Chicago Chocolate Tours

National Ice Cream Month? Why not? Of course as long as chocolate is involved, any idea is a good idea, right!

July has officially been National Ice Cream Month since 1984, and National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday of the month. This year, the big day is Sunday, July 15.

What does all of this mean for chocolate lovers? Chicago Chocolate Tours will highlight ice cream treats throughout the month, by inviting tourguests to sample scrumptious ice creams at participating stores, at no extra charge. And, our tours on July 15 will include a full-on ice cream extravaganza. Enjoy ice cream the Chicago Chocolate Tours way!

Meanwhile, what's the scoop on ice cream? While chocolate was cultivated and enjoyed by the Olmec people in Central America as early as 4,000 years ago, and frozen treats were popular millennia ago in Asia when Chinese emperors sent their slaves to the mountains for ice to mix with fruit and possibly yak's milk, ice cream became popular among the elites of Europe - without chocolate - in the 1500s in Italy, and then spread to France, England, and elsewhere. Catherine di Medici had an ice cream recipe in the 1500s, Charles I loved it in the 1600s, and George Washington spent $200 on ice cream one summer in the 1700s. Today, after industrial techniques of the 1800s that made ice cream more affordable for all, Americans spend $20 billion per year on this creamy delight.

Ice cream and chocolate eventually converged into not only chocolate ice cream, but also hot fudge sundaes, and chocolate milshakes; the latter were created in the 1880s as a healthful tonic, often including ingredients such as eggs and whiskey!

For the 21st century versions of chocolate ice cream, sundaes, and milshakes, see you on a July Chicago Chocolate Tour!

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