Lorelei Infusions brings alcohol-infused ice cream to Hernando County
Lorelei Infusions opened on South Broad Street with handcrafted ice cream, boozy 21-and-over flavors and a menu built around experience, not just scoops.
At 813 South Broad Street, near U.S. Highway 41 and Buena Vista Avenue, Lorelei Infusions is betting that ice cream can do more than satisfy a sweet tooth. The Brooksville shop pairs handcrafted sorbets and ice cream made from scratch with family-friendly flavors, 21-and-over offerings and a setting built to feel like a destination rather than a quick stop.
The business traces back to 2023, when co-owner Wendy McGinnis and her husband moved back to Hernando County and found themselves living next door to Steve and Paula Thompson. A conversation turned into a factory tour and a demonstration, and McGinnis saw how the Thompsons’ machines could turn out large quantities quickly while also opening the door to more experimental flavors. By September 2025, those back patio ideas had become a real storefront in Brooksville.
That equipment history gives Lorelei Infusions a deeper local hook. Steve Thompson’s father, Emery Thompson, is credited by the company with inventing the world’s first mechanized batch freezer and opening a factory in lower Manhattan in 1904. Another industry-history account says the design was patented in 1906 and replaced the hand-crank freezers that came before it, helping ice cream makers scale production in ways that changed the industry.
The Thompson machines also carry wartime lore. The Hernando Sun excerpt says Emery Thompson built equipment for the United States military, including machines used aboard aircraft carriers, and that the crew of the ship that reached a rescued pilot first was rewarded with 10 gallons of fresh ice cream. That kind of story fits a shop that leans hard into nostalgia while still selling something new.
Lorelei Infusions is also trying to be more than a novelty stop. Its site says the shop was voted one of the best ice cream shops in Hernando County in the Hernando Sun Readers’ Choice competition, and it offers custom ice cream cakes, an Ice Cream of the Month club and group ice cream-making experiences. The tasting tour goes further, with behind-the-scenes access, flavor-development details and 1-ounce samples of every available flavor, while spirited flavors are limited to guests 21 and older.
The menu reflects that mix of playfulness and craft. Family flavors include Captain’s Crunch, with vanilla bean ice cream swirled with golden caramel and cinnamon, and Midnight in Dubai, described as pistachio-laden with rich Dubai dark chocolate. The shop also features mermaid decor, coffee service and at least 21 sweet selections, giving Brooksville another small business aimed at drawing people in, lingering longer and turning a dessert run into a reason to stop on South Broad Street.
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