What Is "Superman" Ice Cream, and What Flavor Is It Supposed to Be?

Every kid who grew up in Michigan has eaten it: a swirl of bright red, blue, and yellow ice cream called Superman. It’s a Midwest staple — especially huge in Michigan — and yet almost nobody can tell you what it actually tastes like, because the answer is genuinely confusing.

Superman ice cream is three flavors in one, and the most common combination is: lemon (the yellow), Red Pop (the red — based on the strawberry-ish flavor of Faygo’s famous Redpop soda), and Blue Moon (the blue). And what is Blue Moon? That’s the real mystery. Blue Moon is its own legendary Midwestern ice cream flavor of murky, debated identity — people describe it as tasting like some mix of marshmallow, vanilla custard, and citrus, or “fruity cereal milk.” No two ice cream makers fully agree, and many guard their recipe. So Superman’s flavor is partly built on a flavor nobody can define.

The origin story is pure Michigan. Superman ice cream is widely credited to Stroh’s — yes, the Detroit brewery. During Prohibition in the 1920s, Stroh’s couldn’t legally make beer, so the company branched into other products, including ice cream, and the colorful Superman blend is said to date from that era.

And the name? The flavor actually predates the Superman comic-book character (who debuted in 1938). The ice cream got nicknamed “Superman” later simply because its red, blue, and yellow matched the superhero’s costume. Because the name was never officially licensed from DC Comics, you’ll sometimes see it sold under sneaky alternate names like “Super Scoop” or “Superhero.”