History

Taste Panel Finds Merla Mae has competition "licked"

The local Thunder Bay paper, The Chronicle Journal, assembled a four member panel to taste vanilla ice cream samples from grocery stores and concessions across Thunder Bay. In a blind taste test, the panel judged the ice creams on a scale from one to four for flavour, texture, overall acceptability (four meant ‘like very much’) and sweetness (four meant ‘very sweet’). The conclusion: the judges found Merla Mae had the best flavour, texture and overall acceptability, scoring 4 for Flavour, 3.75 for Texture and 3.5 for sweetness.

The competition was Scollies, Lucerne, Laura Secord, Sundae Shoppe, Dairy Queen, Dairy Works, Haagen Daz and Beatrice.

Ice cream stand an institution

By Jim Kelly (The Chronicle Journal)

The Merla Mae ice cream stand on Memorial Avenue has been a favourite of baby boomers since the 1950s and is now catering to a new generation of fast-food aficionados.

"It’s tradition." said Renee Russo, who has been a fan of Merla Mae treats since she was a teenager.

"We used to go there for root beer floats, chicken burgers and twin flavoured ice cream."

Cathy Lewis has been eating the Merla Mae’s famous twin flavoured cone for the past 25 years and she has introduced her two daughters to the treat.

"I’ve been coming here as long as I can remember," she said while sipping a chocolate milkshake in the Merla Mae’s outdoor eating section. "This is where we always come for ice cream."