Freeze Dried Ice Cream

This review is admittedly aimed at my eight-year-old self who would have thought freeze dried ice cream was just the shiznit. Well, I am no longer eight, but I still picked up this package of freeze dried ice cream in a NASA-themed gift shop at Houston's George Bush International Airport. Sadly, the shop was almost entirely aimed at kids -- and not big kids like me --- but hey, never let it be said that I let pouting get in the way of a possible review! Doing research on the history of freeze dried ice cream (AKA what can I learn from Wikipedia in three minutes or less), it was interesting to note that all these fantastic little packs of ice cream that can be found at gift shops the world over -- and that all proclaim their contents to be genuine astronaut ice cream -- are really only about as accurate as I am when I tell my nephew that I am in fact cool.

Freeze dried ice cream as we know it was developed for the Apollo missions, but actually it ended up flying only on Apollo 7 in 1968. It apparently wasn't very popular, and by the 1970s they were able to send real ice cream up. So yeah, this is "space ice cream" in the sense that it made one single voyage. Kinda in the same sense that I was considered cool once back in 1996, and that for about five minutes. Obviously, this is not filling me with hope. Is it sad to admit, pre-tasting, that I wish the gift shop hadn't been sold out of the ice cream sandwich? The thing is I never, ever eat Neapolitan ice cream in real life. Blame my parents for being too cheap and/or lazy to buy actual good flavors. It's not that I don't like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry alone; I just don't like them together.



So how was my space treat?

The little brick was surprisingly thick. If you have a small group interested in trying it, there's plenty to be shared. It is also surprisingly lightweight for its size -- and surprisingly fragile. As you can see, it shatters like glass quite easily. The texture reminded me of a very dry, very dense meringue that sort of liquefies on your tongue...and yeah, that effect was kind of cool (although the novelty quickly fades). Obviously the "ice cream" is not as creamy as even the lowest of the bargain brands of ice cream, but it does have a vaguely dairy-like mouthfeel. The three flavors varied, so we will talk about them individually:



Strawberry: Had a pleasant berry flavor that actually came off as natural. However, the dairy notes were just plain funky. It reminded me of milk that had been left out too long but had not quite turned yet.

Vanilla: I think this tasted more like "residue of chocolate" than vanilla. Again, the dairy was just funktastic -- even more noticeably than it was with the strawberry. That's probably because there was no real flavor to mask it.

Chocolate: It tastes like freebasing cheap chocolate syrup. Not bad -- but only in the sense that it was the most edible of the three flavors. The chocolate was strong enough to hide the nasty dairy taste.

Yeah, I think I know why the astronauts held out for the real thing. It was fun to try, although I certainly won't be rushing to try more (or even finish this package).



PURCHASED FROM: Random gift shop at George Bush International Airport, Houston, Texas

PRICE: $3.99

CALORIES: 110 calories per 3/4 ounce package

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: luvyduvy.com

Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Nougat Crunch

Ben & Jerry's is on fire lately. I swear they must be reading my mind, because when it comes to this year's batch of new flavors, absolutely everything has sounded good to me.

Chocolate Nougat Crunch is a sweet cream based ice cream with fudge-covered wafer cookies and a chocolate nougat swirl. I am one of those people who loves nougat; be it the soft, fluffy style that you find in candy bars, or the harder Italian-style that has nuts and/or fruit in it. Admittedly, I like the softer style more (and once again, with my recent jaw surgery, soft is all I can have for a while). So I lucked out, because the soft kind is what is used in this ice cream.



Digging into this pint you'll notice that the sweet cream base is indeed both sweet and creamy (imagine that!), and I like the nice, mellow vanilla-ish flavor it leaves in your mouth. What I don't like about it is that once you have had a few spoonfuls, it gets lost in the stronger nougat flavor. I would have liked the base to have been stronger, but it is still tasty.

What I really loved about this pint was the swirl. The day Ben & Jerry's can't make a kickass swirl is the day I stop eating ice cream...but it looks like that ain't happening anytime soon! The swirl is almost like eating a fluid version of a Milky Way bar. It's chocolately, and not surprisingly, it has a nice sweet thing going on. I think On Second Scoop nailed it perfectly when they said it was sort of like chocolate marshmallow (read their review here). Best of all, out of the several pints I have had, all of them had generous pools of swirl!



