The human mouth, which maintains a near-boiling temperature, needs to be constantly cooled by liquid-nitrogen pills or a jaw-mounted mouth fan. Take a more delicious route to cooling your maw with today's Groupon: for $4, you get $9 worth of gelato and more at Gelato Di Riso. Today's deal is good at both Gelato Di Riso locations, in the Central West End and on the Hill.

Named best gelato by the Riverfront Times Restaurant Guide 2010, Gelato Di Riso tempts St. Louis-area denizens with a massive menu of frozen flavors, plus espresso, smoothies, baked goodies, and more. Eighteen flavors of gelato ($2.75 for 2.5 oz., $4.25 for 5.5 oz.) out of a total of 70 that rotate in and out make even the most decisive of diners pause in consideration, giving each order the suspense-fueled drama of a feline paternity test. Try the fruity felicity of blackberry, strawberry, or lemon, or overwhelm pleasure receptors with the decadence of chocolate hazelnut, dulce de leche, or classic chocolate. Sufferers of spoon blindness can beat the heat with the sippable satisfaction of a shake or smoothie ($4.95), and those who've already had their bones chilled by horror movies and college tuition estimates can warm up with a latte ($4.25 for a medium) or espresso ($1.75 for one shot).

Gelato Di Riso brings the same passion to its product that coin collectors bring to their debates on the relative merits of the Philadelphia and Denver mints. Both of its locations are open late, providing a nighttime alternative to activities such as domesticating lightning bugs and screaming in blind rage at the moon.

Reviews

Readers of the Riverfront Times awarded Gelato Di Riso Best Gelato of 2006, and the publication's 2010 restaurant guide listed Gelato Di Riso as having the no. 1 gelato. Yelpers give the gelato confectionary in the Central West End a four-star average rating, and 89% of Urbanspooners also like it.

• I will be back. A lot. It will be hard for me to try any different flavors since mine was so amazing, but I can't imagine any flavor there being anything less than perfection. – Amanda C., Yelp
• If gelato is like crack for sweet teeth, then Gelato di Riso is our crack house. – Riverfront Times