Coolhaus - Sundae Funday

Sundae Funday - Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Chocolate Hazelnut Swirl and Salted, Roasted Almonds

It is Sunday and what better flavor for a Sunday than Coolhaus's Sundae Funday?  This looks like a standard vanilla, chocolate and nuts flavor with the added twist that it is Tahitian vanilla.  I have been aware of different varieties of vanilla for a while now, but this is the first pint that I've reviewed where the vanilla is specifically labeled as Tahitian.  As a refresher, I googled the differences in vanillas and found this useful link.  Vanilla comes from the bean of an orchid originally indigenous to Mexico but is commonly grown in any tropical climate.  Most vanilla is now grown in Madagascar or its nearby islands (including Réunion whose former name of Île Bourbon is why this is sometimes called Bourbon vanilla), but it is also famously grown in Tahiti.  Tahitian vanilla is a slightly different species of the plant and has a different flavor.  The link above says is a bit weaker but more floral and sweet.  Interesting.  I will be paying more attention to the vanilla than usual as I eat this pint.

Longtime readers may recall that Coolhaus is the brand which is "architecturally inspired" which means that a famous architect serves as the mascot for each flavor.  This flavor is nicknamed "Moshe Saf-isticated Sundae" which means that Moshe Safdie is the featured architect.  Safdie is a living architect who was born in Israel and educated in Canada.  His most famous design is one of his first, the Habitat 67 which was created for the Expo (World's Fair) held in Montreal in 1967.  He had given two TED talks which I watched to see examples of his other works.  Who would have thought that eating ice cream could be so educational.

On to the ice cream!  Removing the lid shows a bunch of chocolate and nuts have been sprinkled across the top to give you an early taste of the mix-ins.  It is rather fun when brands of ice cream do this.  Digging in, the vanilla base is very soft and creamy. I was paying attention to the vanilla and it does seem a bit different.  It kind of tastes like soft-serve ice cream.  It was not quite that soft but it had the same flavor.  The chocolate hazelnut swirl was good, it sometimes had the burn that a chocolate syrup provides.  Sometimes the swirl was a bit elusive but there was usually enough it on the edges of the container so that I could always find chocolate if I wanted it.  It allowed me to enjoy the vanilla base more.  The crushed almonds were fully mixed into the base, but they were the kind of nuts that you often see sprinkled on the top of things.

This is a very simple vanilla-chocolate-and-nuts flavor but it is really well done and I enjoyed it very much.  It is not technically soft-serve ice cream but it had the feeling of cup of ice cream that you might get from a truck which has chocolate and nuts poured on top of it.  If you stumble upon this flavor, don't hesitate to check it out.