As for the fudge covered wafers: First, if you are expecting, say, a 'Nilla wafer -- don't. The cute little fudge covered wafer squares reminded me more of sugar wafers, minus the creme filling. I actually think I prefer this type of wafer over something more cookie-like. The texture of the wafers seemed to vary from really crispy, to some that had softened a bit -- kind of like a cake-style ice cream cone does when you get down to the bottom. The wafers are slightly sweet, but don't really have much flavor of their own.

The fudge: if you've ever read one of my reviews where Ben & Jerry's fudge covered anything, then you know that I am not a fan. I regard it as a necessary evil. I know most people don't mind it, but it has yet to win me over. Apart from that, however, no worries -- this is a really good ice cream overall.

So far this really is a great year for Ben & Jerry. I am really loving the lineup! Be sure to also check out The Impulsive Buy's review here.



PURCHASED FROM: Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE: $3.49

CALORIES: 250 calories per 1/2 cup serving.

ADDITIONAL INFO: Allergy information: fudge covered wafer pieces have been manufactured on shared equipment that also processes peanuts and tree nuts.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: benjerry.com

Ben & Jerry's Rocky Road-ish (Limited Batch)

Sometimes I wonder if the Universe just likes to screw with me. Why must I be tortured with a flavor like this and have it be only a limited edition? I only have an apartment-sized freezer; there is only so much pint hoarding I can do. (Or, wait...maybe I could rent freezer space from my scary redneck neighbors. I'm sure there must be a little space in between the severed human heads or whatever it is they store in there...well, it's something to consider.) In any event, I am getting ahead of myself. Let's talk about the ice cream before I run off begging. Long-time readers will know what had sent me over the edge in a moment.

Rocky Road-ish is a toasted marshmallow ice cream, with a toasted marshmallow swirl and fudge covered almonds. (Insert fan girl screaming here.) Hey, my love of marshmallow is legendary! If marshmallow is placed in a product, I will go to the ends of the earth to hunt it down. So, as you might have guessed, that combination makes this flavor like my ultimate wet dream. It's like the frozen version of Julian McMahon showing up at my door wearing only a smile. (Ben & Jerry's was the only ice cream he was ever seen eating on Nip/Tuck.) Even though the character of Dr. Troy was a Cherry Garcia man, Julian is welcome to come and partake of my...okay, enough! This review is running off track, even for me. Just give me a minute and some fresh batteries and I will be right back...

*looks around sheepishly...*

Well, I feel better, where was I? Yeah, the ice cream. In what has become the least embarrassing admission in this review--once again, because of dental work recently done, crunchy/hard foods are off the menu--I could not actually partake in the fudge-covered almonds myself. I can tell you that in classic Ben & Jerry chunk form, they were pretty sizable. (Look people, I am already taking the high road by not making any jokes using the words; hard, mouth, nuts or sizable!) They range from pea-sized to what looked like half of an almond. I outsourced the tasting and was told that the fudge is chocolaty and sweet with that slight grainy texture, and the almonds themselves were very crunchy and fresh.



As for the parts I did try: My first suggestion is to do yourself a favor and leave this pint out of the freezer for five or ten minutes (or maybe do a super fast microwave) before eating. Having eaten more pints of this than I am going to admit to, I can tell you that this flavor is 100X more awesome when slightly melty. Once the texture gets soft, the pint almost becomes like the richest, creamiest soft-serve you have ever had. The flavor of the base is indeed toasty (um, duh! the word is in the flavor description twice for a reason). It reminded me of marshmallows just browned over a fire. It's more about the burnt sugar notes, but it is not overly strong or sweet.



The marshmallow swirl: In the past, I have said I would like to die in a vat of the caramel used in Americone Dream. Well, now I would like to revise that statement and die in a vat of the marshmallow swirl instead. If the ice cream tasted like marshmallows toasted on in open fire, the swirl is all about marshmallows just out of the bag. It's sweeter, and there is a nice mellow (mallow?) vanilla note wafting through. But what just cements it for me is that it is like liquid marshmallow. (Dare I to dream?) I know, from top view, it looks as if the swirl is merely a weird darker patch of ice cream--but as you dig into the pint, everything changes. Think of rich, flowing rivers of marshmallow, instead of, say, the sticky gooeyiness of marshmallow fluff or the spongy cloud of one from a freshly opened bag.

