Sure, it’s 20 degrees outside, but who wouldn’t want to curl up with a nice frosty cold popsicle?

Last week we went to Canada, to visit some family in Vancouver. Vancouver’s winters are pretty mild, but you still have to bundle up to go outside, and I think everyone was a little taken aback when my aunt said that she would bring over some holiday popsicles.

Turns out the holiday popsicles were from Nice Pops, a small business in Vancouver that sells popsicles out of a bicycle trailer in the summer, and makes popsicles to order in the winter. The flavors we tried were:

eggnog and rum caramel
poached pear and mulled wine
spiced cranberry-apple cider

They were really good. It was a little weird to have popsicles in the middle of winter, but the flavors definitely made them feel like part of the holiday, and the popsicles themselves were spectacular. The eggnog popsicle was my favorite, with a creamy rich texture and tasty rum caramel flavor. I also liked the tartness of the cider popsicle, and the pear/wine popsicle tasted wonderfully complex and sophisticated. I was impressed by the Nice Pops owners; it takes some guts to decide to sell popsicles in the deep of winter.

Sadly, Nice Pops is a very local joint, only delivering around Vancouver. When we got back home, I started wondering if there were any artisan popsicle joints around, or if I’d have to get into popsicle making myself this summer. A quick search popped up this post from CityEats DC, featuring Pleasant Pops Farmhouse Market and Cafe. Apparently they sell “seasonally accented popsicles” along with other locally sourced foodstuffs. I’ll have to check them out next time I visit DC. Hopefully the trend will reach Howard County by summer.