Ben & Jerry's - Salted Caramel Almond

Salted Caramel Almond - Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Roasted Almond Slivers, Fudge Flakes & a Salted Caramel Swirl

 

I was shopping at VONS last week when I saw a Ben & Jerry's flavor I hadn't seen before or heard word about -- Salted Caramel Almond.  The label on the lid says its an "Exclusive Flavor" which got me curious.  Exclusive to VONS?  I did not know that there were such flavors.   Naturally, I picked up the pint and went online to see what the deal is.  It turns out that the flavor is exclusive to Safeway Markets which in addition to its own stores include supermarkets branded under other names such as Pavillions, Tom Thumb, Randall's and VONS.  Thankfully, I currently live in a part of the country which includes a subsidiary chain of Safeway and I am looking forward to trying out this new flavor.  It looks like the vanilla, caramel, chocolate mix with the twist that the caramel is salted and roasted almonds are also added.

Removing the lid shows the vanilla base with a large dollop of caramel visible right away on top.  A couple of the fudge flakes can also be seen.  As I ate my way into the pint, the vanilla base was standard and unremarkable but served its purpose as a vehicle for the mix-ins.  The fudge flakes are actually quite chunky.  They are the old fashioned mini-chocolate-bar chunks which are used in the old Cherry Garcia and Chunky Monkey flavors.  This is not a complaint, I am just noting that they are chunky and not crumbly.   The almond slivers were small as expected (they are labeled as slivers after all).  They provide a bit of nutty texture from time to time but nothing major.  This is not a pint for almond lovers or nut lovers.  The star of the pint is the salted caramel swirl.  It is thicker than a usual swirl but not so dominating as cylindrical core.  It manifests itself as the occasional glob while eating the pint.  It is quite flavorful and goes well with the chocolate.  

This is perhaps the best salted caramel swirl that I have had as yet.  Sometimes when salted caramel is in a base it becomes diluted and takes upon the flavor of a slo poke sucker.  This is just about the right size and frequency of salted caramel in a pint for me.   Gooey salted caramel lovers should give this a try.

 

  

Ben & Jerry's - Chocolate Cherry Garcia

Chocolate Cherry Garcia - Chocolate Ice Cream with Cherries and Fudge Flakes

Last year, Ben & Jerry's had a scoop-shop only promotion called "Flavor Flips" where they would take a classic flavor and change it up a bit.  The first flavor flip was Totally Baked which was like Half Baked, but instead of brownies and cookie dough, was made with brownies and cookies.  The next was Tubby Hubby is like Chubby Hubby but it uses a peanut butter base to make it extra indulgent.  The next flavor is Chocolate Cherry Garcia which is like Cherry Garcia except that it uses a chocolate base instead of a cherry base.  For this last flavor, they've made it available outside scoop shops as a limited batch pint.   Looks interesting.  I'll reread review of the original flavor and see how this twist compares.

Removing the lid shows a chocolate base.  Some of the fudge flakes and cherry pieces are visible right away on top as well.  With the first spoonful, I immediately taste the cherry flavor in the chocolate base.  It seems like the juice in the cherry mix-ins has diffused outward and permeated the entirety of the chocolate base.  It reminded me a bit of Cherry Coke, its brown in color but the cherry accent really sticks out.  My first thought was that perhaps the chocolate base served to dilute the cherry flavor but I remember the cherry base in the classic flavor was relatively mild.  The diffusion of cherry flavor from the mix-ins here has me wondering if you could mimic the level of cherry-ness in the classic flavor by having a sweet cream base infused with cherry mix-ins.  Anyways, it was quite good.   The fudge flakes and cherry pieces were distributed liberally throughout the pint.  They were the same as in the traditional flavor.  The flakes were shaped like little chocolate bars and were chunky rather than crumbly in texture.  The cherry pieces were soft and flavorful.

All in all this was a successful pint.  I think it was about as good as the classic flavor, but I'm not a total Cherry Garcia junkie.  I am curious to know how the fans who have made Cherry Garcia one of the most popular ice cream flavors for three decades think of this.  It is a limited batch, so they should try it while supplies last.

Tillamook - Salted Caramel Toffee

Salted Caramel Toffee - Caramel Gelato and Caramel Sauce Topped with Crunchy Toffee Pieces

We return to the Oregon-based Tillamook brand for its Salted Caramel Toffee flavor.  Interestingly, they've decided to implement this as a gelato rather than an ice cream or a frozen custard.  Plus, the mix-in is toffee pieces instead of the usual chocolate.  It should be interesting.

