When we finished trying the last three flavors at Twist N Shout, I wanted to hear Queen blasting We Are the Champions, balloons being released and confetti to be shot out of a canon. We accomplished our goal and I wanted to celebrate! 39 flavors! We did it! We didn’t get confetti canons, but we were able to get a behind the scene tour of Twist N Shout.

We had never met the owners, Larry and Kathy Speirs, before this last tasting. Before we left, they graciously invited us inside for a tour. I was amazed at how sparkling clean this place was. Not only was it neat and organized, but also incredibly clean. We saw the freezers, the mixing zones, the vat of hot fudge and then the most important, the trademark Twist N Shout eyes. There were four small tubs of eyes, each a different color. Maybe I should apply for a part-time job come spring. I already have insider knowledge.

But for now, it’s all over.

Not only is the 39 flavors over, but Twist N Shout is closed for the season. It really is all over. But what did we learn from this project? Did we grow as people? My pants are a little tighter now, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Was it more than just trying ice cream? Let’s take a look.

First of all, I learned that Aya is much more critical than I am. I gave out seven 5 plastic spoon ratings, while she gave out only three. She also doled out more 1.5 ratings than I did too. However, I did give out two zero ratings when she didn’t give out any.

The next lesson I learned I think about every time I read Green Eggs and Ham to my daughter. It really seemed like your likes and dislikes in the real world most often applied to the ice cream world of 39 flavors too. If you hate coconut or watermelon, you’ll most likely not like it in ice cream form either. But sometimes just because something sounded weird or gross, didn’t always mean that it was. For example, I was expecting to hate cotton candy ice cream, but I surprisingly liked it. “I do like cotton candy ice cream! And I would eat it with a goat…” It’s good sometimes to be pushed out of your comfort zone because you’ll never know what you may like.

I also found that it’s really hard to make ice cream that’s just plain awful.  The majority or our ratings were in the 3 and 4 plastic spoon range. And out of all 39 flavors, I thought that only two were downright disgusting. I didn’t like the coconut flavor, but if someone gave me some for free, I’d eat it again. So if you like ice cream, you’ll enjoy trying most of the 39 flavors.

With Twist N Shout closed for the season, we’ll have to wait until next spring to start mixing and matching flavors.  Like a peanut butter and chocolate twist, or a cotton candy banana twist that an employee recommended to me. But until then, Wyandotte has a vast selection of ice cream places to carry us through the winter.

I want to thank everyone who came out and tried ice cream with us. They really made the experience even more fun than it already was. And I learned that a good way to meet people is to invite them out for free ice cream.

So long Twist N Shout! See you in the spring!

Here's our chart of flavors and rankings to keep handy for next season.