Wandsworth’s newest café also holds the unique position of being a traditional, handmade ice cream parlour. Open from early ’til late, this local hangout is fast becoming a favourite. We caught up with the café’s manager Darcy to discuss their amazing flavours, why Wandsworth, and where the name comes from.
How did Brass Monkey come about?
It all started on a family holiday in LA, where we discovered Carmela’s, an ice cream parlour making incredible homemade ice cream with organic ingredients. Once we were back in the UK, Phil, our founder, couldn’t stop thinking about it.
He started researching and felt there was a real gap here for proper handmade ice cream using fresh, organic ingredients. So he contacted Carmela’s and asked if he could return to LA and work for free for six weeks to learn everything he could about making it.
That experience became the foundation for Brass Monkey. We opened our first Brighton shop in 2018, with Phil making the ice cream in a little basement factory and it all grew from there.
What’s the story behind the name?
Brass Monkey comes from the saying, “It’s cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey!” There’s an old naval myth that cannonballs were stacked on a brass holder called a “monkey”, which would shrink in freezing weather and cause the balls to fall off. While that story isn’t a proven origin, the sayings connection to the cold is why we chose it, and its slightly cheeky character felt like a good fit for our ice cream business.
What inspired you to make the leap from the south coast to London?
When the opportunity arose to view a unit at New Acres, we were really drawn to its focus on independent retailers. Seeing the space and spending some time in Wandsworth made the decision feel easy, we loved the atmosphere and could picture becoming part of the neighbourhood. It felt like the perfect place to introduce Brass Monkey to London!
Tell us about your brand-new Wandsworth café.
At the heart of what we do is a wide range of handmade, organic ice creams. We have firm favourites such as salted caramel and lime sorbet, alongside more unusual flavours including honey and lavender, Mexican elote, cardamom and hokey pokey – vanilla with honeycomb toffee. That’s just to name a few.
Alongside the ice cream, we serve delicious coffee and a range of other hot drinks, freshly baked pastries every day and homemade cakes. Whether you’re popping in for your morning coffee or settling down for an afternoon treat, there’s plenty to choose from. We’re open from 7.30am – 10pm.
What’s your favourite ice cream flavour at the moment?
My favourite has to be Tea and Biscuits. We make it with organic black tea and real chunks of organic digestive biscuits. I’m a big tea drinker, so it’s pretty much my dream ice cream – all the comfort of a cup of tea and a biscuit, in a scoop!
We’ve heard you’re already making friends with Wandsworth groups. Tell us more about that.
We already host a couple of local run clubs, as well as Wandsworth Book Club and Wandsworth Writing Club. Being part of the local community means a lot to us, and it’s been lovely to get to know people through these gatherings. We’re proud of the space we’ve created and are always happy to hear from other local groups who’d like to use it, with a little perk on us, too
What’s your favourite thing about Wandsworth, so far?
It has to be the people. Opening a small business in Wandsworth has been an absolute joy. The response from locals has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’ve felt so welcomed into this lovely community. Getting to know our customers has been one of the best parts of opening here, and we can’t wait to meet more of you!
Give Brass Monkey a follow on Instagram to keep up with the latest flavours and events, and download the Wandsworth Town app to make sure you never miss what’s happening in SW18.
