Tricycles and Faygo Red Pop ice cream, anyone? You can almost hear the famous Faygo Boat song when you eat this new ice cream.

A popular local ice cream spot has introduced six Faygo ice cream flavors with some delicious twists.

Browndog Barlor & Restaurant, known for its small-batch ice cream and boozy milkshakes, has teamed up with the makers of Faygo pop to create the new flavors.

Browndog, with locations in Farmington and downtown Northville, unveiled the new Faygo flavors with an ice cream base that tastes just like the Detroit-born pop Monday evening at its Northville location.

The idea for the Faygo ice cream came about with the pandemic when the restaurant was doing to-go orders, said Greg Richards, Browndog Barlor and Browndog Creamery’s chief sales and marketing officer.

“We did Faygo floats to go with ice cream and a bottle of pop,” Richards said. “Then I wonder what it would be like to make (Faygo) ice cream.”

Richards called and pitched the idea to Faygo officials, who he said responded favorably.

“I went with the intent with doing one flavor, like Rock & Rye,” Richards said. “Then I pitched the idea of a six-pack … fast forward and here we are.”

Flavors in the new line of Browndog Faygo “craft ice cream” are: Unicorn Swirl, Citrus Mist, Peaches & Creme, Motown Jam, Groovy Grape, and Choc & Rye.

With most of the ice cream, you can taste the pop flavor first, followed by a mix-in of Browndog’s creative spin finish. The exception was the Choc & Rye with chocolate fudge and brownie pieces which had a Rock N Rye finish.

A favorite is the Unicorn Swirl after Faygo Cotton Candy pop. It has a pleasant, not overly sweet cotton candy taste, with a pink marshmallow crème mix-ins finish. Motown Jam was another surprise with red pop ice cream and a chunky peanut butter mix-in finish.

Citrus Mist is refreshing with Faygo’s Moon Mist and Peach.

What makes this different is the base of the ice cream is the actual flavor of the pop. It’s not ice cream with the addition of a Faygo flavor of pop.

“The base of the ice cream is the true Faygo flavor and then we put our creative spin on it,” Richards said. “It’s not like it tastes like Rock & Rye — no, it is Rock & Rye.”

Richards is proudest of Groovy Grape.

“Grape ice cream is hard to make,” he said. “We added in vanilla sandwiches and weren’t expecting it to work and it did.”

Owner Brian Scherleloves the idea of turning iconic Faygo into ice cream.

“I grew up on Faygo,” Scherle said. “It’s fantastic and amazing. It’s kind of what we do here, get creative with our own ice cream.”

New Unicorn Swirl Faygo Ice Cream is made to taste like the iconic Detroit-born pop. Photo Credit: Susan Selasky

Groovy Grape, Unicorn Swirl, and Choc & Rye will be available by the scoop. Richards said Unicorn Swirl will be offered in its boozy shake line and called the “Plastered Pony.”

Eight flavors of Faygo were used to make the six different ice cream varieties.

Browndog got its start in 2015 as an artisan ice cream parlor. According to its website, its ice cream is still handmade in small batches. From its ice cream beginnings, Browndog added a bar and restaurants. Each location focuses on craft cocktails made with Michigan spirits and twists on classic bar foods. Its bakery items are all made from scratch.

Faygo got its start in late 1907 as the Feigenson Brothers Bottling Works in Detroit. Years later the name was shortened to Faygo. The Faygo bottling plant and headquarters are still on Gratiot Avenue in Detroit. Since 1987, Faygo has been part of the National Beverage Corp., which has brands that include LaCroix and Everfresh Juice.

Browndog’s Faygo ice cream is distributed and sold statewide. The Faygo ice creams will be available starting Friday at Browndog Barlors in Farmington and Northville.

As with every pint sold, 10 cents will go to Browndog’s Pints in Progress that benefits local animal shelters. So far they’ve raised more than $3,500.