** ~ Ice Cream Eating Now Thread -- Round 4 ~ **

[MosToorani]

Got a Chunkmail a few hours ago, 3 new B&J flavors coming.

Out of This Swirled: Buttery Brown Sugar Ice Cream, w/ Fudge Flakes & Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookie Swirls
Urban Bourbon: Burnt Caramel Ice Cream w/ Almond Fudge Flakes & Bourbon Caramel Swirl
Truffle Kerfuffle: Boring everything w/ Chocolate Ganache Swirl

Late to the game, amigo!

Although I haven't tried them because I'm in a country where baskin robbins is loved more than anything else.. I've heard all the three flavors are mediocre at best.

[lazymuchacho]

Do we have anyone based of Michigan?

I'd be up for some investigative reporting on Browndog Creamery.

[jubjubrsx]

anyone got their hands on this yet?


cookie dough ice cream swirled with peanut butter, crispy oats, chocolate flakes and candies...

[ADD61]

anyone got their hands on this yet?


cookie dough ice cream swirled with peanut butter, crispy oats, chocolate flakes and candies...

For some reason the Sprouts in Atlanta carry Tillamook yogurt but not ice cream......

[ugasar]

For some reason the Sprouts in Atlanta carry Tillamook yogurt but not ice cream......

I live in ATL and believe it not, I live right by a Sprouts and have never been in there! Maybe I should check mine out.. What other ice creams do they carry?

[ADD61]

I live in ATL and believe it not, I live right by a Sprouts and have never been in there! Maybe I should check mine out.. What other ice creams do they carry?

The selection really isn't note worthy. They usually have a pretty full run of the Talenti flavors and some basic HD. Everything else seems to be smaller brands haven't heard of and a lot of non-dairy options. I actually like the store overall but the ice cream selection isn't worth a stop.

[ugasar]

Ample Hills Eggnog


This was another pint from Ample Hills’ Winter Pack that I wasn’t overly excited to try, but still intrigued to see how it stacked up against Salt & Straw’s version.



The base is the best replication of a true eggnog that I have scooped so far out of numerous pints. It is a dense and creamy premium ice cream, as expected from Ample Hills. I am normally more of a fan of the consistencies of Salt & Straw’s bases but this one is definitely better.



Ample Hills uses vanilla extract, but it isn’t that noticeable like many other eggnog ice creams where the vanilla is really strong. Here you get more of an egg-like creaminess that also has a bit of rum in it. It isn’t anything that is going to overpower you, but the taste is definitely there. Trust me, I’m not a fan of booze in my ice cream, but the balance here is perfect. It doesn’t even call for any mixins, but does have quite a few spices with cinnamon and nutmeg being the main players.



Although this pint is the best eggnog ice cream I have ever scooped, it still isn't going to blow you away. Eggnog ice creams never have mixins, so it seems basic. However, Ample Hills really pulled off a great base. The combination of the cinnamon and nutmeg spices with the slightly boozy hint of rum rounds out the perfect eggnog concoction. Throw this pint into your shopping cart next winter for a holiday treat. B-

[EmperorRyker]

By the way, Jeni's is having a 50% off flash sale on select flavors (so $6 for a pint). It's going on until February 22 or until those flavors sell out. Some of them already have.

[ErikTheElectric]

Hopped on these tonight (Despite the $5.49 price tag)

Anyone try them out yet?

[Oatmealman99]

Hopped on these tonight (Despite the $5.49 price tag)

Anyone try them out yet?


[img]http://i.imgur.com/u8dkGtC.jpg[/

Yeah, nothing special, but decent.

[jubjubrsx]

anyone got their hands on this yet?


cookie dough ice cream swirled with peanut butter, crispy oats, chocolate flakes and candies...

Usually I'm a fan of tillamook ice creams (for the non-premo stuff) such a huge let down... tasted like peanut butter ice cream, pretty much no cookie dough flavor at all with some flecks of chocolate m&m's which the pb taste over powered it...

[Bronco5150]

Usually I'm a fan of tillamook ice creams (for the non-premo stuff) such a huge let down... tasted like peanut butter ice cream, pretty much no cookie dough flavor at all with some flecks of chocolate m&m's which the pb taste over powered it...

