Tell Us What Flavor You’d Be If You Were Ice Cream (And Other Questions): Patch Poll

National Ice Cream Day is coming up on Sunday, July 19. President Ronald Reagan made it official in 1984, but it’s not exactly a bank holiday, but we should party like it is. So we want to know:

If you were an ice cream flavor, what would it be? Or tell us about your favorite flavor, write an ode to ice cream if you’d like, or deliver a full-on, courtroom-style defense of mint chocolate chip if that’s your go-to on a hot summer day.

For the record, mint chocolate chip is losing ground and squeaked in at No. 10 in the 2026 International Dairy Foods Association survey. About 97 percent of Americans say they “love” or “like” ice cream, and chocolate is the current obsession of most survey respondents. It knocked out vanilla as the favorite in 2024 and has held the top spot since. Vanilla slipped to No. 3, while butter pecan came in at No. 2.

These results may match Patch readers’ preferences, or they may wonder why more people aren’t nutty over pistachio — a wrong that flavor’s defenders say could be righted if more people ate the real thing instead of the artificially colored imitation with a bitter almond aftertaste.

Summer has a lot of flavors, but the ice cream cone makes a strong case for first place.

About 29 percent of respondents to the Dairy Foods group’s survey said getting scoops from a neighborhood ice cream truck was the most “American” of childhood memories, and 20 percent cited trips to local ice cream shops. Having ice cream with celebrations or with family and friends also ranked high.

Now, take our survey (and be assured we don’t collect email addresses).