I NOTICE that nowadays, few talk about the big-name international ice cream players that once took this little hot island of ours by storm.

DON'T LICK & DRIVE: Mr Yim of Udders Ice Cream with his two top flavours, Rum Rum Raisin and Tira-Miss-U. PICTURE: K F SEETOH

The chunky banana-and-brittle nut ice creams are now so passe.

Thanks or no thanks to the slew of funky homespun ice-cream mavens who kicked international butts with their teh tarek, Horlicks and black sesame flavours, as well as stuff like red date longan sorbets.

Here's a guy who is among the more recent Singaporeans to hop onto the hot business of ice cream.

Mr David Yim went into the business of making ice cream because he likes to makan.

In the first three minutes of our chat, I realised that this is one intelligent chap who once stared up from the bottom of the proverbial well - and took that leap out.

His aim was to set up an ice cream boutique, but he couldn't 'cook for nuts'.

He dug in deep with only the confidence he obtained from 'handling Speech Days, fund-raising campaigns and organising musicals' in his old teaching stint at a secondary school in Yishun and set up Udders Ice Cream (yeah, if only it was so simple).

He learnt the craft of making ice-cream from books, the Internet and experimenting, and set out to conquer with a war chest of about $150,000.

'I realised that many were way ahead of me in the market and I needed to be different,' said Mr Yim.

He had to cut through the thick competition with entrenched players like Island Creamery, Daily Scoop and Tom's Palate.

Mr Yim went the alcoholic route, adding: 'I decided to offer extras with an adult edge - with alcoholic ice creams - and I don't even drink.'

But first, I decided to cruise his 'non-adult' range.

His Mao Shan Wang durian ice cream is just what it says.

This comes with that supreme durian bit and fibre, and the dangerous part is he put in less sugar to fool you with a 'healthier' sensation.

But wait till you get a load of the fat and cream he loads it with. 'Over 10 and below 20 per cent', he offers.

Sinful international brands put in about 16 per cent - I think this one hovers at about 18.

Not that I care because for me, this is the proper way to sin with ice cream.

Udders offers some 28 flavours and they are all inspired by customers.

The chalk wall at his Thomson Road outlet is scribbled full with customers' suggestions, which include weird and wonderful stuff like wasabi, kimchi, strawberry champagne sorbet and even Korean ginseng flavour.

'I let them vote with a point system and we usually introduce the top choice of every month,' said Mr Yim.

So you will find local inspirations like Kopi-C Ecstasy (really rich and tastes like kopi-c), Green Tea-rrific (has that sharp tannin green tea feel smoothened by cream), Gula Melaka (which was a bit off for me because the milk does not sit well with palm sugar as an ice cream, although I like bobo cha cha), and of course Champion Chempedak (with generous bits of the fruit).

But what's best is his alcoholic range. His Rum Rum Raisin was what brought the crowds in (after six months of waiting for the business tsunami to come).

I am no fan of rum or raisin, but he named it with two rums because it has the highest alcohol percentage in his range - 7 per cent (which was what numbed and comforted me when I had a scoop of it).

But I surrendered to his Tira-Miss-U, which had cognac and brandy with real mascarpone cheese. The sprinkling of cinnamon dust atop was like saying 'demolish me'. It was rich, sinful and not cloyingly sweet.

So I asked the obvious - what if kids ate them - and Mr Yim replied with a well-rehearsed politically-correct statement: 'I won't sell alcoholic ice creams to underage kids, but if their parents bought it and fed it to them, who am I to stop them?'