Here's the most important thing: This flavor really MUST MUST MUST go from being a limited edition to a full-time flavor...because my life may truly be meaningless otherwise. (Well, that is just kinda sad...)



Be sure to check out what other bloggers said:
The Impulsive Buy
On Second Scoop
And a blog that is new to me that I am really enjoying:
Ben & Jerry's Fanatic

PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.99

CALORIES:
250 Calories per 1/2 cup serving

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Contains nuts & tree nuts, kosher, awesome

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Haagen-Dazs Five: Caramel Ice Cream

I was trolling the ice cream selection at the old mega mart on my last shopping trip and noticed that Haagen-Dazs had added a caramel flavor to the Five lineup. That said, my local store is actually really slow on getting the new Haagen-Dazs flavors -- so I'm not exactly sure how long ago Caramel was tossed into the mix.

I do love caramel ice cream though, and since the "death" of the heavenly Fleur De Sel Caramel (the only way that could have been better was if I got to lick it off Gerard Butler), Ben & Jerry's Dulce Delish (which, although I have eaten way more pints of than I care to admit, I have somehow managed to not review to this day) has picked up the title of current favorite. (Note to my friends at B&J -- if you would like to arrange for me to lick Dulce Delish off Gerard Butler I am perfectly willing to take one for the team. Just sayin'...) Anyway, for a full-fat ice cream that's still in the Haagen-Dazs lineup, they also have the now-classic Dulce de Leche, which is also pretty darned yummy.

I have to admit I always sort of eye the Five line with suspicion. It seems when a flavor is good it's really good, but when it's bad it's enough to make me seriously regret the lactose issues I'll be stuck with for the next few hours. And I am still a little bitter that the Brown Sugar flavor got discontinued (though to be fair, I think I may have been the only person on the planet who liked it).

What I like about the Five line is that in terms of ingredients, it is as simple and close to homemade as you can get, with each flavor containing only -- you guessed it -- five ingredients. It's also slighter lower in fat and calories than the rest of the Haagen-Dazs line. Admittedly, I would rather simply have less of something with higher fat because I prefer the mouth feel and texture -- and since I'll to have to deal with dairy issues anyway, I'd at least like to enjoy it to the max before the inevitable happens. But for people who are just watching the numbers, it's a great option to have.



So how did it scoop up?

Flavor-wise really, really well. It is completely on par with the classic Dulce de Leche. It's sweet of course, but not overly sickly sweet. The caramel is heavily on the milky side, but sadly there is no caramel swirl (which was one of the best parts of Dulce de Leche). It's not a complex caramel but it is still tasty. I wish that there was a little salt kick to add some zazz, but then I guess that would make it six ingredients rather than five, and that would kinda defeat the purpose. The flavor also wanes quickly -- as in under five minutes. I will grant you that eating anything cold tends to dull the tongue, but even bringing it close to room temperature gave the same results...along with melted ice cream.



Texture-wise, like all of the Five line, it's on the soft and fluffy side. It's funny how that works for some flavors and not so well for others. Fortunately, this is one of the flavors that it does work for. It has a silky smooth mouth feel, and when it melts it glides down your throat in a happy puddle. Also like the rest of its Five siblings, it doesn't have the rich, fatty mouth feel of its bigger cousins -- but for a lighter calorie, lighter fat option, it really is top notch.

Best Five flavor since my beloved Brown Sugar.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$4.75

CALORIES:
240 Calories per 1/2 cup serving

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
haagendazs.com

Ben & Jerry's Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie Limited Edition (Round Three!!!)

Update -- December 15 2010:

Yes, it's true! Hannah Teter's Maple Blondie is back yet again, for an unprecedented third production run! (Normally Ben & Jerry's limited editions are made in one single batch, and once they're gone, they're gone forever.) And it's available on supermarket shelves right now, so be sure to get some -- trust me, it is well worth hunting for. In fact, I have even heard a rumor that if you leave some of this for Santa Claus, he'll give you an iPad.

