Pulls Ancient Egyptian Mummy Citing Inability to Secure ‘Consent’ From Remains

Voting Made Easier for Rikers Island Inmates And 7,000 in New York City Jails

Democrat Blames Loss to El-Sayed on Fake Polling as Wedgewood’s ‘Social Experiment’ Exposes the ‘Pollercoaster’

Trump Says He Told Ramaswamy To Run Ad Featuring Opponent’s Estranged Mother Excoriating Sexually Abused Daughter

Exclusive: Elon Musk’s Employees Lose Enthusiasm for Democrats, Company Donations Disclose

Eyes Turn to Mississippi Senate Races Where Both Parties Are Now Investing Millions, as Trump, Harris Travel to State

Wealth-Tax Advocate Gabriel Zucman Coaxes California Closer to French Fiscal Folly

Stakes Are High as Supreme Court Weighs Whether To Let Trump Deport Mahmoud Khalil

More from the New York Sun

‘Woke Insanity’: Scottish Museum Pulls Ancient Egyptian Mummy Citing Inability to Secure ‘Consent’ From Remains

Voting Made Easier for Rikers Island Inmates And 7,000 in New York City Jails

Democrat Blames Loss to El-Sayed on Fake Polling as Wedgewood’s ‘Social Experiment’ Exposes the ‘Pollercoaster’

Trump Says He Told Ramaswamy To Run Ad Featuring Opponent’s Estranged Mother Excoriating Sexually Abused Daughter

Exclusive: Elon Musk’s Employees Lose Enthusiasm for Democrats, Company Donations Disclose

Eyes Turn to Mississippi Senate Races Where Both Parties Are Now Investing Millions, as Trump, Harris Travel to State

Wealth-Tax Advocate Gabriel Zucman Coaxes California Closer to French Fiscal Folly

Stakes Are High as Supreme Court Weighs Whether To Let Trump Deport Mahmoud Khalil