Since July 6, Black Ice Premium Ice Cream in Essex Junction has been dishing out ice cream, creemees, açai bowls and more. But the stand is about more than just milkshakes: It’s run by three teenagers learning how to operate a business together.
Malachi and Messiah McMillan, 13-year-old twins, and their 14-year-old brother, Jaleel, co-own Black Ice with their dad, “King” James. The boys have set up shop at 34 Park Street, done their own social media marketing, and learned that “some people can be rude and not that cool,” Malachi said.
However, they agreed that the overall experience has been positive. Most of their customers are impressed that the youngsters run the business on their own.
“The first four days, our dad was involved, helping us make the creemees, but now we’ve taken the reins,” Malachi said. “We don’t need help anymore.”
Black Ice gets its hard ice cream from Woodstock’s Mountain Creamery and its creemee mix from East Hardwick’s Kingdom Creamery of Vermont. The menu is highly customizable: For example, customers can choose Flurry mix-ins such as Fruity Pebbles, Oreos, and M&Ms.
The siblings have done their quality assurance. Jaleel’s favorite thing on the menu is a peanut butter creemee, while Messiah recommends the maple milkshake. Malachi goes for an açai bowl with all the toppings — a specialty they’ve added to help them stand out from nearby competitors.
Black Ice is open every day from 3 to 9 p.m. The brothers will be scooping until October, when the stand will close until warm weather returns.
This article appears in August 12 • 2026.
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