Anyway, since Maple Blondie is back -- and since it's totally, absolutely fantastic (Jerry himself has said it's his favorite flavor) -- I decided to do something I very rarely do: I am reposting the review I did of it way back when. So if you missed it the first time around, or even the second, here it is:

Ice Spiders. It's not just a movie, man! The giant spiders are coming, I know it! (If you have not surrendered over two hours of life to see this movie yet, it is awesomely, transcendentally bad and you are missing out.) Hannah Teter, by the way, is a famous snowboarder and a Vermont native, who has never been attacked by ice spiders, as best I can tell. Hannah -- besides snowboarding -- also has a nonprofit charity called Hannah's Gold that sells Vermont maple syrup to help the children of Kirindon, Kenya.

Conveniently, this is a maple ice cream base with a maple caramel swirl. So you see, people, I am eating ice cream to save the children! I thought of the children! There are also blonde brownie chunks. I don't know how the children feel about them, but I tend to be a fan.



So is it worth risking death by ice spider for?

The scent is heavenly. It's a sweet maple, yet it doesn't send you looking for the pancakes.

The maple base tastes like a creamy version of the best maple syrup you can imagine. It's deep, there's a brown sugar/molasses quality, but it manages never to overwhelm. If you are basing your like -- or more to the point, dislike -- of maple on pancake syrups found on supermarket shelves that are no longer maple syrup but merely maple flavored syrup...cease and desist! This is what you should be looking for.

The maple/caramel swirl is addictive. It's mostly caramel, but it's just good. It adds a slightly sticky texture that I liked.



The brownie pieces are super, super soft and I found myself hunting for the chunks. It's like little brown sugar cubes of happiness. Really, the only thing bad about this ice cream is what it might do to my ass if I am allowed to consume it in the quantities I'd like to.

Be sure to check out Marvo's review, because my butt might be completing with his moobs over the last pint!



PURCHASED FROM:
Vons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.49

CALORIES:
240 calories per 1/2 cup

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Stone Ridge Creamery: Polar Bursts Mint Chocolate Chip

Polar Bursts are actually a knockoff version of Dippin' Dots -- which, believe it or not, I have never tried. Back in the late 80's and early 90's, Dippin' Dots would easily be found at malls or arcades/fun centers -- but even as teenager I was an ice cream snob, and I had already created my much-repeated mantra: If I am going to suffer for eating dairy, I will do it only for the best. And in those situations where the choice was Dippin' Dots or something by, say, Haagen-Dazs...which do you think was going to win? Besides, Dippin' Dots proudly proclaimed that theirs was the "ice cream of the future," and I personally liked things the old school way.

Well, here we are, well into the Twenty-First Century, and old school ice cream is still alive and well (and, to be fair, Dippin' Dots is still alive and kicking also). But now we have supermarket versions of the Dots. I will be honest; while I have long thought of giving this style of ice cream a try, it was really the fact that it was on sale for fifty cents that was the final motivator.

Stone Ridge apparently makes several flavors of Polar Burst, but my store only had Neapolitan and Mint Chocolate Chip. The ice cream is packaged as a single serving in its own little plastic bowl. While it is a generous portion, the only thing I did not like about the packaging is that it has a "yogurt style" foil lid, which means that it is not resealable. (Yes, of course you could always plastic-wrap the top or transfer the dots to a sealable package, but that is not the point.)



Even if I remain skeptical about the ice cream and its packaging, I have to admit that there is something cool about eating something whose original version was created by a microbiologist. I dunno, I guess it's my inner Alton Brown coming out.

So after all of this, how did it taste?

Well, it is a fun way to eat ice cream. The familiar flavor of Mint Chocolate Chips is there. But instead of a creamy (well, hopefully creamy) mouthfeel, there are these cold, melty little beads. It is like eating no other ice cream or ice cream type product I have ever had. The orbs vary a bit in size and that keeps it interesting.



Flavor-wise, the bursts are almost a little too cold. It's not cold enough to cause ice burn in your mouth, but it does numb the taste down. The orbs separated easily, so I don't think it was from being in my freezer, but I could be wrong.

