BEACON PHOTO/NAJAH LANE
RELAX RIGHT HERE — Sweet Spot has several special offers, the specials change monthly, and they post regular updates and new flavors on their Instagram at @sweetspotofdeland!

Sweet Spot started its journey in Downtown DeLand in November 2008. The shop officially opened April 18, 2009, making this year their 15th Anniversary since signing the lease. In 2018, Sweet Spot found a new location on Woodland Boulevard to allow their ice-cream business to evolve in DeLand’s community. Melissa Brissey co-owns Sweet Spot and Wrap It Up with her husband, Jimmy Brissey, and his cousin Jen Evans.

Wrap It Up first made an appearance as a lunch pop-up for Frontier Communications, a customer service company. Everything was prepared at Sweet Spot and transported to Frontier to feed up to 200 Frontier employees. Running two businesses out of the same shop aided in the decision to open the new Sweet Spot location in 2016.

Sweet Spot’s ice cream comes in 24 different flavors like Maple Bacon, Death by Chocolate and Banana Pudding. Only 16 flavors stay the same, so there are a few that you could miss, like Amaretto and Butter Beer.

BEACON PHOTO/CARMEN CRUZ
PICTURE PERFECT —The famous Sweet Spot photo-op. Sweet Spot’s Instagram holds several
pictures with this background.

Tapping into the family’s Italian roots, the Amaretto ice cream is based on the almond-flavored Italian liqueur with a rich and sweet taste. This flavor was recently in the dipping cabinet as a special in March.

Toppings from the 24 flavors in the dipping cabinet make up the flavor Trash Can with a vanilla ice-cream base. Due to a high number of children with peanut allergies, anything that contains nuts or peanut butter is kept out of the flavor Trash Can.

“I came up with some of the flavors just by eating,” Brissey said. “Like Chocolate salted toffee – it came to me by eating a piece of chocolate that had all of those components in it.”

On Facebook, Sweet Spot holds contests that allow customers to come up with an ice-cream flavor to feature. Customers comment on what flavors they would like to see, and three winners are selected. The chef chooses one they find interesting, and then the two with the highest amount of likes win. As a result, Fantastic Falls became a flavor featured every fall. It starts with a cookie butter-based ice cream with swirls of apricot preserves and cinnamon candied pecan pralines.

Before, Brissey created all the ice cream for the shop, but now the duties have been passed on to their daughter, Gina Southerland. In 2021, Southerland started making all of Sweet Spot’s ice cream, cookies, brownies and the sauces that go on top like caramel, and hot fudge.

“Gina was probably 12 when I began to teach her how to make the ice cream. Making ice cream from scratch is not for the faint of heart, I wouldn’t trust anybody else besides her!” Brissey said. “She has a creative palate that’s impossible to teach.”

All of the ice cream is made fresh on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Every flavor is made fresh with scratch-made ingredients. Certain flavors are very complicated and take patience and time to make.

“Our Butter Pecan is legendary — we have to toast and candy the pecans, make the caramel that goes in the base; when you taste it you will taste the difference homemade makes,” said Melissa Brissey.

BEACON PHOTO/NAJAH LANE
IN A RUSH? CHECK OUT THE DRIVE-THRU — At Sweet Spot, customers can order in the drive-thru line. It’s quick,
simple and easy. Try ordering the Oreo milkshake!

Vanilla takes about 10 minutes to make, but the more intricate flavors take longer. According to Brissey, when you make ice cream, you have to make sure there’s balance.

“You want to taste every component,” she said.

For a good Oreo milkshake, you need a good Oreo ice cream. The layering happens in a 3-gallon bucket, and Southerland carefully adds the cookies into the blender with the cream. While the cream is coming out the ice cream maker, she continues to add the chocolate cookies until they’re seen in every bite. The final product brings the perfect consistency and taste.

“We don’t use a can flavor base, we make our own,” Melissa Brissey said. “For example, our vanilla base is made of two different types of vanilla extract, homemade caramel, and custard to make it taste like vanilla.”

Using homemade ingredients shines through in flavors like Chocolate Salted Toffee, especially. Chocolate is one of Brissey’s favorites, but she tends to dislike milk chocolate. It doesn’t taste chocolatey enough, Brissey said.

“If someone were to come in and say my chocolate is too rich, you might have to choose something with vanilla ice cream. I strictly use dark cocoa because of how rich it is in texture and taste,” she said.

Sweet Spot’s prices are reasonable, with one scoop of ice cream costing $3.69, two at $5.99, and three scoops at $7.29. All ice-cream sundaes cost $4.99.

Sundae-lovers have the option to choose from classic hot fudge, strawberry, caramel, and peanut butter. Each sundae starts with a vanilla icecream, whip cream, peanuts, and a cherry. Depending on your preference, you can even add hot fudge, strawberry, caramel, or peanut butter. The banana split allows you to choose from all of the wet toppings.

Sweet Spot’s vegan options include flavors like mango and berry. The vegan gelato begins with a water base with both coconut cream and milk to make it creamier than a typical Italian icy sorbet.

Sweet Spot’s drive-thru is a great addition, too. It can be tricky when in use — one staff member moves back and forth between the counter and the drive-thru at a quick pace. This can make waits in the drive-thru a little longer than one might expect. But keep in mind, if you are ready to try something new, be sure to head inside, as you can’t sample any flavors in the drive-thru.

The ice-cream shop’s small seating area consists of several small square tables to allow more people to fit. The tables are easy to move and accommodate people with physical disabilities. The shop also has a Sweet Spot sign above the seating area which patrons sometimes use to showcase their treats on social media.

In the shop, you can find paintings by local artist Crystal Gray, a close friend of the Brisseys. On the left side of the shop, Gray’s textured prophetic paintings are displayed. My favorite is the Sea of Forgetfulness — it portrays a pattern the sea makes when the waves move. Below each painting are QR codes with descriptions of the paint used and what Bible verse inspired her creation.

The Brisseys’ children Jimmy Brissey, Gina and Cody Southerland and Alex and Elicia Owens, work alongside their parents,and the kids grew up working at both locations. Jen Evans’ children, Brooke and Haley Evans, are also looped in, working at both shops.

“My 5-year-old son and my 7-year old and 9-year-old daughters helped me renovate and model our first icecream shop. Can you believe they were pulling carpets at that age?” Brissey said.

As these are family-owned businesses, 11 employees between Wrap It Up and Sweet Spot are related.

PHOTO COURTESY MELISSA BRISSEY

Allie Moyer, who isn’t related to the Brisseys, is a student at DeLand High who regularly visited the shop as a child. At Sweet Spot’s old location, Moyer brought drawings to hang up on the bar. As soon as she turned 16, she asked for a job, and Melissa Brissey welcomed her aboard.

“I’ve watched her grow, how could I say no?” Melissa Brissey said. “She always sat at the bar with me and drew pictures while her parents sat in the dining area and ate their ice cream.”

– Overview –
SWEET SPOT
1200 N. Woodland Blvd., DeLand, FL 32720
MON. – THUR. – 2p.m. – 9p.m.
FRI. – SAT. – 2p.m. – 10p.m.
SUNDAY – 11a.m. – 10p.m.
CUISINE: Ice cream
SPECIALS: The Flight, Show Stopper Sundae, and Butter Beer and Banana Pudding Shake
ALCOHOL: N/A
SEATING OPTIONS: Indoor
SPECIAL DIETS: Vegan option
DRESS CODE: Casual
FAMILY- FRIENDLY!
PRICES: $6-$18
MORE INFORMATION: Wheelchair-Accessible
386-204-1127

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