I spent this past weekend in Williamstown, Massachusetts, attending a mini-reunion with some of my Williams College classmates. It was a beautiful fall weekend in the Berkshires. The leaves had not yet reached their peak autumn colors, but they were getting there.

And, as often happens when I travel, I made an unexpected discovery.

Ice cream.

Now, those of you who know me know that I have a favorite ice cream flavor. Mint chocolate chip. Always have. It is my go-to choice, and I seldom have reason to reconsider.

So when I stopped at a local ice cream shop in Williamstown, I was all set to order my usual.

Until I looked at the blackboard.

There, among the various flavors, were two words that immediately caught my attention.

Purple Cow!

What?

For those of you unfamiliar with Williams College, the Purple Cow is our mascot. Yes, a purple cow. Not a lion, tiger, bear or eagle. A cow. And a purple one at that.

Four years ago, I wrote an entire blog about the Purple Cow, including the various theories about how this rather improbable animal became the symbol of my college.

But until this past weekend, I had never encountered Purple Cow ice cream.

Naturally, I had to try it.

And wow!

It turns out that Purple Cow ice cream is made with black raspberry ice cream, generously interspersed with chunks of white and dark chocolate.

What a combination!

The black raspberry has a wonderfully rich, slightly tart flavor that complements the sweetness of the chocolate. And the contrast between the white and dark chocolate makes every spoonful a little different.

I loved it.

Of course, that got me curious. Where did Purple Cow ice cream come from? Was it invented in Williamstown to honor the college? Was this some little-known New England specialty?

Well, it turns out that Purple Cow ice cream is indeed particularly associated with New England, but its popularity has spread beyond the region.

But wait. There is another wrinkle to this story. It turns out that Purple Cow is also the name of an entire brand of ice cream sold by Meijer, the Midwestern supermarket chain. They have more than 40 flavors, including, believe it or not, mint chocolate chip! So there is Purple Cow the flavor, and Purple Cow the brand. Who knew that one college mascot could lead me down such an interesting ice cream rabbit hole?

And guess what? It is even available in Denver, where I now live, at Little Man Ice Cream!

Furthermore, black raspberries themselves are rather interesting. Unlike the more familiar red raspberries, black raspberries have a deeper, richer flavor and contain high concentrations of anthocyanins, naturally occurring compounds that scientists have been studying for their potential health benefits.

Now, I am certainly not going to argue that eating a bowl of ice cream loaded with chocolate is a health regimen. But it is nice to know that at least one of its ingredients has attracted the attention of medical researchers!

There is one more amusing twist to this story.

When I went back and reread my 2022 blog about the Williams Purple Cow, I discovered that I had actually written about a restaurant in Little Rock, Arkansas, famous for its Purple Cow milkshake, made with black raspberries and chocolate chips.

At the time, I wrote that it made me want to jump on an airplane and head for Little Rock.

Well, it took me four years, but I finally got around to tasting something very similar. And I didn’t have to travel to Arkansas. I just had to return to my old college town.

Will Purple Cow replace mint chocolate chip as my favorite ice cream?

I doubt it.

But I can assure you that the next time I see Purple Cow on an ice cream shop’s blackboard, mint chocolate chip is going to have some very serious competition.

Long live the Purple Cow! Both the mascot and the ice cream.