When they do melt down enough to taste them, the ice cream tastes like every other store-brand level Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream on the planet. It's not the most complex chocolate nor brightest mint you will have ever tasted -- but there's nothing particularly wrong with it either.

Once the bursts have melted in your mouth to the point they are no longer as cold (or as orb-shaped), the texture, like the flavor, is like every store-brand level of ice cream out there. It's not super fatty or rich, and it seems as if it is overly aerated. It's serviceable, but entirely forgettable.



It really is all about the shapes and the texture. This has, if nothing else, inspired me to try to track down some of the name-brand version to see if I feel the same way. I can definitely see why kids love these. Try them for the texture novelty, but hard core ice cream fans be warned: you are not going to be knocked out by the ice cream itself.



I rated it at a 6 because of the texture. If it had been only for the ice cream quality, I would place it at a 3.

PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICEE
$0.50

CALORIES:
160 calories per 5 fluid ounce container.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
stoneridgecreamery.com

Klondike Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches

First, a thank you to all the readers who sent me emails to let me know that my once beloved Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich had been relaunched.

You see, folks, for many years Klondike had made a seriously addictive version of this treat. In fact, one of my very early reviews was of the original Klondike Oreo Ice Cream Sandwich (warning: the review is not the best -- even if the treat itself was).

Sadly, shortly after that review was posted, a reader let me know that they had not seen the product on local supermarket shelves for a while...and right after that, it disappeared from my shelves as well. I sent off an email to Klondike's parent company (Unilever), and with great sorrow I soon received a reply confirming that the product had been discontinued. (You can read about that in more detail in this post.)

Just as I was getting used to the idea of an Oreo Cookie Ice Cream Sandwichless future, Unilever dangled a carrot of hope in front of me by re-launching the sandwich under the Breyers label (which I duly reviewed here). Not surprisingly, there were some changes made: the cookies were smaller and the Oreo ice cream was replaced by plain vanilla. In short, the cookies themselves on this version were actually very good -- in fact, I liked them more than I did the old version. But the ice cream was...well, merely cold. And it's not a good day when the nicest thing you can say about an ice cream is that it was cold. That was the first and last box I bought of that version.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago: On my normal perusal of the ice cream aisle, I saw the new version of my old favorite. Y'know, kinda like that ex-boyfriend who you still kinda like but know you should ignore? Well, for several visits I was able to avoid giving in to its charms...but eventually its come-hither stare and the remembrance of all the good times we once shared proved too much for me, so I gave in and bought a box.

So was it as good as it once was?



Errrrrrrmm...no. The cookies themselves were closer in size to the classic Klondike version than to the smaller Breyers cookies. (The box boasts that they are 33% bigger.) The cookie itself was really good. It's very chocolaty and very close in flavor to an actual Oreo cookie. The texture was perfect. It was soft enough that it yielded easily to a bite, but was not soft enough to be soggy. Which is good, as I hate it when the cookies are too hard to bite cleanly, which causes the ice cream filling to squoosh out the sides. Thankfully, that's not a problem here.



But what of the ice cream?

God, this is getting to be just too predictable. The ice cream, yet again, is the downfall. On one hand, this version features the return of actual Oreo ice cream as the stuffing, rather than the plain vanilla of the Breyers version. However, it is listed on the box as being "light" ice cream.

I gotta rant for a second here. While I understand it's a great thing to watch calories and have "light" options, why must it seem like every new product out there has to be "light" or reduced fat, etc? As good as some light ice creams can be, they are just not as good as "real" ice cream. Clearly these snacks are meant to be a "sometimes" food -- and dammit, sometimes you just want something that is full fat! And because it is a light ice cream, it does not have the same mouthfeel as the "old" Oreo ice cream had, nor the same full taste. There doesn't seem to be any flavor from the Oreo bits in it, and even the vanilla is wimpy and weak. (Yet the package also says "not a light food." So the cookies are full fat, maybe? Who the hell writes the package copy, anyway? Politicians?)

Thus, once again, about all I can really say for the ice cream is that it's cold. So we've come full circle here, haven't we?



Overall, I will say this fares slightly better then the Breyers version, but I still liked the first version the best. It's just sad that it's not satisfying. If I am going to spend 200 calories on ice cream -- and a relatively small portion of ice cream, at that -- you can bet I'm going to choose a premium full fat option over this one. Really, what's the point of sinning if you don't enjoy it?



