San Mateo resident Jason “Jolly” Herrick worked for about 25 years as a software engineer before deciding to pursue another path: starting his own ice cream shop.

After attending a weeklong training in South Carolina specifically for people looking to open ice cream businesses, he says, he decided to try it out, and he and Vanessa “Essie” Greene, his wife and co-owner, began to develop a range of flavors. They wanted to see if they could develop a whole menu based on teas, and it wasn’t long before they realized there were plenty of flavors to work with.

They launched a food truck and spent about six years running their ice cream truck before finally opening the brick-and-mortar location of Jolly Old Fashioned Teas Cream in September.

The ice cream shop is in an old Belmont building that’s been standing since 1910 — and was previously home to an ice cream and candy store, Herrick said.

Its name is inspired by Herrick’s childhood nickname — not because he’s particularly jolly, he says, but because he was one of two Jasons in his friend group, and his brother came up with it. Jolly did, however, seem like a perfect name for an ice cream shop, so it stuck.

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So far, the most popular ice cream flavors are chocolate smoke, made with lapsang suchong tea, and rose pistachio, he says. Another popular option is the tea, biscuits and jam, blending Ceylon tea ice cream with house-made shortbread and raspberry sauce. Meanwhile, Herrick’s personal favorite flavors are the orange cardamom chai flavor and the southern sweet tea with lemon sorbet offering, which tastes like a frozen Arnold Palmer, he says.

With the colder season on the way, the shop is also planning to start offering a tea service in a couple of weeks.

Details: Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays at 1110 Old County Road in Belmont; jollysteascream.com/belmont