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

[Fiction2Fitness]

I believe so. Strong month from the descriptions:

Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecans
Roasted Cranberry Sauce Sorbet (v)
Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing
Salted Caramel Thanksgiving Turkey
Spiced Goat Cheese & Pumpkin Pie

They do sound good for the most part. I'm looking forward to the sweet potato one in particular. Not sure on the Turkey but I'm betting pumpkin pie one will be good as I've liked most of the goat cheese based ones thus far. Just need the funds so probably won't get any until next pay check.

[ADD61]

I get the sense from reading comments and other signs that the AH Mickey Mouse pack is average.

[AdamWW]

I get the sense from reading comments and other signs that the AH Mickey Mouse pack is average.

Eric gave two of them decent ratings, but yeah doesn't sound amazing.

[Partyrocking]

I get the sense from reading comments and other signs that the AH Mickey Mouse pack is average.

Just got mine yesterday. Will start on them tonight

E-Creamery Review: Honey Caramel Cashew

Description: Honey ice cream with caramel swirl and cashews

First impression: I was happy to see the caramel swirl as soon as I pulled off the lid. The ice cream was easy to scoop and the first thing I tasted was honey.

There was a decent amount of caramel swirl. Most of it was on the first layer and the third layer. The second and fourth layers didn't have much swirl at all. The cashews were pretty well studded through out the pint. They were mostly whole cashews and were nice and crunchy.

The advertised flavors were all present, but this pint was mild in terms of overall flavor. I thought they could have been more aggressive with the honey and roasted the cashews so they had more flavor.

Overall, it was a decent pint. I liked it a bit better than the caramel apple crisp, but the salted pistachio brittle was the clear winner out of my order.

Final grade: B-

Gonna give Milkmade a try on Wednesday. If they're good, I'll order November's seasonal. They sound really good.

[Partyrocking]

I've tried the PB Jamboree and the Confetti Celebration and I've found them both enjoyable. They're both basic compared to what AH has done in the past, but they both taste good, which is my primary concern when it comes to food. I'd rather have basic/good than creative/nasty.

My one complaint about the PBJ is that there were a lot of cake mixins but very little pb candy where as the Confetti Celebration has had a better cake to candy ratio. Not a big complaint but the candy mixins are good. I want more of them.

Pics of the PB Jamboree

[lazymuchacho]

Hey Boo Coconut Jam & Rice Crispy Treats:



Elegant flavor. A soothing playfully salty vanilla base sets the tone.



It is followed by this coconut jam which in reality comes much closer to an eclair filling.

Great mouthfeel with a very minor coconut aspect (for those who were concerned).



And the irregular dark chocolate flakes are like a Graeter's sized chip but more firm with extra snap. Also darker.

Inside are rice krispies with the result being a fancy dark chocolate Crunch bar ( higher ratio of chocolate to krispies as well).



Despite being relatively simple, there is a well thought out play of textures that keeps you entertained from top to bottom.

Wood rescoop.

[ugasar]

Ben & Jerry's Phish's It's Ice Cream


The base is still mainly caramel, but there are hints of malt. I probably would have liked a bit more malt, but there is just enough to make a difference. Overall though, the main flavor of the base is a sweet caramelized sugar flavor.



The fudge fish are nothing new for Ben & Jerry's. They are slightly harder than I would normally appreciate. However, once you start to chew on them they melt pretty quickly in your mouth and end up having a nice chew to them. Not to mention, there are plenty of them throughout.



Likewise, the fudge flavor has a dark chocolate taste. When it comes to the base, it definitely dominates it. There's a fair amount of sweetness in the fudge, but also a fair amount of bitterness.



My favorite mixin was the almond toffee. It comes in gobs and is very chewy. Because it's so sticky and gooey, it gets stuck in your teeth a bit. The almonds are slightly harder, while the toffee is crispy, crunchy and gritty.



You can actually taste both of the almond and toffee aspects. The toffee, of course, builds on the base a bit with its sweet caramel flavor. However, the back end of each bite is very buttery, even more buttery than the base. Lastly, it finishes with a true nutty almond flavor.



The caramel swirl came in spurts throughout the pint, but it's fairly thick when you come across it. It builds upon the overall flavor of the base just a bit more. With that said, the taste of the swirl is definitely more balanced between buttery and caramelized sugar.



I'm right in the middle with this pint and I'm going to call it average for Ben & Jerry's. It was a nice special edition pint, but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. There is just nothing "game changing" about it. B

[Partyrocking]

I visited MilkMade Tasting Room in Brooklyn yesterday, and got a flight, so I could try 5 different flavors



Pictured: Whipped Scream, Fingerlings PBJ, Rock Rock Rockaway Road, Sweet Potato Casserole, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

The clear winners were the (1)sweet potato casserole and the (2) fingerlings pbj. I could crush a pint of either flavor easily.

