rosa ines ice cream

Toronto cafes are secretly carrying this hot new ice cream brand

Coffee and ice cream go hand in hand, but there are a couple shops in Toronto that are now somewhat secretly repping one of the hottest new names in frozen treats.

That name is Rosa Ines, and they're currently selling their ice cream through cafes Field Trip and Saving Gigi. The brand launched in June 2021.

They do handcrafted small batch ice creams and sorbets, have plant-based options, and actually even allow you customize your very own flavour.

They actually make ice cream fresh to order, so you have to allow at least three days when you're submitting a preorder.

Make-your-own pints are $15 each with a minimum of two per order. When filling out a preorder form, you can specify in the notes whether you want a chocolate or vanilla base and what kind of mix-ins like nuts, candy or fruit you want.

They'll review the order and confirm if the customization is possible.

Other standard flavours from Rosa Ines for $12 a pint include options like cookies and cream, chocolate fudge cake, strawberry meringue, caramel peanut pretzel, ube polvoron and vegan mango coconut basil sorbet.

The chocolate fudge cake flavour is actually made using four kinds of chocolate: Dutch cocoa powder, 54 per cent dark chocolate, chocolate fudge and chocolate cake.

They also do half pints for $6 (since they know you can't stop yourself from eating the whole thing), which are regularly available at the cafes for walk-in.

They also have other vegan options like cookies and cream or ube coconut that go for $13 a pint.

The brand was created by pastry cook Minerva Balayon and cook Miguel Morales, who are partners as well as culinary professionals who have been in the industry for over 10 years. Rosa Ines combines the names of both their grandmothers, and Balayon is also behind Minerva's Homemade and Jiggy's Barkery.

"The idea started when Miguel gave an ice cream machine as a gift to me on Valentine's Day," Balayon tells blogTO.

"Our love for desserts and frozen treats made us try our shot in creating our own ice cream flavours, and after a decent amount of good reviews from friends, colleagues and family, we have decided to do it for real."

Preorder using their online form, and confirmation will be sent after payment. You can pick up at Field Trip or Saving Gigi, or delivery is available through Uber Connect. You should also be able to pick up from their location in Danforth Village.

"We don't have a storefront and our own commercial kitchen, we have been operating online and doing our production in a rented commercial kitchen," says Balayon. "Our goal is to instead collaborate with local businesses to get our product out there."

Rosa Ines is a Filipino and Chilean brand (they're proud to say the ube polvoron is one of their best sellers), and their goal is to make more Southeast Asian and Latin American flavours.

"We commit ourselves to represent our heritage to wherever we go and whatever we do," says Balayon.

Other future plans include offering more frozen treats like ice cream sandwiches, cakes and sundaes, having a delivery service, renting a larger commercial kitchen and hopefully one day even opening their own storefront for scoops.

Lead photo by

Rosa Ines


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