Why Dairy Queen's Soft Serve Always Has That Signature Curl

You might think of Dairy Queen as the chain that flips its Blizzards before handing them out, but its signature soft serve curl came first. That's right: The distinctive tip of Dairy Queen's soft serve — which is often covered in its chocolate or cherry dips — isn't just a coincidence; it's actually a trademarked feature of its ice cream that has been an integral part of the brand's identity since its beginnings in 1940.

DQ's signature curl may seem like a small, perhaps unintentional detail. However, employees often go through hours of training and hundreds of cones before they achieve it. To successfully master the curl, DQ employees first fill the cake cone's center with soft serve. Once the ice cream reaches the top of the cone, they will make two balls of ice cream, which are created by lowering the whole cone ever so slightly. Then comes the hard part — creating the curl with a flick of the wrist. If the cone is flicked too early or too late, all is lost, and the cone must be remade.

All that training might appear to lead to a waste of ice cream, but never fear. One current Dairy Queen employee noted on TikTok that at their location, new hires learn how to make Blizzards before anything else in order to prevent waste. Practicing the curl in the Blizzard cup is an effective way to train employees without any waste, since it's just going to be covered with toppings and blended together into that signature dessert.

Once that practice pays off, the result is a skill that sticks. Since the very first Dairy Queen restaurant opened its doors, its employees have been churning out soft serve cones topped with that signature curl. According to former employees on Instagram, it's a skill that's so integral to their training, they still remember how to do it decades later. One employee who worked at DQ in the 70s noted, "I can still make the curl," while another from the 80s claimed that they could still do it in their sleep. If that's not a testament to the brand's consistency and its employees' dedication, we don't know what is.