Before you can even decide which sweet treat you want, the moment you step into the Social Club Creamery in Concord, you are hit with the rich aroma of freshly made waffle cones.

This irresistible scent sets the stage for the delightful dilemma – choosing between a classic chocolate chip cookie or venturing into the seasonal selection with a scoop of baklava ice cream, crafted from a honey-based vanilla blend.

“I think our flavors are probably the most unique thing just because they are so much different than really anything you can find around here,” said Cole Glaude, the owner of the store.

Alongside his wife, Sarah, and his team, Cole has curated an ice cream menu that stands out for its flavors.

While they offer classic flavors like bourbon vanilla, the creamery also features four seasonal ice creams and two cookies that change every month.

This month’s theme is travel, with ice creams inspired by the food of Greece, Italy, Asia and Mexico.

The Glaudes are no strangers to the ice cream business. In 2021, they opened Sunday’s Scoops and Treats in the same location.

This earlier venture focused exclusively on soft-serve ice cream, with a large selection of toppings, including cereals.

Despite its popularity, Sunday’s Scoops and Treats faced significant challenges. The demand was so high that they struggled to maintain an adequate supply of soft serve mix.

“We were having a problem getting all the ice cream we needed for the soft serve, because that’s all we did,” Cole recalls.

The situation became worse all of their soft serve machines, each costing thousands of dollars, broke down within a week of each other.

Faced with these challenges, they decided to shut down Sunday’s Scoops and Treats and pursue the path they had always envisioned – making their own ice cream.

They opened the first Social Club Creamery in Laconia, Cole’s hometown.

All of their ice cream is made in Laconia, and they try to source local ingredients whenever possible.

“When we started, we weren’t big enough to work directly with a farm on an ice cream mix or anything like that. But we do collaborations with local stores,” explained Cole.

Last month, in collaboration with Revelstoke, a coffee shop in Concord, they used the shop’s coffee to create a maple-flavored coffee ice cream.

Their journey into the art of ice cream making began when they lived in New York City for a year. They frequented ice cream stores, sampling new and unique flavors, and dreamed of bringing those experiences back to New Hampshire.

Some flavors have been wildly successful, while others, like a peach matcha ice cream, received mixed reactions.

“So there’s kind of a fine line between being experimental and making something that people would actually like,” said Cole about their flavor creations.

Since opening their Concord store two months ago, the Social Club Creamery has attracted a diverse customer base of teenagers and adults, drawn in by the shop’s black-and-white interiors, which is unusual for an ice cream shop.

Cole said that this design choice was intentional, offering people a place to hang out with friends as an alternative to going to a bar.

With both stores now established, Cole is focused on maintaining and nurturing their growth. “I think we are going to slow down for a couple of years. Just get a good base going,” he said.

Sruthi Gopalakrishnan can be contacted at sgopalakrishnan@cmonitor.com.