Their remix of rocky road was okay. It was just a bit boring. There was too much bourbon in the pecan pie flavor. You couldn’t taste anything else, and the whipped scream didn’t have much flavor to it. It tasted like unsweetened cream.

[AdamWW]

I visited MilkMade Tasting Room in Brooklyn yesterday, and got a flight, so I could try 5 different flavors

[img]https://i.postimg.cc/DybBn4TW/IMG-7090.jpg[img]

Pictured: Whipped Scream, Fingerlings PBJ, Rock Rock Rockaway Road, Sweet Potato Casserole, Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

The clear winners were the (1)sweet potato casserole and the (2) fingerlings pbj. I could crush a pint of either flavor easily.

Their remix of rocky road was okay. It was just a bit boring. There was too much bourbon in the pecan pie flavor. You couldn’t taste anything else, and the whipped scream didn’t have much flavor to it. It tasted like unsweetened cream.

I love the ice cream 'boats'... so good.

[lazymuchacho]

Finished the Disney Pack.

They aren't bad from a flavor standpoint. The chocolate pint has a youthful/soothing hot chocolate feel, while the confetti pint delivers with its buttercream swirls and subtle lemon filling appearances (cake is mostly there for texture), while the peanut butter one is enjoyable in the way that a macro-tard PB2/sucralose-jelly protein bar might be. And, the gums have even been applied carefully enough to achieve pleasant mouthfeel without going into the slime end.

However, the lightness of these bases "ice cream", poor cake ratio, and overall poverty feel made them genuinely obnoxious. When I order super-premium, I expect super-premium; not Edys greatest hits.

I visited MilkMade Tasting Room in Brooklyn yesterday, and got a flight, so I could try 5 different flavors

Always have been curious about their offerings. It seems like they do nationwide shipping now as well.

[ADD61]

Finished the Disney Pack.

They aren't bad from a flavor standpoint. The chocolate pint has a youthful/soothing hot chocolate feel, while the confetti pint delivers with its buttercream swirls and subtle lemon filling appearances (cake is mostly there for texture), while the peanut butter one is enjoyable in the way that a macro-tard PB2/sucralose-jelly protein bar might be. And, the gums have even been applied carefully enough to achieve pleasant mouthfeel without going into the slime end.

However, the lightness of these bases "ice cream", poor cake ratio, and overall poverty feel made them genuinely obnoxious. When I order super-premium, I expect super-premium; not Edys greatest hits.

Interesting. You went easy on them from what I feel like would be called for....................

[lazymuchacho]

Interesting. You went easy on them from what I feel like would be called for....................

Trust that as soon as I saw those Halo Top nut facts my predisposition immediately switched to wanting to hate them. Going through each though, I had to give it to them for having engineered some real wizardry. Surprisingly pleasant.

Would I ever buy again? No. Do I wish I had never spent the money? Yes. Am I an a$$hole? Obviously, but an honest one at that.

[ADD61]

Trust that as soon as I saw those Halo Top nut facts my predisposition immediately switched to wanting to hate them. Going through each though, I had to give it to them for having engineered some real wizardry. Surprisingly pleasant.

Would I ever buy again? No. Do I wish I had never spent the money? Yes. Am I an a$$hole? Obviously, but an honest one at that.

I cracked the confetti cake last night and actually was coming in to say I basically had the same experience.

This would be a suprisingly good effort for Coolhaus. A let down for Ample Hills Special Pack...

[AdamWW]

Has anyone ordered S&S this month yet?

[lazymuchacho]

I cracked the confetti cake last night and actually was coming in to say I basically had the same experience.

This would be a suprisingly good effort for Coolhaus. A let down for Ample Hills Special Pack...

Coolhaus is precisely the closest comparison to these pints. But, the same attitude I have about Coolhaus applies here: I'm so indifferent about that brand that I've never bothered to finish trying the rest of their line up...even when available locally.

If in NYC, I would have just sampled them in store and never bought a single one. Then again, it's absurd to buy much beyond Gowanus or Commodore under the hypothetical.

[lazymuchacho]

If a kind soul wants to clue us in on the Jeni's Gingerbread and Sweet Potato pints, it'd be much appreciated.

[ADD61]

If a kind soul wants to clue us in on the Jeni's Gingerbread and Sweet Potato pints, it'd be much appreciated.

I had the Sweet Potato pint within the last year or so I believe. It was good, not as rich as the S&S version but I did enjoy it. The marshmallows were real and had good texture but I didn't get anything that felt/tasted torched. It's not really a swirl, more pockets in the pint. If I was ordering from them I would probably re-scoop FWIW.

[AdamWW]

So has no one order S&S? If not, I can try to swing by on my way home to test out the cornbread and something else...

