Yes, you read that correctly. Three Twins Ice Cream is the most expensive ice cream in the world with a price tag of $60,000. So why does it cost so much? To try “The World’s More Expensive Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae” by Three Twins Ice Cream, you will need to travel to Tanzania. You will fly first class and stay in a luxury resort. The ice cream is made right before your eyes on Mount Kilimanjaro. The experience was inspired by founder Neal Gottlieb’s hike in January 2011, when he made ice cream in the snow.
After the purchase is confirmed, the first-class flights and five-star accommodations will be determined. To witness the ice cream being made, there will be a guided climb up to Mount Kilimanjaro where Gottliebi himself will hand-churn a batch of ice cream with glacial ice from the mountain’s very own summit.
“The process starts with harvesting ice from the glacier, which is put into a dry bag, into a backpack and carried down to camp,” Gottlieb tells CNBC Make It. “I must say, this is not easy on the knees going downhill”
“At camp the ice is broken up. A small pot is put inside a larger pot and the space between is filled with ice and salt, which lowers the temperature of the mixture. Milk, cream, sugar and flavoring are mixed and added to the pot. The mixture is stirred, and the part that freezes to the wall of the inner pot is scraped off. Eventually the whole mixture freezes and you have ice cream.”
Gottlieb was a contestant on “Survivor 2016: Koah Rong” and mentioned when founding his company in 2005, “I wanted to combine my capitalist side with my do-gooder side. Ice cream was a way for me to start small, be organic and spread joy. Plus, it was something that I could scale up from a small ice cream shop to a brand.”
Another reason the price is so high for Three Twins Ice Cream is $10,000 of the $60,000 price goes toward an African environmental nonprofit. By purchasing the ice cream, you’re helping to raise awareness of the mountain’s glaciers that are predicted to disappear within the next decade due to climate change.
“Although the glaciers disappearing may be more of a result of localized climate change than global climate change, says Gottlieb. “I think their disappearance is a good lesson in how climate change can bring about profound changes in relatively short periods of time and should be taken seriously.”
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with a guide typically runs $1,000 to $3,000. But for a first-class flight to Tanzania, a five-star hotel, a hike to Mount Kilimanjaro, hand-churned ice cream and a $10,000 donation to pro-environmental nonprofit, $60,000 ins’t a bad deal. Although the package sounds enticing, nobody has purchased the ice cream experience yet.
There’s more than one expensive item on the menu for Three Twins Ice Cream. The company also offers a treat called the “World’s Most Expensive Ice Cream Sundae.” The banana split is made with syrups from three rare dessert wines and is served with an ice cream spoon from the 1850s. The cost is $3,333.33, and it comes accompanied with a cello performance. The brand is based in Northern California with three shops in that feature more affordable scoops of organic ice cream.
