Magnolia - Lychee

Lychee Ice Cream

Occasionally when hanging out with my Thai-American pals in Southern California, we will eat a tropical fruit that was unfamiliar to me growing up in the upper Midwest.  The lychee is one of those tropical fruits.  The lychee is colorful and spikey on the outside, has a soft grape-like pulp with a tropical flavor and a hard pit in the middle.  It's a fun and rare treat.  So, when I saw a lychee ice cream flavor from the northern-Californian-based Magnolia brand, I jumped at the chance to try it out.  The Magnolia brand has an interesting history.  It was started in 1969 by a group of Filipino Americans and inspired by the ice cream that they ate back in the Philippines.  It turns out that the company making the ice cream that they ate back in the old country since 1925 had the same name and the same logo!  But by the time the courts inevitably intervened, both brands had established their trademarks in their respective countries so no name changes were necessary.  Anyhow, what we are eating here is the northern California version.

Opening the pint shows a standard off-white colored base with small pink flecks visible -- these much be small lychee pieces.  Eating my way in, I immediately notice the tropical flavor and it is very refreshing.  The pieces are not all that noticeable while eating, just the occasional grapey texture but otherwise it is a homogeneous pint.  Sometimes with tropical flavors, the first bite is the best and the flavor can intensify to the point of being overwhelming.  Thankfully, that is not the case here.  The lychee flavor remains mild and refreshing all the way to the bottom of the pint.

This was a fun change of pace from the usual permutations of chocolate and caramel that are reviewed here.  It is not that decadent of a flavor, but if its a warm, summer day and you need to cool off then something like this might be exactly what you need.  If you like tropical flavors and are curious then you should check this out.