[ADD61]

So has no one order S&S? If not, I can try to swing by on my way home to test out the cornbread and something else...

Not yet. Probably not until right after Thanksgiving actually

[AdamWW]

Salt & Straw's Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing




Flavor Breakdown
- fresh-picked sage 'stuffing aroma' base -
- handfuls of sweet & crunchy cornbread brown sugar shortbread cookies -
- spoonfuls of peach jam with a splash of vinegar -


Full Review Following Pictures













THE BASE of this flavor immediately came on as a standard, rich Salt & Straw base but is quickly enhanced by the added sage spice. My fears that the sage element would be overpowering were not warranted at all, as Salt & Straw did a great job of toning it to only just enough to give you a hint of that definite stuffing aroma and essence without having it taste like a mouthful of savory bread. In most bites, also, the abundance of the peach jam came through at least enough to lend a slight sweetness, too, which again made this flavor less of a stuffing-forward experiment and more placed that stuffing component as a once-in-a-while reminder that, yes, this is a Thanksgiving novelty for them. The base was excellent...creamy... and had just enough of that sage that you knew what it was doing.


THE PEACH JAM did not come as gobs/spoonfuls in my scoop so much as it was ribbons of sweet, yet also tangy (thanks vinegar!), fruit entangling with most bites of the base as I mentioned before. It was not overpowering, but definitely enough that it offset the sage element, so any bite which was devoid of cornbread cookie tasted more like a rich, creamy base simply spun together with an excellent sweet n tart jam.


THE CORNBREAD COOKIES were so, SO much better than I expected. With cornbread, sometimes you get this drying effects of the cornmeal, they'll lack moisture, won't be chewy enough, etc... but no... here, as you can see, these massive hunks of cornbread cookie were not only all over the place, but you can see they're not overdry... they were soft, yet had a perfect slightly-browned crust. Truly an amazing execution on a tough mix-in. My hat goes off on this.



All the elements together were a joy to experience. When you get the cornbread, the jam, and the base together, you do lose the sage element and ultimately end up with more of a sweet cornbread cookies + jam profile, but I'm not mincing words here: it is pure bliss. At times it even tasted like a sweetened oatmeal cookie, those hunks of cornbread, because of the sweetness and the chewiness.

Any way you slice it, this was a home run, honestly. I was impressed with how well they landed on those cookies, and although I think the sage was kind of... eh... not coming through enough to make is a 'stuffing' flavor, what I got was so damn tasty, I can forgive it. Plus, because the sage was so mellowed down, it didn't feel like eating a 'meal'-like ice cream...it still tasted like a dessert and not a main course.

Super, super recommend... and I truly hope S&S uses more of the same cornbread cookie chunks (or some variation of them) for other flavors, because they did it right based on my scoop-shop experience...

Score: 93/100

**Possible Improvements**
1. If you're going to hit the base with something like sage, make it more of a compliment to the other flavors. Of course it wasn't bad here, but when you get everything together, it's like it's not even there
2. Make the jam component more note-worthy, perhaps chunks of peach, something like that

[lazymuchacho]

Salt & Straw's Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing

I had the Sweet Potato pint within the last year or so I believe. It was good, not as rich as the S&S version but I did enjoy it. The marshmallows were real and had good texture but I didn't get anything that felt/tasted torched. It's not really a swirl, more pockets in the pint. If I was ordering from them I would probably re-scoop FWIW.

Quality posts. Looks like it might be at least two cornbreads coming from Portland then.

And yeh the Potato one will prob be poverty in comparison to S&S, but the Gingerbread one with the swirl, cake, booze trifecta looks hnnngggg.

[AdamWW]

Quality posts. Looks like it might be at least two cornbreads coming from Portland then.

And yeh the Potato one will prob be poverty in comparison to S&S, but the Gingerbread one with the swirl, cake, booze trifecta looks hnnngggg.

I really enjoyed it, but that being said, based on some of the other experiences with ordered pints I see on here, sometimes the flavors vary in intensity a LOT and sound totally off what I had in the shops.

Case in point: I didn't get the horrible soy flavor nearly as much in Tokyo PBJ like everyone else did... I got SOME of it, but not in an off putting level. So I do hope that - for example - the subtleness of the sage in the base I tasted doesn't end up being a moutful of herbs for anyone ordering.

I know I harped on it already, but at least in the scoop I had, the consistency of the cornbread cookies and their taste was just awesome... like dipping a chewy, sweetened, soft cornbread into rich ice cream... I'm considering buying a pint from the store just to see how it holds up in packed form. There's just something oddly satisfying (like an ASMR for your mouth) that happens for me when I get a slightly-crunchy yet soft-on-the-inside baked food along with ice cream....

