But that DIY, no-idea-is-too-crazy mentality is what has carried Quint and Petroff from a rag-tag Facebook group to an ice cream empire. “It ends up kind of like a chewing gum wad.” The curtains in their apartment smelled like bacon for years after. “Milk melts faster than bacon,” Quint says. Some ideas, like bacon, seemed promising but didn’t last. They drizzled olive oil on vanilla soft serve, or doused it with Trix cereal, or curry powder, or cayenne and ground cardamom. The concept and the branding came strong out of the gate, and it was enough momentum that the Big Gay team started hosting taste-testing parties for friends and family, whipping up quarts of Breyers and having friends over to judge their best creations. Before the first ice cream truck, before partners Doug Quint and Bryan Petroff had their food handlers permits, Big Gay Ice Cream-the frozen dessert company with four brick-and-mortar shops, a cookbook, and a devoted following both IRL and online-had t-shirts and a Facebook group.