April 7, 2026

If you take home a pint of Katz Creem ice cream and discover you really, really like that flavor — and owner Blaine Styles is sure that you will — he recommends returning to the store immediately and buying more.

That’s because Styles rarely makes the same flavor more than once or twice.

He produces only 40 pints at a time, and he is constantly experimenting with how to make every flavor better.

“If you try a flavor from me, and you like it, it’s a good idea to grab as much as you can because I’ll probably never make it again in the same way,” the Sioux Falls man said.

Styles began making ice cream as a pandemic hobby, and three years ago he decided to focus on it full time. His ice cream can be found at the two Pomegranate Market stores, Look’s Marketplace and Sioux Falls Food Co+op, where it recently launched.

“We always support local producers of local items,” said Mark Leemkuil, the co-op’s grocery manager. “He brought in samples, and we thought it was really delicious. He had fun, unique flavors.”

Two of Leemkuil’s particular favorites: Hive Dive, which uses honey in its base and has honeycomb mixed in, and First Blush, a strawberry base with strawberry jam swirled into it.

That swirl in ice cream is called a variegate. It’s the thick, ribbon-like sauce such as caramel, chocolate or a fruit puree that adds flavor and texture.

A lifelong fan of ice cream, particularly the soft-serve variety, Styles remembers visiting the Dairy Dream ice cream stand on Burnside Avenue and B&G Milkyway as a boy. But he never expected that someday he would be dropping words like variegate into the conversation.

Not until the pandemic in 2020, when Styles began seeking a hobby he could do while confined to his home.

“I just liked making ice cream a lot and kept doing it,” he said. “I got interested in all the different types of ice cream and began formulating what I make. It’s a super-good product. I think our stuff is just really special.”

Three years ago, despite never having worked in commercial food sales, Styles decided to open a micro-dairy. He couldn’t find a lease he liked elsewhere so he opened it in his home.

That’s possible in part because Styles is determined to make only small batches. He produces just 40 pints at a time, and he makes everything from scratch, refusing to buy a milk base from another company.

“I completely control everything,” Styles said. “I’ll make a flavor, I’ll try it, I’ll decide if this is too icy or has a characteristic I don’t like. I can bring in a perfect product, and that makes us different.”

Styles purchases his dairy products locally, seeking out the best deals, and he has a friend who supplies some of the eggs he uses in the ice cream base. He has met with other local producers who can supply the ingredients he needs.

“Pretty much nothing comes out of a box,” Styles said. “Our Banana Creempie flavor with Nutella wafers in it, we toast our wafers so they’re extra crispy and yummy.”

Taste-testers in Styles’ own family are his three children: a daughter who graduated from Jefferson High School, a daughter at Memorial Middle School and a son at George McGovern Middle School. Their teachers also have had the benefit of trying out Styles’ flavors as he concocts new ones.

Styles’ lack of marketing experience hasn’t been a hindrance. “It’s really nice branding, which I think makes a big difference for customers,” Leemkuil said. “It catches their eye.”

Someday, Styles would like to find a good location for what he calls “a scoop counter,” just a simple shop where he could offer nothing but ice cream. This summer, he hopes to bring back a memory he enjoyed from his childhood and offer a traveling ice cream shop. Styles has purchased a bus that he will convert to an ice cream truck, focusing on Sioux Falls’ west side. He will post his daily routes on the business’ Instagram account.

“I think it’s going to be really fun,” Styles said. “I remember running out when it came around. I have the proper horn and sound machine, so it should be like the real experience.”

Styles also sends out a newsletter every other week, telling customers what flavors will be available, along with other information. Sign up for that on the Katz Creem website.

These are the flavors currently available:

Core Collection

• Vanilla Crush — Pure Madagascar vanilla. The standard.
• Drip Chip — Deep vanilla. Semisweet chocolate flakes in every bite.
• Slow Drag — Dutch cocoa and melted dark chocolate. Pure and heavy.
• First Crush — Srawberry base, strawberry jam swirl, strawberry chunks.
• Comets & Creem — Vanilla loaded with crushed Oreo chunks.
• Dough Devil — Extra vanilla, frozen cookie dough throughout.
• Hive Dive — Honey base, honeycomb candy, honey caramel swirl.

Bakery Series

• Brownie Burnout — Chocolate base, dense house brownie chunks, marshmallow cream swirl.
• Birthday Suit — Vanilla cake base, rainbow sprinkles, frosting swirl.
• Banana Creempie — Fresh banana infusion base, graham crackers, banana pudding, marshmallow swirls.
• Crust Issues: Apple — Apple cinnamon base, graham crust, cinnamon caramel swirl.
• Crust Issues: Cherry — Cherry base, graham crust, cherry balsamic swirl.
• Glazed & Confused — Vanilla butter base, frozen glazed doughnut holes, cold vanilla glaze swirl, dusted in powdered sugar.