More than 400 marriott alumni magazine readers dished on their favorite BYU Creamery flavors. Here are the results—plus some sweet quotes from those who can still taste the nostalgia.
It’s no surprise to Benjamin Boone that in a recent survey of Marriott Alumni Magazine readers, Graham Canyon was picked as the favorite BYU Creamery ice cream—it’s been a top-selling flavor for more than a decade. “It’s a unique combination,” says Boone, the Creamery’s dairy manager, “and its name catches people’s attention.”
Graham Canyon debuted in 2011 but wasn’t an immediate bestseller. Over time, people began warming up to it. “Every year it just got a little more popular,” Boone says.
The idea for Graham Canyon originated from an ingredient supplier, and the previous BYU dairy manager took it from there. “We use our own mix, but the flavor profile came as a recommendation,” Boone shares. “If I had the secret ingredient to make another ice cream just as popular, my bosses would be really happy with me.”
Graham Canyon, composed of a graham-cracker base swirled with graham-cracker pieces and chunks of chocolate-covered honeycomb, is one of 25 flavors currently churned on campus. BYU’s Creamery produces between 4,500 and 7,000 total gallons of ice cream weekly, but beyond the stats are the Cougar tales that make the ice cream memorable. Keep reading for more survey results, blended with the inside scoop on campus’s coolest dessert.
Flavor Faves
Out of 445 survey responses, Graham Canyon was the clear winner; 36 percent ranked it as one of their top three favorites. Coconut Joy came in second with 20 percent of votes, and Mint Brownie placed third with 18 percent.
Morgan Anderson, a 2021 ExDM alumna, wasn’t the only survey responder who used the term iconic to describe Graham Canyon. “I’ve had many adventures in ice cream shops across the world and have never come across a flavor similar to Graham Canyon,” shares Anderson, who lives in Orem. “I absolutely love it!”
And since ice cream doesn’t have feelings (it’s just how we eat ours), here are the flavors that ranked lowest: Sparkle Sherbet, Strawberry, and Vanilla. But even though these flavors didn’t earn high marks, they still have die-hard fans. “Sparkle Sherbet is unlike any other sherbet, and you can’t find it anywhere else,” says Amber Myers, a 1999 recreation management and youth leadership alumna who lives in Mapleton, Utah. “It’s truly unique and lovely.”
Inside Scoop
Nestled between the BYU Broadcasting Building and the Heritage Halls dorms is the Culinary Support Center, where all BYU Creamery ice cream is produced.
The milk comes from the Church-owned dairy in Elberta, Utah, and is processed into a custom cream blend in Salt Lake City. “The blend is what makes the ice cream delicious,” Boone says. “Our mix is rich and creamy, which gives the ice cream a smooth texture. It’s a recipe that we’ve held on to for decades.”
Boone is one of five people at BYU who is a certified pasteurizer operator. It’s a niche industry, he acknowledges—and also one that’s undergoing consolidation. “The industry is not going to go away,” he says, “but there are not as many dairy plants as there used to be.”
While the industry may be cooling, demand for Creamery products is hotter than ever, and fortunately, the Creamery is answering the call. “We want to share the BYU experience,” Boone says.
Orders for ice cream, chocolate milk, salad dressing, and popcorn that are placed at creamery.byu.edu can be shipped to the contiguous 48 states. Deseret Book regularly hauls BYU products to storefronts across Utah and to one location in Mesa, Arizona. Several other retailers across the Wasatch Front also carry Creamery items.
Sweet Spirit
Even as BYU Creamery expands its reach, its storefronts continue to be places where memories are made. One day in 2017 (give or take a year), Susan Westfall, then a public health student, had just picked up her usual Creamery order—Graham Canyon—when the doors opened behind her.
“In walked a man wearing a hat—nothing unusual, really—followed by two big guys who looked like they could double as linebackers,” she recalls. “Something about the scene made me pause.” It wasn’t until the man ordered that she realized who it was: Dallin H. Oaks.
No one else seemed to notice, Westfall continues. “President Oaks blended into the crowd like any other visitor,” she says. After he accepted his cone, he nodded politely and left with his bodyguards as quietly as he had arrived.