Damn that's really disappointing. I'm a sucker for their Marionberry Pie and have been meaning to try some more flavors but I always hesitate with quarts.

[ugasar]

Little g Holiday Sugar Cookie


I’m finally catching up to Little g’s holiday/winter limited edition pints. Holiday Sugar Cookie seemed pretty basic, but has everything you would want in a Christmas cookie.



Once again, this pint features her go-to vanilla bean base. Normally, it takes a back seat to let the mixins do the talking. Well, with this pint it is actually a main player and the most dominant flavor. The beans within the vanilla really shine and give the pint that deeper vanilla flavor.



The sugar cookie chunks were plentiful throughout the pint and extremely sweet. The consistency of each chunk, for the most part, was similar to cookie dough. Each piece was coated in sugar grains leading to a soft, chewy and gooey texture. However, every occasional spoonful you would get a bite that was a little harder, yet still chewy, which resembled an actual cookie.



If you didn’t pay attention, the red and green buttercream frosting swirls would blend right in with the sprinkles. The buttercream was a great mixin for this pint. Although it was still sweet and replicated an icing or frosting of a cake pretty good, it was also very buttery. This gave the pint a bit of saltiness that ultimately helped to balance out all of the sweet parts of the pint (vanilla bean base and sugar cookie chunks).



The red and green sprinkles didn’t add anything to the pint as far as flavor goes. However, they were much larger and thicker than your typical sprinkles. This gave each spoonful a crunch that contrasted the chewy sugar cookie chunks quite well. Not to mention, they also make the pint look a little prettier, especially for a Christmas special.



I would say for the most part that this pint is a 50/50 split of buttercream and vanilla bean flavors. Yeah, the sugar cookie chunks add a bit of extra sweetness, but in the end, all you are really getting with them are some gooey chunks of dough. The same goes for the sprinkles. It is a basic pint, but all of the flavors mesh well together. The description matches the flavor perfectly; imagine eating a sugar cookie iced with buttercream frosting and topped with sprinkles. This won’t blow you away, but it was a nice limited edition pint for the holidays. B-

[SOH11]

Arghhh I wanted that Little G sugar cookie flavor so bad! Love flavors like that and cake batter...

Found the truffle and bourbon B&J flavors at Meijers. I'll pass on both, want the oatmeal one but no luck.

Instead found Coolhaus Salty S'mores. Loved the base...very very creamy. The graham cookie butter swirl tasted amazing...when I could find it. Needed more dark chocolate pieces too. Probably the best S'mores ice cream I can find in store near me though (bring 7-Eleven's to Cincinnati pls)

[EmperorRyker]

Found a bunch of new stuff at Food Lion today.

Ben & Jerry's: Oat of This Swirled, Urban Bourbon, Truffle Kerfuffle
Talenti: Cinnamon Peach Biscuit, Vanilla Blueberry Crumble
Haagen-Dazs: Triple Chocolate (TRIO), Salted Caramel Chocolate (TRIO), Peanut Butter Salted Fudge, Bourbon Praline Pecan

[ugasar]

Found a bunch of new stuff at Food Lion today.

Ben & Jerry's: Oat of This Swirled, Urban Bourbon, Truffle Kerfuffle
Talenti: Cinnamon Peach Biscuit, Vanilla Blueberry Crumble
Haagen-Dazs: Triple Chocolate (TRIO), Salted Caramel Chocolate (TRIO), Peanut Butter Salted Fudge, Bourbon Praline Pecan

Food Lion??? Are you serious? I have one in my home town and would never think to look there haha! Great news!

[EmperorRyker]

Food Lion??? Are you serious? I have one in my home town and would never think to look there haha! Great news!

Haha, yup. Around here, Food Lion and Harris Teeter are the two chains with the most stores, though, so I'm not sure if they're better or worse stocked in places where there presence isn't as strong.

[ADD61]

Small updates but new flavors coming from:

Blue Bell: Something cone based
Graeters
Gelato Fiasco: Two new flavors for Publix

[ugasar]

Salt & Straw Peppermint Cocoa


I am still working my way through the holiday pints for Salt & Straw. Hopefully saving one of my favorites for the near end, is peppermint cocoa. I think chocolate and mint is one of the greatest flavor combinations in the game, so I had extremely high expectations going into this one.