Sorry, Klondike, but I'm not impressed. I will not buy this item again.

Check out On Second Scoop's review here.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$3.99

CALORIES:
200 calories per cookie sandwich.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
klondikebar.com

Ben & Jerry's Snickerdoodle Cookie Ice Cream: Limited Batch

Snickerdoodles are one of those cookies that people seem to either love or hate. I am in the love crowd, and I do mean love. If you have never had one still warm and fresh from the oven, with the aroma of heated cinnamon Eskimo-kissing your nose, then it is quite possible you have not fully lived.

Ben & Jerry's latest limited edition flavor is the autumn-friendly Snickerdoodle Cookie. It is a butter and cinnamon flavored ice cream base with chunks of -- you guessed it -- snickerdoodle cookies.



I think the choice of a butter flavored base was interesting. I have always like the butter flavored part of butter pecan ice creams. I am just not a fan of the actual pecans, even though I like pecans otherwise. (In one of the quirks that makes Gigi, as much as I like nuts by themselves, I hate nuts in ice cream.) So I was looking forward to enjoying the butter flavor without having to worry about avoiding nuts.

But how did it taste? Well, the butter is more like essence of butter. Don't expect the full-on rich, almost salty flavor that you would get from, say, a butter pecan ice cream. This is more subtle and creamy. And in addition to the cinnamon, there also seems to be a hint of nutmeg. It actually reminded me a lot of a less custardy egg nog flavor. Truly delicious by itself.

Aaaah, but it's not by itself. No indeed, it is chock full of hunks (because "chunks" does not convey how large some of the pieces of cookies are) of snickerdoodle cookies. The cookies are full of cinnamon and brown sugar. They crumble up just a little and add a small hit of salt that brings all other the flavors out a little more.



This is truly one of the best flavors ever to come out of Vermont -- and I do not say that lightly. In fact, I beg those good people in Vermont to just forget the whole "Limited Batch" thing and add it the core line. This was truly amazing.

Be sure to check out Rodzilla's review here. I liked it a little more than he did...but that just means more for me!



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$2.59

CALORIES:
230 calories per 1/2 cup.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Ben & Jerry's Berry Voluntary: Target Exclusive Flavor

It may may have been a hot and cruel summer for the rest of the country, but summer came late to Southern California this year. And now that it's here, as far as I am concerned it can go away again. I'm sorry, but there is just something wrong when it's so hot inside your apartment that the back of your thighs are sticking to the sofa cushions...and the sofa is cloth upholstered...and the AC is running full blast! If that doesn't scream "ice cream for dinner weather," I don't know what does.

OK, maybe I really just wanted to have ice cream for dinner. Don't judge me.

Earlier in the summer, Ben & Jerry's partnered up with Target to offer the special, Target-exclusive flavors of Berry Voluntary and Brownie Chew Gooder. If you didn't get the hint of the names, they are part of a program that Ben & Jerry's is sponsoring with Volunteermatch.org called Scoop It Forward. Basically, if you visit that website and volunteer your time and service to the local charity of your choice, Ben & Jerry's will reward you with free ice cream. Now how cool is that?

It probably would have been selfish of me to simply eat the ice cream and not volunteer my time for something. So, with that in mind, I have actually voluntarily appointed myself to be the official Food Blogger Spokesperson for Lupus. As someone who lives with lupus, I will grant that I am biased towards finding new treatment options and ultimately a cure. (I actually am planning a post around that, but please feel free to send questions my way in the meantime.)



Well, since I have been such a good person, I have earned some ice cream...right?

Damn right!

I decided to start with Berry Voluntary. I love most raspberry flavored items -- and how could I not love raspberry flavored ice cream?

Berry Voluntary has a raspberry cheesecake flavored base with white chocolate chunks and a raspberry swirl. The base has a purple-tinged color. The raspberry is nice and soft. It's not too sour, and tastes pretty natural. I also like the fact that it's raspberry cheesecake. The "cheesecake" portion keeps the flavor a little tart and tangy. In fact, it reminded me of frozen Greek yogurt. The raspberry swirl was my favorite part. I will admit that it tastes like every other raspberry swirl on the planet -- which is to say a little sweet and almost candylike, but I happen to like that taste.

