NSU University School Viewpoint Fall/Winter 2017

VIEWPOINT n 23 Chad Draizin is founder and owner of Fifty Licks, an innovative ice cream company in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from NSU University School, Draizin attended the University of Florida, where he spent many weekends honing his beer-brewing skills. He then headed to Portland to pursue an internship at Portland Brewing and explore his interest in food science. Draizin quickly realized that he did not like brewing beer on an industrial level and returned to Florida to practice real estate and spend time with his family. After a few years, when the real estate market crashed, Draizin moved back to Portland. His love of art and passion for science led him to the art of making ice cream. In 2009, after a lot of experimentation and taste-testing, the innovative Fifty Licks ice cream company was born. Draizin said, “Portland is known for high-quality, artisanal products made with integrity and from the heart.” With an aesthetic eye and discerning palate, Draizin embarked on a quest for pure ingredients, perfect textures, and exciting flavor combinations. By creating ice cream in a variety of interesting and unexpected flavors—blood orange creamsicle, water avenue coffee, Thai rice, caramel- ized honey, cornbread with honey butter swirl, Oregon strawberry, and marionberry, crisp, for example—Draizin captured the town’s imagination. He said, “We strive for perfection, starting with texture. From there, we aim for delicious flavor, be it a classic (like chocolate) or some- thing imaginative (like blood orange creamsicle). My ice cream does not rely on chemical stabilizers, fake sugars, or fake eggs. We make French-style ice cream, using real, cage-free egg yolks to create super-rich ice cream from real ingredients.” Draizin added, “Making ice cream requires taking ingredients in one form and using biological and chemical processes to transform them into something entirely different. A combination of art and science, making ice cream fulfills the same parameters as brewing beer.” Draizin believes his experiences at USchool and his interactions with students and teachers helped form how he approaches and thinks about life. “In addition to the excellent academics—in particular science—I felt that the administration and teachers cared about the students and were interested in getting to know them beyond the classroom. With only 86 in my graduating class, we felt like a family who had each other’s backs. There was a definite closeness and caring, especially senior year. In fact, I still keep in touch with many of my classmates.” Draizin has come a long way since selling his first ice cream cone during the summer of 2009. He recently celebrated his second wedding anniversary with his wife, Ally. In addition, his hand-painted Chevy ice cream truck, which he uses for street fairs, music festivals, weddings, and corporate functions, is consistently booked, and his two bustling ice cream parlors have lines out the doors. “I enjoy making people happy in a very simple way," he said n Chad Draizin 1997