Have you ever tried Sampinit Berry? Now is your chance to try this local berry grown at the foot of the mountains of Mount Cristobal in Laguna and Mount Banahaw in Quezon.

For summer (until the crops last), local ice cream shop Sebastian’s Ice Cream is featuring the raspberry-lookalike Sampinit in the spotlight with their collection. Flavor and texture-wise, it is less tart than locally grown strawberries and has small seeds that have a crunch exterior. These berries are extremely seasonal with their availability only from January to April, so you better have a taste while you can.

Sampinit Berry Ice Cream Collection

The Sampinit Season is a dairy-based ice cream made with fresh sampinit berries. It reminds me so much of Sebastian’s strawberry flavor but has a much lighter and delicately tart taste, and is garnished with more whole Sampinit berries to munch on. If you’re looking for something dairy-free and vegan-friendly, try the Sampinit Sorbet which is a fruit sorbet made with fresh sampinit berries, filtered water, cane sugar, and a bit of glucose for texture. Both are priced at P155 per scoop and P465 per pint.

Lastly, the perfect treat for this Manila heat is the Sampinit Ice Pops which is a simple and purest way to enjoy the natural flavor of the sampinit. “I want to give as many people as possible the chance to experience this wonderful ingredient so this ice pop is our way of doing so,” shares Ian Carandang, owner and head sorbetero at Sebastian’s Ice Cream. It is priced at P75 per piece.

The Samipinit Collection is available in scoops at Sebastian’s Ice Cream’s branch in Podium and in pints at sebastiansicecream.com.