There are certain foods that do more than taste good.
They take you somewhere.
A particular spice can bring back a childhood kitchen. A familiar fruit can remind you of home. A drink, a dessert, or even a scent can bring back memories of family, holidays, or an island thousands of miles away.
That feeling is part of what makes Caribbean food so special.
And it’s also one of the reasons I wanted Island Pops to be one of the first features in my new Caribbean Corner.
Located in Brooklyn, Island Pops is a Caribbean-inspired frozen dessert shop created by Trinidadian couple Khalid Hamid and Shelly Marshall. What started with a craving for soursop ice cream eventually became a business dedicated to bringing the flavors of the Caribbean to New York City.
And after visiting Island Pops myself, I understood why this place feels like more than just an ice cream shop.
From a Craving for Home to Island Pops
The story behind Island Pops is one that I think many people in the Caribbean diaspora can understand.
Shelly was once craving soursop ice cream from Trinidad. Khalid tried to find somewhere in Brooklyn that sold it, but couldn’t.
So he decided to try making it himself.
That homemade attempt eventually sparked an idea: if they were missing these flavors, there were probably other Caribbean people in Brooklyn missing them too.
What began with a craving became a business — and a way to share a piece of home.
Taste the Caribbean
One of the first things that stands out about Island Pops is the flavor list.
This isn’t your typical ice cream menu.
Island Pops offers flavors inspired by the Caribbean, including soursop, sorrel, guava cheesecake, passion fruit cake, nutmeg, rum & raisin, coconut and more.
And then there are the icy pops, which bring another kind of nostalgia to the experience.
The flavors feel playful, familiar and adventurous all at once.
You might recognize something you’ve grown up with, or you might discover a flavor you’ve never tried before.
That was one of my favorite parts of the experience.
My Island Pops Experience
I came to Island Pops with one mission: Try everything.
And that’s exactly what I did.
I tried all of the ice cream flavors, and honestly, they were amazing.
It was one of those experiences where choosing a favorite wasn’t easy because every flavor brought something different to the table.
But after trying everything, I managed to narrow it down to three favorites.
🍦 Pistachio Ice Cream
The pistachio ice cream was my favorite of the ice cream flavors.
It was creamy, flavorful and absolutely stood out to me.
There’s something about finding a flavor that you didn’t necessarily expect to be your favorite and then realizing, wait… this is REALLY good.
That was pistachio for me.
🍧 Sorrel Icy Pop
And then there was the sorrel icy pop.
As someone who is a self proclaimed Sorrel Connoisseur and loves Caribbean flavors, sorrel immediately caught my attention.
The icy pop was refreshing, flavorful and such a fun way to experience a flavor that is already deeply familiar throughout the Caribbean.
It quickly became one of my favorites from the entire tasting.
🍋 Lime Aide Icy Pop
But there was one flavor I genuinely couldn’t stop thinking about after I left.
The Lime Aide icy pop.
And what made this one even more memorable was getting to watch it be made fresh and frozen right in front of me before I tried it.
There was something so satisfying about seeing the process and then immediately getting to taste it.
And it was AMAZING!
So amazing that I actually found myself craving it for days afterward.
You know something is good when you’re still thinking about it days later.
The Lime Aide icy pop definitely left that kind of impression on me.
So if you’re asking me for my favorites from the experience, I’m going with:
Pistachio ice cream. Sorrel icy pop. Lime Aide icy pop.
And yes, I really did try everything before making that decision.
More Than Ice Cream
Walking into a Caribbean business in Brooklyn can sometimes feel like stepping into a small extension of the islands.
You’re surrounded by familiar flavors, memories and cultural references.
Island Pops captures some of that feeling through its desserts.
The business isn’t simply recreating familiar flavors. It’s creating a space where those flavors can be shared with people who grew up with them and people who may be experiencing them for the very first time.
And that’s what makes businesses like this so interesting to me.
Food becomes a way of telling a story.
Why Caribbean Businesses Like Island Pops Matter
One of the things I want to explore through Caribbean Corner is the way Caribbean culture continues to exist outside of the Caribbean itself.
New York is a perfect example.
The Caribbean diaspora has helped shape neighborhoods, food, music, festivals, businesses and communities throughout the city.
And businesses like Island Pops become part of that story.
They create something that can be enjoyed by someone who grew up eating these flavors and someone tasting them for the very first time.
That’s a beautiful thing.
Because preserving culture doesn’t always mean keeping everything exactly as it was.
Sometimes preservation looks like taking something familiar and finding a new way to share it.
A Sweet Beginning for Caribbean Corner
Island Pops feels like the perfect place to begin this new chapter of Caribbean Corner.
Because this space isn’t just going to be about travel.
It’s going to be about culture.
It’s about the books I’m reading, the music I’m listening to, the food I’m discovering, the businesses I’m supporting, the events I’m attending and the people who are keeping Caribbean stories alive.
And sometimes, culture can be found in a bowl of ice cream.
Sometimes it can be found in an icy pop made fresh right in front of you.
Sometimes it’s in a book, a song, a plate of food, a Carnival costume, a conversation or a business created because someone simply missed the taste of home.
That’s what I want Caribbean Corner to celebrate.
The Caribbean is more than a destination. It’s a living, evolving culture, and I want to keep exploring it.
Welcome to Caribbean Corner.
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