“I stood there, ice cream dripping down my hand, thinking, ‘Did that really just happen?’ Somehow the moment felt sacred and ordinary all at once,” says the 2020 graduate who now lives in Vienna, Virginia. “I realized that greatness doesn’t always arrive with fanfare. Sometimes it wears a hat, keeps to himself, and just wants a little ice cream.”
The Cherry on Top
A number of Cougars waxed poetic about BYU ice cream in the survey. For them, the treat is just as nostalgic as it is tasty—reminding alumni of first dates, family traditions, or even wedding receptions.
David Kitchen, a 1988 MBA alum who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, says, “My wife, Pam, and I had Creamery ice cream in the basement of the Wilk on our very first date 45 years ago. I ordered Pistachio, and she had Chocolate Mint. Every time we return to Provo, we make a stop for ice cream.”
For many alumni, those early scoops on campus have turned into repeat treats. “I started going to the Creamery in 1974,” recalls Eric Woodward, who earned his BS in business management in 1982 and lives in Kansas City, Missouri. “Now, more than 50 years later, I stop in to have ice cream with grandchildren who are attending
BYU and with younger grandchildren who live in Provo. Sharing BYU ice cream with them is the best.”
The stuff not only has a knack for bringing people together but also for winning over skeptics time and again. “I brought a friend to the Creamery who hates BYU and rarely approves of anything about my beloved alma mater. Even she had to admit it was the best ice cream she’d ever tasted,” shares Erin Wall, a 2006 recreation management and youth leadership graduate who lives in Orrington, Maine. For Wall—and countless others who’ve indulged—there’s no arguing with the decadence: “The ice cream,” she says, “does not lie.”
Creamery Quotables
Best college memory: late-night French toast with a scoop of ice cream at the Creamery.
I would buy Bishop’s Bash ice cream for our bishops when they were called and released. It’s truly my favorite flavor and a great way to say thank you!
Back in the late ’90s, the Creamery at Wymount fulfilled many pregnancy cravings of my wife and provided wonderful respites for me after rough study days. I will never, however, forgive the Creamery for canceling Cherry Nut Divinity!
I bought my first ice cream cone when it cost 15 cents. Any chance that I can relive that memory?
First place I bring my kids when I'm in Provo!
I lived up the street from the Creamery during my time at BYU, so the Creamery represented a sense of home (at least a temporary home) every time I passed by. I certainly took advantage of the location. I’m as nostalgic for that proximity as I am about my time at BYU in general. I also miss the days when I could eat ice cream as often as I wanted. Times have changed, but it’s nice to know the ice cream hasn’t.
My first jobs at BYU were working early-morning custodial shifts at the Creamery on Ninth and scooping ice cream on Saturday nights.
Love it! I was at the Creamery on Ninth almost daily during my freshman year in Heritage Halls.
My girls and I have gone to BYU’s World of Dance for the last 16 years. We drive down to Provo, go to the Creamery, and then watch the show. Getting ice cream is part of the experience.
I’d always go to the Creamery as a kid. There’s nothing like ice cream before or after a BYU game!
I’ve lived all over the world and visited nearly 70 countries. BYU still has the best ice cream and chocolate milk!
My now-husband worked early-morning stocking shifts during the summer at the Creamery, which I hated because he had to go to bed so early when the rest of our friend group was hanging out. We went to the Creamery for our first date and got kids meals with his discount. I didn’t hate him working there after that.
We’ve been enjoying BYU ice cream for decades. My mom loved Roasted Almond Fudge, and it became my favorite too. Mom would take us to the Bean Museum and then to the Creamery for a treat. She almost always had a carton from BYU in her freezer. We have so many memories tied to the Creamery—many dates ended with a stop for a cone.
I graduated almost 40 years ago and still crave Coconut Joy.
I love bringing visitors to get BYU Creamery ice cream! I’ve also transported it home in a cooler to my family.
It’s some of the best ice cream in the world. I am a big connoisseur of ice cream, and BYU Creamery ice cream nails the texture, flavor, and nostalgia.
BYU ice cream is the best. Now that we have children, it’s a bribe to get them to hike the Y—at least until they learn to enjoy the hike.
I love the Creamery. It’s heaven on earth.
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Written by Emily Edmonds
Illustrations by Chris Gall
