Oh, the sweetness

The front window overlooking Kirkwood Avenue at Jiffy Treet's downtown store features a sign bragging that the chain has the smoothest ice cream in town.\nApparently, it also has the best. \nVoters in the Best of Bloomington poll anointed Jiffy Treet with the top honor, voting it ahead of the homemade varieties offered at White Mountain and the rich flavors of the newest addition to the Bloomington ice cream scene, Cold Stone Creamery. The victory came as no surprise to employees and customers at Jiffy Treet, which some say is fast becoming an important IU tradition.\nJim Johnson left a teaching job to become a Jiffy Treet store owner in 1977 and has witnessed its homemade ice cream draw legions of students over the past 27 years.\n"It's really a nice thing (to be voted the best)," said Johnson, who now owns two of the Jiffy Treets in town. "There is some tremendous ice cream out there with White Mountain, Maggie Moo's and Bruesters. But I think all these places are further removed from the campus than Jiffy Treet. We've been in Bloomington for 30 years, and we're very well established. It really is kind of a tradition now."\nWhile Jiffy Treet has four locations across town (as well as locations in Bedford, Linton and Elletsville), the most prominent option for many is the Kirkwood shop. Nestled amid the bubbly atmosphere of downtown Bloomington's bars, restaurants and specialty shops, the small ice cream counter is no stranger to lines out the door at peak hours. With its black-and-white checkered floor, orange brick counter and vibrant blue and yellow walls, employees at the Kirkwood store said pinning down just why Jiffy Treet is so popular is no easy task.\n"It could be because there's so many different things to order," said Dani Rietdorf, a junior at IU who's worked scooping ice cream behind the counter since March. "There are so many choices, between the low-fat and the low-calorie flavors. And there are the homemade flavors, which are unique. And then, I think, people like the local aspect of it."\nJiffy Treet offers its customers an abundance of choices. For starters, there are the 24 flavors of soft-serves and the 17 homemade options -- ranging from traditional fare like vanilla and cookie dough to lesser-known favorites like green tea and blue moon. Then, there are the mix-ins, which include fruits, cookie bits, soda pop flavors, cereal, syrup and more. Those alone number more than 75, allowing customers to create truly unique floats, shakes, sundaes and cyclones. Of course, such flavor flexibility doesn't appeal to everyone.\nSophomore Alex Hollett estimates she visits Jiffy Treet about five times a semester. And, every time, she orders the vanilla-based M&M cyclone with chocolate syrup mixed in.\n"I've never had anything else," she said while holding one of the frozen concoctions in her hand, the first of this semester. "This was plenty good enough. I never wanted anything else."\nFor students scared of the health implications of regular ice cream indulgence, Jiffy Treet also offers a low-fat, low-carb flavor, known as Dream Delight. Originally formulated about 10 years ago as an alternative for the lactose intolerant, it would become one of Jiffy Treet's cash cows with only 10 calories and between one and two grams of carbs per ounce.\n"It really sort of evolved and fell into line with the whole Atkins diet craze," Johnson said. "It became this dietic dessert."\nOn the flip side of those looking to stay fit, Jiffy Treet is also the only ice cream parlor that doesn't require actually getting up from the couch: It delivers. Sean Duncan, general manager of the north store, said having ice cream dispatched from the store to a student's door is a popular option.\n"We're the only ice cream store in Bloomington that delivers," he said. "That's something unique in its own."\nFor junior Deborah Kokut, who works at the nearby Village Deli on Kirkwood and patronizes Jiffy Treet regularly, said in addition to the ice cream, Jiffy Treet offers a fair price.\n"I haven't been to Cold Stone yet, but they're so much more expensive," said Kokut, who likes anything with vanilla or cookie dough. "So I think, for what you get, this is the best."\nBut, more than anything, Johnson said the most attractive aspect of Jiffy Treet is the way it is beginning to blend into the student experience and become a notable part of the overall IU tradition.\n"I really do believe that," said Johnson, who recommends the hand-dipped butter pecan. "I know alumni who come back in from conversations, parents who come in, who come back for games and things like that. All the time, I'll hear 'When I was an undergraduate I used to come here all the time.' We're definitely fitting that niche for Bloomington and IU. It's not something you can get everywhere. People move away and remember their college days and the college experience. And you can't go get that someplace else."\nAnd it tastes good. Just ask Hollett. \n"It's definitely the best in town"