It features a milk chocolate base that has a hint of mint. The chocolate has a true cocoa taste and is extremely milky. The mint is noticeable but it is on the back end of each bite, and it accompanies the milk chocolate base well. If you aren’t a fan of mint ice creams, then this is for you, because the base is 85% milk chocolate to 15% mint.



On the other hand, the peppermint patties used as mixins are a completely different story. They come through full force with the peppermint flavor, just like your typical York Peppermint Patty. The peppermint flavor here is much stronger and different than the mint base. The base incorporates a “mint” flavor, whereas the peppermint patties are just that, a strong “peppermint” flavor.



Salt & Straw decided to go festive as well and color the patties red (reddish pink) and green for holiday cheer. The texture of each one is quite crunchy from the chocolate shell. However, the inside of each one is gooey and melts away as soon as it hits your mouth. The only complaint I have is that there were not enough of them in the pint.



I enjoyed this pint a lot, but it wasn’t amazing, particularly for Salt & Straw standards. I really like how the base is mainly milk chocolate with only a hint of mint. This sets the background for the much stronger peppermint flavored patties to do most of the talking. All in all, I am definitely a fan of this pint, especially since mint chocolate is one of my favorite flavor combinations. Easy decision! Grab this pint next winter for a nice holiday treat. B+

[lazymuchacho]

Salt & Straw Peppermint Cocoa

Actually considered picking up this one; might get around to it this year then.

[EmperorRyker]

I liked Oat of This Swirled a lot. Urban Bourbon was pretty good, if unspectacular, too. Truffle Kerfuffle was the worst of the three. The new Haagen-Dazs are OK, but I was pretty disappointed with the TRIOs.

[lazymuchacho]

Well, well, well...what have we here?

Salt & Straw Announces Summer 2017 Ice Cream Series

https://www.fb101.com/2017/02/salt-s...-cream-series/

Some good looking pints ahead of us folks...

[ugasar]

Actually considered picking up this one; might get around to it this year then.

I am a sucker for chocolate and mint so I may be a little biased but it was a great pint! Have you had Jeni's Dark Chocolate Peppermint? It is one of my all time favorites and even Ample Hills Peppermint Pattie is better than both of those!!!

Well, well, well...what have we here?

Salt & Straw Announces Summer 2017 Ice Cream Series

https://www.fb101.com/2017/02/salt-s...-cream-series/

Some good looking pints ahead of us folks...

Yessir, I will give my insight:

June: Those two flavors look great and neither one was released last year so I have high hopes. And there will obviously be more that aren't announced too so this could be a good month!

July:
- Marionberry Habanero is nothing great but quite unique.. Very spicy and it actually works well with the sweetness of the fruit
- Lemon Buttermilk Blueberry: This is new and I bet it is great!
- Birthday Cake & blackberries: Don't get your hopes up.. This has been an LA exclusive for the past two years (which means no nationwide shipping). I have been begging them to release it for shipping so hopefully they will change this year
- Fresh Cheese & Strawberries: The BEST, I repeat, the BEST cheesecake ice cream I have EVER scooped!!!!
- Pass on all sherbets! Trust me on this one haha..

August:
- Carrot Cake & Hazelnuts: definitely a good flavor, but there carrot carrot cake two years ago was better. Still easily worth t scoop here though. It deserves at lest an A- ranking.
- Zucchini Bread with Chocolate: I was looking forward to this one a lot last year, but it didn't meet expectations at all (B-). IT wasn't that sweet at all like you expect with actual zucchini bread. I will compare ingredients to see if they reformulated it to decide if I rescoop or not.
- Green Fennel & Maple: good flavor but zero mixins. Plant based ice cream that is unique but not with a rescoop for me.
- Pass on all sorbets, trust me again haha

I just wish they would reformulate some stuff to make them a little different or at least add some new pints into the mix!

[lazymuchacho]

I am a sucker for chocolate and mint so I may be a little biased but it was a great pint! Have you had Jeni's Dark Chocolate Peppermint? It is one of my all time favorites and even Ample Hills Peppermint Pattie is better than both of those!!!

Not huge into mint ice creams but it's a nice scoop occasionally so one pint should be a good investment.

