The ISU Creamery is introducing new vegan ice cream flavors to its lineup.

The creamery hosted a tasting panel Monday for people to taste and review the new ice cream. 

Lucy Slizewski, the inventor of the vegan option, is a senior majoring in culinary food science with a minor in nutrition. Slizewski started the creation process in the spring of 2021. 

“I started an internship at the ISU Creamery, and they asked if I wanted to make a product with them to make a vegan, non-dairy frozen dessert,” Slizewski said.

The ice cream is coconut milk based to mimic the fat in dairy products. It also has sunflower oil, protein powder, flavoring and stabilizers. 

“We had some really bad batches,” Slizewski said. “Going in, none of us really knew how to make a vegan frozen dessert. We figured out that it’s not ice cream, so it won’t work that way. It was a lot of trial and error.”

The ISU Creamery held a previous tasting panel to get feedback and change the formula accordingly. The flavors at the panel were chocolate cherry and rocky road. 

The vegan ice cream is not yet available for purchase at the Creamery store.

“We hope that this is our last [panel] and then soon we’ll hit the store. I graduate this May, so I hope to get it in the storefront before I graduate,” Slizewski said.