If you can imagine the texture of a soft oatmeal cookie, with the exterior chew of a corner piece from a brownie tray, that's what I got here... only as a sweet cornbread flavor.

hng

[ADD61]

Decisions, descisions:

I'm splitting the Nov. S$S order with a friend. 3 pints a piece. I was thinking

Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecans
Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing
Spiced Goat Cheese & Pumpkin Pie

Might have to gamble on two cornbread pints and Sweet Potato being available in Dec.

[lazymuchacho]

Decisions, descisions:

I'm splitting the Nov. S$S order with a friend. 3 pints a piece. I was thinking

Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecans
Roasted Peach & Sage Cornbread Stuffing
Spiced Goat Cheese & Pumpkin Pie

Might have to gamble on two cornbread pints and Sweet Potato being available in Dec.

Goat has let me down two years in a row: goat cheese base is too mild. Ends up boring overall.

I'm going 1 turkey, 2 corn, 3 sweet potato.

[ADD61]

Goat has let me down two years in a row: goat cheese base is too mild. Ends up boring overall.

I'm going 1 turkey, 2 corn, 3 sweet potato.

This is jogging my memory. I think last year someone cautioned that goat cheese was meh overall. I think I will gamble on 2 cornbread and 1 sweet potato. I'm trying to avoid another Corn 2 Run goof

[AdamWW]

This is jogging my memory. I think last year someone cautioned that goat cheese was meh overall. I think I will gamble on 2 cornbread and 1 sweet potato. I'm trying to avoid another Corn 2 Run goof

Regarding the cornbread, based on the scoop shop experience (always have to reiterate that caveat), it's certainly worth at least one pint, but probably depends on if you've have the sweet potato before (i never have)

I never had 'corn to run', but I think because S&S went with a cornbread shortbread cookie they were able to avoid some other problems that maybe would have resulted from just a cornbread chunk.

For example when I had the Honey Cornbread flavor from Sweet Lo, the flavor was great but the texture was quite dry.... almost like just freezing cornbread really. S&S's attempt here was much much better in texture and overall balance, I think.

Definitely curious to see you all get more of the sage stuffing hit from the base because, for me, it was quite mild; noticeable if you got just the base but it was strongly masked when you got the Jam and Cornbread.

[crpav]

I ordered the whole line of Thanksgiving flavors from S&S. I sampled a little of each and for the the Sage was a bit much for me. Maybe I'm not a fan of the spice or I got a heavy hit of it in the little I did sample. My favorite of the bunch is Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecans. I wasn't sure what to expect going in and it really surprised me. I'll try and take pictures and review them one by one when time permits. Problem is I recently had labrum surgery so not much use of my right arm. I think I nearly re-injured myself trying to sample them when I got them last week.

[AdamWW]

I ordered the whole line of Thanksgiving flavors from S&S. I sampled a little of each and for the the Sage was a bit much for me. Maybe I'm not a fan of the spice or I got a heavy hit of it in the little I did sample. My favorite of the bunch is Sweet Potato Casserole with Maple Pecans. I wasn't sure what to expect going in and it really surprised me. I'll try and take pictures and review them one by one when time permits. Problem is I recently had labrum surgery so not much use of my right arm. I think I nearly re-injured myself trying to sample them when I got them last week.

interesting! Perhaps my scoop was just filled with enough of the jam to temper it a little, cuz I didn't get much sage flavor until it was JUST base... anytime I had the cornbread and/or jam it was almost gone.

[Fiction2Fitness]

Stopped by the shop today. Well, more of I was going to a writing group I hadn't been to for weeks only to discover the location didn't exist anymore (RIP Panera in Sherman Oaks) and since didn't get to do that, got some ice cream instead. I got a pint of the sweet potato one cause I'm really looking forward to trying that. I almost tested the cornbread one cause I love cornbread but the sage worries me just a little. I can't remember on my allergies where sage lies. Know I am allergic to pine and juniper among other plants so not sure. I will maybe try it Saturday. Instead, I did a scoop of the caramel turkey one.




It was a nice surprise. Then again, I adore caramel. It had a buttery toffee flavoring that was enjoyable. There are bits of toffee in it too though I only got really a single actual piece of it and the rest was crushed bits in the scoop. As for the turkey element, I sort of felt it there but if that part worries anyone they don't have much to worry as it's really hard to tell. I think if someone didn't know they wouldn't notice it at all, it would read as a tasty caramel. As I was eating the scoop it was like a hint in the after taste and blended well. Did almost seem a little icy in the scoop but also some of that might actually have been some of the crushed mix-in that wish there had been more of because so far have enjoyed all of the toffee bits from S&S. Can't wait to try the sweet potato and considering pints in the near future of pumpkin pie and maybe others. We'll see how the funds go.

[ADD61]

Emma from S&S is filling in for Nik just fine IMO