Coconut Glen’s

Finding Coconut Glen’s feels like stumbling upon Ben and Jerry’s before it became big business. (That is, if Ben & Jerry had set up shop along a winding jungle road in Maui rather than in Burlington, Vermont.) Coconut Glen, a real person who lives on the property behind the stand, says that he serves “the best ice cream on the planet.”

He offers a selection of daily ice cream flavors as well as coconut candy, which is a bag of crunchy, just sweet, bronzed coconut shavings. The candy and ice creams are made with on-site coconuts that grow around the stand. Just look at the nearby stump. It’s littered with the husks of machete-hacked coconuts.

Glen’s dairy-free ice cream is rich, creamy, and smooth. Every flavor we have tasted comes studded with flavorful chunks throughout — the kind of ice cream you might expect from a man with a culinary education who is scooping out of a jungle shack on the wild side of Maui.

The signature coconut flavor, with little pieces of coconut candy blended throughout, isn’t overbearingly coconutty. Lilikoi (passionfruit) gets its crunch from the edible black seeds of the fruit, the passionfruit harmonizing well with its coconut base. We worried that lemongrass-ginger might resemble Thai coconut curry, but not at all. The aromatics are used with restraint, adding mild, refreshing spiciness. An occasional chunk of candied ginger adds kick.

As much as we love each flavor, the original coconut is our favorite. Coconut Glen’s is as much a coconut place as it is an ice cream place anyway, so why not go fully coconuts?

Even as dairy lovers, we have no problem saying that Coconut Glen’s is one of the best ice creams we’ve tasted. For vegans and the lactose-intolerant, it may be worth a special trip to Hana. For those not making the drive, the Surfing Monkey Shave Ice kiosk in The Shops at Wailea serves scoops of Glen’s incredible product.