CHILL OUT

Sisters of Anarchy Ice Cream - Shelburne

By Laurie Caswell Burke | July 01, 2023

The original sisters of anarchy, from left to right: Sunshine, Clark, and Lily.

An intriguing name for an ice cream company. And the flavors—Black Velvet If You Please, Bronx Cheer, Crystal Blue Persuasion—are just a sampling of the 22 ice cream varieties produced on 75-acre Fisher Brothers Farm, a few miles south of Burlington. An abundance of varietals of berries—blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, Aronia berries, and elderberries and Marquette grapes—spanning 7 miles of row feet are grown, harvested, and used by owners Becky Castle and Bob Clark to create concoctions that define this unique small-batch ice cream.

The couple met at Middlebury College in the late 1980s and after pursuing diverse careers out of state, they returned to Vermont. To curtail their own passion and ice cream consumption, they subsequently vowed to only eat ice cream that they hand-cranked. Post-college, Becky worked for The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia and Bob in television and film production in Los Angeles. Bob hails from a dairy farming family in central New York, and Becky grew up in Connecticut. A deep, shared love of ice cream and a desire to be closer to family lured them back to Vermont.

Founders Bob Clark and Becky Castle showing two of their many favorite flavors of Sisters of Anarchy ice cream.

This farm-to-cone ice cream comes at a premium but is unique. All of what is grown is used in the ice cream, including two vegan berry sorbets. Bob and Becky are committed to sourcing the highest-quality products, which are not limited to the berries they grow. Champlain Valley Apiaries hosts 100 hives on the farm that is a win-win for the pollinators and the fruit. Other local ingredients include coffee sourced from Kestrel Coffee Roasters and maple from Purinton Maple Farm in Huntington.

And the name? Raising three children who from an early age created and continue to create a hurricane of anarchy wherever they go, a philosophy simply stated as, “Courage and roll the dice.” Thus Sisters of Anarchy.

Another fun fact: Sisters of Anarchy is the only producer of dry ice in the state.

The farm is open every day from June to August and weekends on the shoulders. Fridays in the summer offer an opportunity for folks to visit the farm for an evening of music, food trucks, and delicious ice cream.

sistersofanarchyicecream.com