Clumpies Ice Cream has been surprising Chattanoogans and its visitors with often-unexpected flavors since 1999. Image by Tom Adkinson

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Ask a Chattanooga resident for the scoop on a great dessert, and the answer is likely to be Clumpies Ice
Cream with its three locations on the Northshore, the Southside, and in the St. Elmo neighborhood at the foot of the famous Incline
Railway.

Whether for a cup or a cone, Clumpies scoops up ice cream at three Chattanooga locations and ships nationwide in six-packs of pint containers. Image by Tom Adkinson

My inquiries to a hotel front desk agent, a Lyft driver, an attraction ticket seller, and even Chattanooga’s mayor on the sidelines of a
convention event produced the same enthusiastic endorsement of Clumpies, although the attraction ticket seller did say she asks for a
modification of her favorite flavor, the one called Firecracker.

Firecracker is Tutti Frutti ice cream made with, as the Clumpies website says, “fresh Pop Rocks to ensure maximum crackling.” The ticket seller said she loves the ice cream but can do without the Pop Rocks.

Two visitors to the Clumpies location in the St. Elmo neighborhood try to choose from almost 20 flavors. Image by Tom Adkinson

Clumpies has been satisfying Chattanoogans’ desire for sweet and cold treats for more than a quarter of a century. Its launch was in
1999, with a member of the Brock Candy Co. family at the helm. (Brock Candy was a Chattanooga mainstay for almost a century and at one time was the largest candymaker in the South, producing 10 tons of candy a day in a five-story downtown factory.)

The originator sold Clumpies to Rock City Enterprises (owner of the iconic Rock City attraction atop Lookout Mountain) in 2013, and
growth beyond the original ice cream shop soon began. Traditional flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, butter pecan, mint chocolate chip,
and cookies and cream remain favorites, but Clumpies has become known for novelty flavors that float on and off the menu.

A Clumpies patron smiles in anticipation of another serving of her favorite ice cream flavor. Image by Tom Adkinson

“People anticipate our seasonal flavors,” said Pepper Raper, public relations manager for Rock City Enterprises, adding that “no visit to
Chattanooga is complete without going to Clumpies."

She rattled off several upcoming Halloween flavors. Among them are I Scream (Snickers, Twix, Reese’s Pieces, and salted caramel fudge
sauce), Witch’s Brew (Thai tea ice cream with dark chocolate flakes), Monster Mash (cream cheese ice cream with mint pastry cream
and crushed mint Oreos), and Blackberry Matcha (matcha ice cream with blackberry sauce).

Despite the flavor variety, Clumpies has a production crew of only four people who crank out nine-gallon batches at a steady pace.
Raper said Clumpies is relatively rare in the ice cream world because it pasteurizes its ice cream mix from fresh milk and cream.

“That way, we can make variations such as a brown sugar mix and a cream cheese mix (which opens up more flavor possibilities),” she
said.

Clumpies teams up with area specialty companies such as Chattanooga Whiskey, Lookout Lavender Farm, and the Chattanooga
Bakery, maker of the world-famous MoonPie, for special recipes.

It is one mile from the upper station of the Incline Railway to the lower station at St. Elmo and a Clumpies Ice Cream store. Image courtesy Tennessee Dept. of Tourist Development, Alisa Kessler