As for the white chocolate... (sigh) why must it always be white chocolate? Indiana Jones has snakes, and I have white chocolate.

Never let it be said that I won't take one for the team, however. Because it's Ben & Jerry's, the chunks of white chocolate are ginormous (which, to be honest, also made them easy to avoid). Honestly, I have a hard time really giving an opinion here because I just don't like white chocolate to begin with. It's got a good texture, there's some nice snap. It's the taste that I just don't like. It has that kinda vanilla-like, mostly just sugary oil taste that all white chocolate has to me. I suppose if you're a fan of white chocolate, it'll be just fine. But if you're like me...well, I did mention that the chunks are huge and thus easy to avoid.



Even with the white chocolate I still really liked this flavor. It's definitely worth picking up next time you're at a Target store.

Be sure to check out Marvo's review of both of the Target-exclusive flavors here.



PURCHASED FROM:
Target

PRICE:
$2.50

CALORIES:
250 calories per 1/2 cup

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Haagen Dazs Dark Chocolate Mint

I won't lie -- this has been sitting in my freezer for a few months. Oh, I kept telling myself I was going to get around to reviewing it...and then something else would come along and catch my eye, and...well, long story short, no review.

Tonight I just felt like ice cream for dinner...and hey, guess what was in the freezer.

I really liked the "plain" dark chocolate flavor Haagen-Dazs introduced as a limited edition last year. It has since made a normal part of the regular line, so I was hoping that it would be the same dark chocolate used for the base of this flavor.



Just as I hoped, it was in fact the same base. It's a really deep cocoa. And at the same time it's creamy and smooth.

The mint is where the flavor lacks. It reminded me a lot in terms of taste to the Five Mint. It also reminded me a little too much of a toothpaste mint. While the texture is as creamy and rich as you could ever hope for ice cream to be, there is something about the mint flavor that makes me think "chalky" -- even though the texture is nowhere near it.



I think this flavor would probably work great for milkshakes -- or maybe mixed with another flavor for balance. On its own...eh, I would prefer to stick with the plain dark chocolate.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

CALORIES:
250 calories per 1/2 cup.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE
haagen-dazs.com

Ben & Jerry's Milk & Cookies Ice Cream

Little-known fact: Gigi drinks several glasses of milk-type product a day (I say milk-type, because I don't drink real milk, but soy or other substitutes). There are various reasons for this, but it's not because I love the taste. Truthfully, I more or less just chug to get it over with.

But I will admit that sometimes -- not always -- but sometimes, I have been known to dunk some cookies into my milk because...well, because cookies are always delicious. And they make something I have to slog through taste better. And we all know I love Cookies and Cream ice cream.



Earlier in the year Ben & Jerry's introduced a new flavor called Milk & Cookies. Instead of being just a vanilla ice cream with chocolate sandwich cookies, this version is vanilla ice cream with a chocolate cookie swirl and pieces of "chocolatey" chip and chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Now to be perfectly honest, I first sampled this flavor on my trip to Ben & Jerry's. It was the flavor they were sampling at the end of the tour (read all about it here), so I already knew going in that I liked this flavor.

The base is the classic Ben & Jerry's vanilla that you know and expect from all the other vanilla-based flavors they make -- including, of course, plain vanilla.

The cookie swirl is a nice crumby trail of chocolate sandwich cookies. It adds an interesting texture to the ice cream. Because this flavor is so packed with cookies, the texture is never 100% smooth, but it's not gritty either. It's just like that last sip of the milk that you've been dunking cookies into -- full of soft crumbs.



Let's be honest: the chocolate chocolate chips cookies aren't a terribly new addition, because all cookies and cream flavors use chocolate cookies...but they do taste good!

It's the "chocolatey" chip cookies that add the extra umph (think traditional chocolate chip cookies). If you have ever had a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, you know how good it can be. (And if you haven't, you need to.) The combination of the traditional chocolate (ahem, "chocolatey," excuse me) cookies along with the chocolate chocolate chip is just...it's almost like seeing a unicorn, it's that good.