Removing the lid shows the toffee pieces sprinkled liberally across the top of the pint.  This is a common practice of Tillamook's to do this.  They have done this in previous pints with peanuts, chocolate and strawberry sauce.  Taste-wise, I prefer the mix-ins to the blended into the pint a bit more, but visually this is quite festive.    Eating into the pint, the caramel gelato is quite soft and also quite salty.  It was so soft that I almost felt that it was melting, but it wasn't.  The toffee pieces were rather chewy and not the jawbreaking type of toffee.  They blended with the caramel quite well.  The caramel sauce created the glue for the toffee pieces and was quite good as well.  Overall, there saltiness was more noticeable than the average 'salted caramel' flavor.  It created a bit of a burn in the back of my throat at times.

All in all, it was a pretty good pint.  It reminded me a bit of Ample Hills' Salted Crack Caramel flavor in its half-melted salty flavor, although I liked that pint a little better than this one as it had higher quality mix-ins.  That said, if you like your caramel bases soft and salty, then this pint is worth a try.

  

Häagen-Dazs - TRIO: Salted Caramel Chocolate

TRIO: Salted Caramel Chocolate - Layers of Crispy Belgium Chocolate with Salted Caramel & Chocolate Ice Creams

Häagen-Dazs has a new line of flavors for 2017!  These new flavors are layered flavors where the pint consists of different individual flavors stacked on top of each other.  Each of the new pints has three layers, so they've named the new line TRIO.  In each of the new pints, one of the three layers is crispy Belgian chocolate while the other two layers are different flavors of ice cream.  It sounds pretty interesting!  I found my first pint at the grocery store last week.  This is the Salted Caramel Chocolate flavor where salted caramel and chocolate ice creams are layered in with the Belgian chocolate.  There is a video of the flavors showing the layering here.  Chocolate and caramel is always a winning combination, so I am looking forward to trying this out.

Removing the lid shows some of the chocolate brown and swirls of beige for the caramel.  With the spoonful, the salted caramel is delivered in ice cream format, it has a fairly mild flavor but when you isolate only caramel and no chocolate it tastes similar to a Sugar Daddy or Slo Poke caramel candy.  The chocolate base is Häagen-Dazs' standard chocolate ice cream.  It is one of the best chocolate ice creams around.  They do simple chocolate very well.  As I dug further down, I started to encounter the layers of Belgian chocolate.  These were solid layers of chocolate (not ice cream).  They were quite thin, but they were hard and traversed the entire pint.  I had to 'break' this layer with my spoon in order to scoop through it.  It was crunchy and chocolatey.  As I continued to eat down, the crunchy layers were relatively frequent.  That is, the layers themselves were thin enough that almost every spoonful contained all three.  I didn't get a good photo of the layering.  I'll try for the next TRIO flavor.  The net effect of the mixture pretty chocolatey.  The caramel was not as noticeable as the other two flavors.  Perhaps it kept the pint from getting too chocolatey.  I'm not sure.

This is a fun new line from Häagen-Dazs.  It definitely was a unique experience cutting through crunchy chocolate with my spoon.  For this flavor, I might have preferred it if it was gooey caramel instead of caramel ice cream but that is a minor quibble.  I'm looking forward to trying out the other TRIO flavor combinations.

  

Graeters - Chocolate Chip

Chocolate Chip - Vanilla Ice Cream with Chocolate Chips

I was at the grocery store looking for new flavors to review and my eyes caught the Graeter's brand.  Here in southern California, we don't get a lot of Graeters flavors.  The only one in the freezer case which I had not reviewed was the simple Chocolate Chip flavor.  Sometimes I shy away from reviewing the simpler flavors but I decided I was in the mood for those great Graeters' chocolate chips.  As mentioned in a previous review, Graeters has a unique way of implementing their chocolate chip mix-ins.  They pour melted chocolate into the french pots and allow it to re-harden as it mixes into the cream.  There's a video in that previous review that you should check out if you have not seen it already. 

On to the ice cream.  Removing the lid shows the vanilla base and some of the chips are visible right away on top.  These chips can be quite large!  The vanilla flavor of the base is just standard vanilla but perhaps the simple base allows the effect of the chips to stick out more.  I even got good photos of the chips this time.  There's something different about these chips.  They are actually soft and perhaps even a bit chewy which I don't expect from blocks of chocolate that are this large.

So, a successful pint even if it is simple vanilla chocolate chip.  If you are a fan of the way Graeter's does its chocolate chips then you will not be disappointed.

  

McConnell's - Boysenberry Rosé Milk Jam

Boysenberry Rosé Milk Jam - Milk Jam with Boysenberry and Rosé Wine Preserves

This week, we return to the Santa-Barbara-based McConnell's brand for its Boysenberry Rosé Milk Jam flavor.  I hadn't seen this behavior before.  Some research has shown that they've previously had this in scoop shops and limited-batch releases and have now promoted it to their regular lineup.  I'm not sure what "milk jam" is, so I checked the packaging:

It looks like the milk and cream is heated up first before it is input into the standard ice cream process.  This is also the first pint I've had which included the boysenberry flavor.  Boysenberry is another cane berry hybrid - I've previously discussed the marionberry, though the boysenberry is an older cultivar and is more famous.  A boysenberry is the result of a complex crossing of blackberries, raspberries, dewberries and loganberries, the loganberry itself being a cross between blackberries and raspberries.  Anyhow, I am curious to see how this tastes.

