Nothing says summer like the ice-cream truck blaring candy-coated kids music, beckoning young'uns to momentarily ditch the cool draft of their AC units to get their hands on WWE cookie bars, or classic character-shaped pops like Sponge Bob. As a kid growing up in the '80s, this was the stuff childhood dreams were made of. 

It wasn’t until years later that items available exclusively from the ice-cream man started popping up at grocery stores and in cafeteria freezer cases. I was fortunate to go to a school that not only carried Choco Tacos and Flintstone push pops in the lunch room, but also Froz Fruit pops, and even the seasonal Kemps Gingerbread ice-cream sandwiches. Luck was on my side. 

Today’s crop of kids are even luckier. A vast selection of frozen treats are seemingly available everywhere you go, from bodegas to gas stations, but even more so, the ambition of these frozen snacks—not to mention their eye for quality—is pushing the genre forward. While these newer ventures might not carry the same tinge of nostalgia, you'd be a blockhead to not give them a fair chance. At the very least, do the Snack Gawd a solid, whose mission is to churn out banger snacks for you every month.  

Price: $5.50

Why you need it: Jolly Llama promises delicious enlightenment in every box via their dairy free, gluten free, and fat free whole fruit sorbet pops, but for the Snack Gawd "delicious" will suffice.  These “squeezeups” are reminiscent of the old school Minute Maid Push Up Pops in that you have to squeeze out the smooth icy strawberry filling like a vertical toothpaste tube. The not-too-hard, not-too-soft texture qualifies the sorbet title, and the cool refreshing treat strikes a nice balance between the sweet and tart notes of Darryl’s favorite berry. Delicious, yup. Enlightenment? Maybe a stretch.

Price: $6

Why you need it: Best fudge pops ever? That's a dangerous argument to dig into, but my answer: quite possibly.  My Pennsylvania-based family keeps these on deck at all times, and not for nothin’. 365 is Whole Foods’ in-house brand, and the quality is unparalleled—stripped down, organic bars using just milk, cream, and cocoa; there’s no half-steppin’ involved. Perfect fudgy texture complements the rich chocolatey flavor such that special trips have been made to more distant Whole Foods just to cop when the local branch was frontin’. Recently, the local Whole Foods stepped their game up and added the 365 fudgies to their inventory, and now multiple boxes get purchased like the last days are coming. Yep, it’s like that.

Price: $5

Why you need it: Good Pop makes a stellar product: their chocolate milk pops are not fudge-y, but rather light, icy and chocolatey. Containing skim milk, cream, fair trade cocoa, and sea salt, the chocolate milk flavor is not falsely advertised, unusual as it may seem. Chocolate and refreshing aren't normally associated with one another, but if you've had chocolate water ice, that is the type of treat Good Pop is making in vertical form. Made in the hipster haven of Austin, TX, Good Pop has clearly spent time on its engineering and recipe to create a product that satisfies those discerning, bearded, tatted, and flanneled folk—as well as the rest of us.

Price: $5

Why you need it: New to the game with their reusable screw off container gelato and sorbetto, Talenti initially made a splash with their rich and unusual flavors, and were one of the first to market artisanal level pricing. Fast forward years later and they’re plottin’ heavy in the frozen treat case, plopping their premium product on a stick and putting brands like Haagen Daaz and Magnum on notice. Truth is, Talenti is next level, and their salted caramel pops are prime example. The thick chocolate outer layer has bite to it and rich flavor, the gelato is creamy and robust. The elements are simple but the end result slightly intoxicating, if you can catch feels like that.   

Price: $4

Why you need it: Who doesn't like a tasty push pop? With no napkin or paper towel required, and self-contained frozen dankness, count the Snack King in.  Whole Fruit's Apple blend push pops are also guilt free, as they combine various summery organic fruit juices (cherry, blueberry, strawberry, and grape) with apple juice.  Although the boxes contain two different blends, apple cherry crushed the comp. Cherries are already one of the season's best, and it's rare to find natural cherry flavor in any frozen treats, nonetheless a push pop.