Now, I do have to bemoan the use of "chocolatey" chip cookies in place of real chocolate chip cookies. I will grant that there is so much flavor going on here that you really can't tell there's mockolate in use. But I am going to state once again that I still prefer the use of real chocolate over the use of "chocolatey" or "fudgey" add-ins. I am just picky like that.

I have to go step off my soap box now and go get another bowl...

But while I am doing that, be sure to check out Dubba's review over at On Second Scoop.



PURCHASED FROM:
Albertsons Supermarket

PRICE:
$2.99

CALORIES:
270 calories per half cup.

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Kosher, Fair Trade.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com

Ben & Jerry's Bonnaroo Buzz Ice Cream

I don't normally review the handful of Scoop Shop-only flavors that Ben & Jerry's produces. The main reason is that until relatively recently, we didn't have a Scoop Shop close enough to me -- and the one that we have now is still not all that close.

So, Gigi, you ask, what made you go out of your way for this one? One word: whiskey. Gigi happens to really like whiskey flavored items.

Bonnaroo Buzz gets its name in honor of the yearly Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival going on in Manchester, Tennessee, from June 10th-13th. (Check out the official website for more information than I am going to provide.) Basically, it is sort of like a Woodstock or Coachella thing, only deep fried and set in the South. If you're anywhere near the 700 acre farm it takes place on, you can see such big acts as Norah Jones, Tori Amos, Dave Matthews, Conan O'Brian, and Steve Martin, playing with his banjo band. I would love to go, but there are two big things preventing me:

1. It's in Tennessee and I am more than half a continent away, and

2. They recommend you bring your own TP.

Now guys, I am really not all that fussy. I don't need four star accommodations and huge, down-filled king sized beds to be happy (although that seriously helps). I can even deal with lack of internet access without getting too twitchy (but only if my phone can still get service...I love you, my sweet little Crackberry). I even might be able to deal with the funk that is thousands of hippies drawn to one place. No, people -- what kills it for me is bathroom facilities that I am suggested to bring my own "accessories" to.



So, while you won't find me personally at Bonnaroo, I will be enjoying the mellow, good vibes that I hope to find wafting off my scoop of ice cream.

Bonnaroo Buzz is a coffee and malt flavored base ice cream with English toffee pieces, and a whiskey-caramel swirl.



So, was it good enough to make me consider hitting the road with a twelve-pack of Charmin?



Yeah, you know what? It was!

I know that the two ice cream flavors were blended, because I could see the two different flavors swirled together. But in terms of taste, what really shone through was the coffee. It was indeed a very light and sweet coffee. As if you drank your lattes the way I do, with a lot of milk and roughly a pound of Splenda (OK, that might be a slight exaggeration).

The toffee chunks aren't mere...well, chunks. No, they're more than that. Even by Ben & Jerry's generous standards, they are slabs! Seriously. Just take a look at this thing:



It's the buttery, rich toffee you expect from Ben & Jerry's. There are also little pieces of fudge. By the time the pictures were taken and I actually got to eat my ice cream, it was pretty melty -- so I honestly can't tell you if the fudge pieces fell off of the toffee, or if they were separately mixed into the ice cream. The store was far too busy to go back and ask anyone about that, so perhaps someone who got a better look at the ice cream (or someone from Ben & Jerry's) will chime in with the answer to that question?

In any event, we all know how I feel about the fudge. It's not bad...but it's not chocolate.



What really makes this flavor is the swirl (although the toffee and the ice cream itself are pretty darn good). The swirl is a whiskey-caramel swirl. My swirl was nice and fluid by the time I ate my cone. It tasted mostly of the caramel, but there was definitely that woodsy, smokey, slightly vanilla flavor of whiskey. I really wish there had been more of the swirl. A lot more, come to think of it. In fact, I kinda want a vat of it.

I only have one real complaint with this flavor: it really should have been a pint flavor. It is just too good to be Scoop Shop only.

This is a super limited flavor -- it'll only be around for a brief time, and it's only available in the Scoop Shops. But track it down, anyway. It's well worth it!



PURCHASED FROM:
Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop

PRICE:
Free!

CALORIES:
I'm pretty sure that since it was cost free, it should also be calorie free. (OK, probably not.)

OFFICIAL WEBSITE:
benjerry.com