Soda jerk hats, bow ties, and cherry aprons bring a feeling of nostalgia to the St. John Scoops experience.
Almost everything there is to do on St. John can be made better with ice cream — relaxing after a day at the beach, satisfying that dessert craving after a lovely dinner, or browsing the island’s shops. With the opening of the new St. John Scoops, conveniently located at the front corner of Mongoose Junction, life on St. John has become that much sweeter.
Nowhere else on St. John will you find such a carefully crafted collection of homemade creams and ices, superfood smoothies, coffee, and other snacks. The “Scoops” menu, which features ice creams, sorbets, and alcohol-infused concoctions, changes daily. St. John Scoops owner Colette Rethage, who formerly owned I Scream!, has been in the ice cream business for more than eight years on St. John. She makes all the Scoops on-site fresh daily and uses all-natural ingredients whenever possible.
Locals and tourists alike are flocking to St. John Scoops for a taste of their delicious ice creams.
100 Different Flavors
“The fruit ice creams are all natural, made with fruit purees, and then on the other end of the spectrum, I have flavors like bubble gum and root beer,” said Rethage. “I have almost 100 different flavors that I’ve created recipes for, and I’ll continue to create flavors as I go.”
Local flavors like mango, passion fruit, tamarind, and guava are current customer favorites, while Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, York peppermint chip, Oreo cookies and cream, Ghirardelli double chocolate chip, and espresso are also tantalizingly delicious. Some of the more exotic flavors that will soon hit the menu include green tea, strawberry basil, lavender honey, maple bacon, and of course, salted caramel.
Adults Only Menu
You’ll find adults-only menu items like Cruzan rum runner, Stoli Orange creamsicle, and painkiller-flavored ice creams, along with an amazing champagne sorbet that’s been a huge hit in the two short weeks that St. John Scoops has been open. Fans of St. John Brewers’ beers will be happy to know that Rethage plans to feature whatever Kevin and Cheech are creating in the brewery that week, like their Coffee Stout or the new Amber Ale, in her ice creams.
In addition to a wide range of frozen sweet treats, Rethage is selling her raw, vegan, gluten-free superfood smoothies that earned her a following at I Scream!.
“They’re made with fresh frozen fruits, no ice, and I’ve created a proprietary blend of more than 65 different superfoods for each smoothie,” she said. “They’re mixed with hemp milk, almond milk, or pineapple juice, and you can add vegan plant protein or hemp protein to the smoothies to make them a complete meal.”
Rethage makes a mean quinoa granola that’s packed with protein, which she’s also selling at St. John Scoops, and she even puts the granola in a few of her smoothies. You can get your caffeine fix here too, with a nice strong cup of Virgin Islands Coffee Roasters’ Fair Trade Organic Sumatran Mandheling coffee, as well as iced coffee and green tea.
Mongoose Junction owner and original builder Glen Speer was so excited about the idea of an ice cream shop at the beautiful island shopping center, he built out an entirely new spot for St. John Scoops, right on the corner of Mongoose’s entrance under the steps leading to St. John Insurance.
“Glen had this amazing vision of a lovely little ice cream shop right there,” said Rethage. “I gave him the dimensions of every piece of equipment I needed to fit inside, and he built exactly what I wanted. What transpired from his vision is just astonishingly beautiful.”
A small patio with tables and chairs gives patrons the opportunity to sit, relax, and savor the flavors of Rethage’s delicious creations. Soda jerk hats, bow ties, and retro cherry aprons worn by those behind the counter at St. John Scoops lend an air of nostalgia to the whole experience.
St. John Scoops is open daily from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. To see which delicious flavors are being made each day, follow St. John Scoops on Facebook.
