Product Review: Sacred Serve

By Kaylee Franklin

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I know last week I said I was a big snack girl, but I’m an even bigger fan of desserts. Ask any of my friends, family members, or even co-workers and they will tell you I am always on the hunt (or shall I say crave) for some dessert. Primarily ice cream.

I’m not sure what it is about ice cream, but I truly think ice cream is one of the best desserts. It comes in many forms: soft serve, milkshakes, sandwiches, ice cream pops, custard, frozen yogurt, sorbet, sherbert, and gelato. Let's be honest there’s probably more I’m forgetting but I think that goes to show just how amazing ice cream is. Apart from all the different forms of it, you can’t forget all the flavors. That’s a long, never-ending list so I won’t start that one.

Of all the different variations, gelato has always been one of my favorites. That’s why I was excited to learn about Sacred Serve, a vegan, gluten-free, plant-powered line of gelato. There’s a lot to chat about here, but to get a deeper background of Sacred Serve, I highly recommend listening to Episode 115: The Inside Scoop with Kailey Donewald, Founder and CEO of Sacred Serve. 

Kailey shares with us her journey from growing up playing sports and the oboe, to working as a real estate consultant for Deloitte, to taking a sabbatical to India. Lee and Kailey talk about the omnipresent pressure she feels as an entrepreneur, how she started the company with a broken soft serve machine, and the mental challenges she's had to overcome as a solo female founder.

Just to give a little more context to the delicious gelato that is Sacred Serve: Sacred Serve is bringing function into the frozen aisle by using a base of organic young coconut meat, combined with superfoods, adaptogens, and medicinal mushrooms.

When I received my variety pack of flavors, I was immediately drawn to the packaging. They came in what you could describe as Chinese food takeout boxes, the cutest little containers. 

All containers are environmentally friendly and have their own designated color. Since I got to try them, they’ve recently changed to pints, allowing for a larger serving of gelato. Even with the pints, they made sure to stick to their earth-friendly packaging and impeccable branding.

Now I love ice cream, but there was no way I was going to be able to eat all five flavors by myself, so I brought in five of my closest friends to help me. We decided we would try them all together, each having a spoonful…or more if I’m being honest. We then rated them 1-5 on what our absolute favorite flavor was, and which one we liked the least. The five we’ll be testing are Matcha Mint Chip, Saffron Chai Latte, Tigernut Cookies N Creme, Coconut Salted Caramel, and Chaga Chocolate.

Before we begin, I think it’s important to note that all the flavors are soy-free, nut-free, dairy-free, non-GMO, have no gums, plant-based, naturally sweetened, and allergen friendly. This was big for us because two of my friends are extremely sensitive to dairy, and one has a nut allergy. All that aside, let’s get to tasting!

Starting with our least favorite…Matcha Mint Chip. I have to preface this by saying that the six of us are not big mint ice cream fans, and only a few of us are matcha fans. Apart from us not liking mint that much, we did note that the bits of cacao were “soooo good!!” and one of my friends said it was “the only matcha I actually like.” 

Next on the list, coming in at second to last, was Saffron Chai Latte. Now I’m a big chai latte fan so I was excited for this one. Eating this one reminded me exactly of drinking an iced chai latte. It doesn't have a bad aftertaste which we liked because we’ve experienced that with other chai ice cream brands, and one of my friends even said it tasted like their favorite cookies: Molasses or Gingerbread! 

Ranking in the middle is Tigernut Cookies N Creme. I was so surprised by this one because I thought we’d rank it at number one or two due to Cookies n Cream being such a popular flavor. I think the thing that held us back on this one was that it was pretty grainy compared to the other flavors. I personally rated it at my number two, while my friends had it at three. Overall I really enjoyed this one and liked the flavor. In a way, it reminded me of a protein bar, but better.

Coming in at number two, we have Coconut Salted Caramel, a sweet and salty take on gelato. I don’t normally like caramel but this one was good. We all loved this one and kept taking bites of it. It was the perfect combination of sweet and salty, so it makes sense why this one is a bestseller!

Ranking at the top of our list as an “I would eat this whole pint in one sitting” is Chaga Chocolate!  You can’t go wrong with this one. Chocolate is simply just a staple ice cream and they NAILED it with this one. My friends and I loved this flavor and ended up eating the whole pint, wishing we had another one. It’s creamy and delicious, and the best vegan chocolate ice cream we have ever had!

One important thing I forgot to mention is that all the gelatos need about 15 mins to “open up” for the best taste and texture. To help out the craving consumers, Sacred Serve has created #worththewait, a list of their favorite meditations, TED talks, interviews, playlists, workouts, and more, for you to enjoy while waiting on that pint to open up! We think they should add Episode 115 to the list. ;)

As for what’s next for Sacred Serve, I know from listening to Kailey’s episode with Lee that Sacred Serve has plans in the works to drop more flavors soon and I cannot wait to see what they come up with! 

If you’re wanting to get your hands on some of this delicious gelato, I recommend using their locator to find a pint near you! We hope you enjoy the delicious treat!

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