Awesome insight on the flavors and much appreciated; forever on spread. The bacon one sounds good enough to order 5 pints that month, fingers crossed for Birthday Cake to be at Portland, and for the Carrot Cake one...it's too tempting...I mean cake batter base + piped in liquid cheesecake? W0t?

Was on the fence about the Strawberries ones - bc no mix-ins (#basiccrew) - but I'll scoop it if it gets such a strong recommendation from you.

[ugasar]

Awesome insight on the flavors and much appreciated; forever on spread. The bacon one sounds good enough to order 5 pints that month, fingers crossed for Birthday Cake to be at Portland, and for the Carrot Cake one...it's too tempting...I mean cake batter base + piped in liquid cheesecake? W0t?

Was on the fence about the Strawberries ones - bc no mix-ins (#basiccrew) - but I'll scoop it if it gets such a strong recommendation from you.

Yeah the bacon candied smores sounds great to me! Hoping they can bring a few more to the table to round out a good June month..

I'm not saying the carrot cake with hazelnuts is bad by any means, because it is GREAT.. However, just the one two years ago was the same base with added cream cheese swirl and carrot cake batter pieces instead of the hazelnuts.. I mean you tell me the difference

Carrot Cake Batter




Carrot Cake Hazelnuts





And lastly, please don't pass on the Fresh Cheese with Strawberries.. It is amazing bro!!! The base is the densest and creamiest I have ever scooped because of all the real cream cheese..

[lazymuchacho]

Yeah the bacon candied smores sounds great to me! Hoping they can bring a few more to the table to round out a good June month..

I'm not saying the carrot cake with hazelnuts is bad by any means, because it is GREAT.. However, just the one two years ago was the same base with added cream cheese swirl and carrot cake batter pieces instead of the hazelnuts.. I mean you tell me the difference

And lastly, please don't pass on the Fresh Cheese with Strawberries.. It is amazing bro!!! The base is the densest and creamiest I have ever scooped because of all the real cream cheese..

Indeed, those pictures make a fairly clear-cut case that the pint was downgraded. Your Strawberry flavor looks really good though. Their description last year said:

"It’s our take on a local “cheesecake-y” ice cream with a slight ribbon of housemade strawberry jam."

So naturally, the bolded part concerned me however it really doesn't seem applicable given these pictures. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to OF's cheesecake base.

[ugasar]

Indeed, those pictures make a fairly clear-cut case that the pint was downgraded. Your Strawberry flavor looks really good though. Their description last year said:

"It’s our take on a local “cheesecake-y” ice cream with a slight ribbon of housemade strawberry jam."

So naturally, the bolded part concerned me however it really doesn't seem applicable given these pictures. Looking forward to seeing how it compares to OF's cheesecake base.

True.. I guess I could have gotten lucky with my pint, but then again, you know how S&S does with their mixins/swirls!

[ugasar]

Humphry Slocombe Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip


This was another limited edition pint from Humphry Slocombe in San Francisco that features a cream cheese base with 72% Guittard chocolate flakes.



The cream cheese base is different than any other cream cheese or cheesecake ice cream I have ever scooped. They use real Philadelphia cream cheese and it is obvious. The cream cheese base is extremely dense and creamy. It is also very tangy and not that sweet at all. Normally these types of bases lean on the sweeter side of things, whereas this one definitely gives you that true cheese flavor. This flavor is spot on when it comes to actual cream cheese.



The dark chocolate isn’t all that sweet either. You can tell this is some high quality chocolate by the bitterness of it. It is 72% Guittard chocolate, and you get a dry cocoa taste from the bitter dark chocolate. The chocolate is chopped into very thin and fine flakes. They are scattered everywhere throughout the pint and it is impossible to get a scoop of the base alone.



Although they were able to pull off a feat of a true cream cheese that most ice cream companies can’t, this pint was still only slightly above average. It was unique in the fact that it had one of the most authentic cream cheese bases I’ve ever eaten. However, it lacked overall sweetness. This pint is definitely still worth scooping, and I recommend it, especially considering the high quality ingredients that went into producing this pint. B-

[ADD61]

What happened to the Ice Cream Informant site? Shame that it's not operating.

[EmperorRyker]

What happened to the Ice Cream Informant site? Shame that it's not operating.

I assume he just got burnt out on the reviews and is now investing time in other things.