Opening the pint, I see the light-colored base with a pinkish-purple tinge of boysenberry.  Digging in, the boysenberry parts are swirled more underneath that is first evident on top.  The berry flavor is quite good.  It is not at all tart like some of the other cane berries that I've had.  I did not specifically notice the rosé wine though perhaps it added something to the mix.  The base milk jam was soft, thick, creamy and delicious.  That said, I struggled a bit to see what was different about this than normal ice cream.  Was it a little sweeter as if it contained a bit of condensed milk?  Or was it creamier than the average McConnell's pint?  (sometimes McConnell's pints are so thick, that they have a bit of an icy texture).  Perhaps the milk jam helped mute what would otherwise be a strong berry flavor?  I'm not sure.  I don't want to complain because it was so delicious but I didn't notice the difference that much.  I switch brands quite a bit though.  Perhaps I'd have to have multiple scoops of other McConnell's flavors side by side to do the comparison.

All in all, I really liked this pint.  I'm a fan of fruit flavors and this was a very good mix.  Lots of berry flavor but without being too overwhelming or too tart.  Don't let my milk jam confusion above worry you, this was a very delicious pint.  Not a brands offer boysenberry as a flavor either.  So, if you're a fan of boysenberries (or cane berries in general) then give this one a shot.

  

Ben & Jerry's - Truffle Kerfuffle

Truffle Kerfuffle - Vanilla Ice Cream with Roasted Pecans, Fudge Chips & a Salted Chocolate Ganache Swirl

It is an exciting time in the world of ice cream because Ben & Jerry's has three new flavors for 2017.  Ben & Jerry's was the first brand that I covered here so it is always fun when they release new flavors and I can write about them again. Thus far I can only find the Truffle Kerfulffle flavor, so I'll start with that.

Opening the pint, I see lots of stuff.  The base is vanilla but there is quite a bit of discoloration from the ganache swirl and quite a few fudge chips are also visible.  Digging in, the fudge chips are quite numerous and make this a very chunky pint.  These chips have have the texture of a candy bar coating -- they are thick and a bit crumbly.  They provide a bit of chocolate flavor.  There are some small pecan pieces blended in as well.  The ganache swirl is like a creamy chocolate.  The ganache is not too thick but it is quite memorable when you get a bit of it in your mouth at once.  All and all, this pint did taste like chocolate pecan truffles blended into ice cream -- it was like candy bar ice cream.  Reminded me the old Nutty Caramel Swirl flavor but a bit more high end.  That flavor was like snickers bar, this pint is like truffles.

A very successful new flavor from Ben & Jerry's.  The do mix-ins as good as anyone and this pint is loaded with them.  If you like a crunchy candy-like ice cream, then this is a new flavor for you.




  

Jeni's - Lemon Buttermilk

Lemon Buttermilk - Lemon Buttermilk Frozen Yogurt

I decided to try something different this week.  This is my first review of a pint of frozen yogurt.  This is the Columbus-based Jeni's brand's implementation of a Lemon Buttermilk flavor.  Jeni's uses special package here -- a hard-to-read yellow ink instead of the standard orange.  This is the only Jeni's pint of frozen yogurt in the freezer case, so I do not know if the yellow is because it is lemon or because it is frozen yogurt.  The website said this is one of their most popular flavors which intriques me.  I love lemon flavor but it often does not mix well with milk and cream.  Maybe yogurt is the trick.

There was room between the yogurt and the lid at the top of the pint, so it looked like it had been freshly poured.  It was the expected yellowish-white color.  The first spoonful was quite lemony in flavor yet it was still soft and creamy.  There are no mix-ins here, just the simple homogenous base.  As I continued to eat, the lemon stayed flavorful but I noticed a bit of sourness.  I don't know if that was from the buttermilk or the lemon.  Perhaps both.  It was good sourness, though.  Similar to what you might get in a good glass of lemonade.

This was good lemon flavor.  It reminded me of the base flavor in an old McConnell's flavor.  There, the lemon was a bit icier while the yogurt here allowed it to be creamier.  Both delicious though.  The McConnell's pint had a berry swirl, so there was more flavor to the pint.  I think I would like this lemon buttermilk flavor if there was a mix-in of some kind even if it was just to provide a change in texture.  Perhaps not a pint to eat all at once by itself but one to savor a scoop at a time alongside something else.